American horse breeding

Abstract

Introduction: The Horse has been recognized in all ages for which we have authentic history, as the most sturdy and esteemed servant of men, notwithstanding that it has not been under domestication so long as some of our other animals. It is associated with man by more points of sympathy than any other of our domestic animals. Geoligists have shown that the original ancestors of the horse occured in America in past ages, but that these were all exterminated by some unknown cause. That our present horses are all descended from old world horses, which in turn are derived from the original ancestors of the horse in America. The original habitat of the horse is not known, but it is true, that in the earliest periods known to history, they were found in the wild state in Europe, Asia and Africa, but they differed from one another in many particulars before they were subject to domestication and were broken up into the different breeds. Those inhabiting unproductive regions where frequent changes of gazing grounds were necessary for existence were distinguished for spirit, action and endurance; of these the horses of Turkey, Persia and Arabia, present the most characteristic type. While those found in low flat regions abound in in nutritious herbage, were larger and more sluggish, and less graceful. The first imported horses were 'brought to America by the early Spanish conquerors; they possessed much beauty of form and style, of which the Indian posies, mustangs and bronchoes, are direct descendants. These horses were noted for their remarkable endurance, and are capable of severest work under the saddle. The horses imported to America…