Professor Ewart traces among the ancient wild horses of the forest species three very distinct types:
1. At the time when the glacial drift of the Rhine and Weser valleys had a climate like that of the Outer Hebrides of to-day, the conditions of cold and damp matured the Diluvial horse (Equus Caballus occidentalis). This animal stood fifteen hands, had a longer face than the general forest type, was coarsely built, had heavy fetlocks, a short upright pastern, a broad round foot. This is the cart horse breed.
2. The Grimaldi Grottoes in the Riviera preserve remains of a forest-upland horse, large, coarse, heavy in build, with a short, broad face, and a flat profile.
3. The Solutré Caverns of France preserve paintings made by ancient savages of a small stout, chunky, bearded horse, rather like a long, low Iceland pony, with a short broad face, elk-like nose, and low-set tail, rough-haired towards the root. He stood from twelve to thirteen hands in height.
From these three forest varieties our draught horses are mainly descended; but there were also in Ancient Europe two other species besides that of the woodlands.
A. Siwalik type. A fifteen-hand horse, lightly built like the modern thoroughbred. The forehead recedes at an angle from the line of the face, and there is a prominence between the eyes. The limbs are long, withers high, and tail set on high.
B. Prejevalski Tarpan steppe type, the Dun of Northern Asia. The face is long, narrow and straight. The nasal chambers are large, causing a Roman nose. The limbs are clean, with close hocks and narrow feet. Height twelve to thirteen hands.
We must think then of such types as the Forest and Siwalik adapting themselves to the soils of North-western Europe.
PART VII. THE CHANGING LAND.