SECTION LIII. HORSES

While we have a great many kinds of horses in America, horses are not natives of this country. Just where wild horses were first tamed and used is not certainly known. It is believed that in early ages the horse was a much smaller animal than it now is, and that it gradually attained its present size. Where food was abundant and nutritious and the climate mild and healthful, the early horses developed large frames and heavy limbs and muscles; on the other hand, where food was scarce and the climate cold and bleak, the animals remained as dwarfed as the ponies of the Shetland Islands.

Fig. 239. The Family Pet

One of the first records concerning the horse is found in Genesis xlix, 17, where Jacob speaks of "an adder that biteth the horse heels." Pharaoh took "six hundred chosen chariots" and "with all the horses and chariots" pursued the Israelites. The Greeks at first drove the horse fastened to a rude chariot; later they rode on its back, learning to manage the animal with voice or switch and without either saddle or bridle. This thinking people soon invented the snaffle bit, and both rode and drove with its aid. The curb bit was a Roman invention. Shoeing was not practiced by either Greeks or Romans. Saddles and harnesses were at first made of skins and sometimes of cloth.

Among the Tartars of middle and northern Asia and also among some other nations, mare's milk and the flesh of the horse are used for food. Old and otherwise worthless horses are regularly fattened for the meat markets of France and Germany. Various uses are made of the different parts of a horse's body. The mane and tail are used in the manufacture of mattresses, and also furnish a haircloth for upholstering; the skin is tanned into leather; the hoofs are used for glue, and the bones for making fertilizer.

Fig. 240. Percheron Horse (a Draft Type)

Climate, food, and natural surroundings have all aided in producing changes in the horse's form, size, and appearance. The varying circumstances under which horses have been raised have given rise to the different breeds. In addition, the masters' needs had much to do in developing the type of horses wanted. Some masters desired work horses, and kept the heavy, muscular, stout-limbed animals; others desired riding and driving horses, so they saved for their use the light-limbed, angular horses that had endurance and mettle. The following table gives some of the different breeds and the places of their development:

Fig. 241

Diagram shows the proper shape of the fore and hind legs of a horse. When the straight lines divide the legs equally, the leg action is straight and regular

I. Draft, or Heavy, Breeds
1. Percheron, from the province of Perche, France.
2. French Draft, developed in France.
3. Belgian Draft, developed by Belgian farmers.
4. Clydesdale, the draft horse of Scotland.
5. Suffolk Punch, from the eastern part of England.
6. English Shire, also from the eastern part of England.
II. Carriage, or Coach, Breeds
1. Cleveland Bay, developed in England.
2. French Coach, the gentleman's horse of France.
3. German Coach, from Germany.
4. Oldenburg Coach, Oldenburg, Germany.
5. Hackney, the English high-stepper.
III. Light, or Roadster, Breeds
1. American Trotter, developed in America.
2. Thoroughbred, the English running horse.
3. American Saddle Horse, from Kentucky and Virginia.

There is a marked difference in the form and type of these horses, and on this difference their usefulness depends.


Fig. 242. Wide Hock
This horse stands great strains
and is not fatigued easily
Fig. 243. Narrow Hock
This horse becomes exhausted
very easily

The draft breeds have short legs, and hence their bodies are comparatively close to the ground. The depth of the body should be about the same as the length of leg. All draft horses should have upright shoulders, so as to provide an easy support for the collar. The hock should be wide, so that the animal shall have great leverage of muscle for pulling. A horse having a narrow hock is not able to draw a heavy load and is easily exhausted and liable to curb-diseases (see Figs. 242 and 243).

Fig. 244. The Roadster Type

The legs of all kinds of horses should be straight; a line dropped from the point of the shoulder to the ground should divide the knees, canon, fetlock, and foot into two equal parts. When the animal is formed in this way the feet have room to be straight and square, with just the breadth of a hoof between them (Fig. 241).

Roadsters are lighter in bone and less heavily muscled; their legs are longer than those of the draft horses and, as horsemen say, more "daylight" can be seen under the body. The neck is long and thin, but fits nicely into the shoulders. The shoulders are sloping and long and give the roadster ability to reach well out in his stride. The head is set gracefully on the neck and should be carried with ease and erectness.

Every man who is to deal with horses ought to become, by observation and study, an expert judge of forms, qualities, types, defects, and excellences.

Fig. 245. Side View of Legs
The diagram shows how the straight lines
ought to cross the legs of a properly shaped horse

The horse's foot makes an interesting study. The horny outside protects the foot from mud, ice, and stones. Inside the hoof are the bones and gristle that serve as cushions to diminish the shock received while walking or running on hard roads or streets. When shoeing the horse the frog should not be touched with the knife. It is very seldom that any cutting need be done. Many blacksmiths do not know this and often greatly injure the foot.

Since the horse has but a small stomach, the food given should not be too bulky. In proportion to the horse's size, its grain ration should be larger than that of other animals. Draft horses and mules, however, can be fed a more bulky ration than other horses, because they have larger stomachs and consequently have more room to store food.

Fig. 246. How to measure a Horse

The horse should be groomed every day. This keeps the pores of the skin open and the hair bright and glossy. When horses are working hard, the harness should be removed during the noon hour. During the cool seasons of the year, whenever a horse is wet with sweat, it should on stopping work, or when standing for awhile, be blanketed, for the animal is as liable as man to get cold in a draft or from moisture evaporating rapidly from its skin.

EXERCISE

If the pupil will take an ordinary tape measure, he can make some measurements of the horse that will be very interesting as well as profitable. Let him measure:

Note. Many interesting comparisons can be made (1) by measuring several horses; (2) by studying the proportion between parts of the same horse.