THE EVOLUTION OF THE HORSE HISTORY ESSAY   2200w

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Horse is a majestic animal which has been domesticated more than 7000 years ago and has spread all over the word during the last 5000 years. It is an animal loved by every human being without an exception for its majestic look and the ability that the horse could be easily trained for various purposes of mankind due to the creature’s intelligence and docility when compared with other animals. Due to its reliability people have used this animal as a widely accepted land transport method with mobility and speed until the horse got replaced in the recent past with the dawn of motoring age. The different roles it had played in war as war mounts, chargers, gun draughts in the armies of renowned emperors like Alexander, Napoleon and Genghis khan and the role that horse played in World War II could never be matched. Still most of all the countries in the world use this animal for ceremonial purposes, for sports activities and some still utilize it for heavy work and agricultural purposes as well.

Evolution of this mammal that belongs to the family of “Equidae” and biologically known as “Equus ferus caballus” at present, has taken place for more than 45 million years. There have been mainly three types of wild horses, namely Feral, Tarpan and the Przewalski’s horse from which the modern day variants have developed. The Feral horses are still in existence while Tarpan horse is extinct where the last animal has died in captivity at a Russian zoo in 1909. Przewalski’s horses which were also thought to have become extinct from the world were rediscovered in the remote parts of Mongolia. With the help of the science and the conservation efforts taken by the animal lovers, it still roams in the prairies of Mongolia and Russia.

In the modern horse family there are seven family members other than the horse, namely Ass or the Donkey, Mountain zebra, Plains zebra, Grevy’s zebra, Kiang and the Onager. Most importantly and interestingly, these types can be crossbred with each other to dev