The way of a horse's going is the truth of him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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There and Back Again

A Brief Synopsis of the History of the Arabian Horse

with a Summary of Tribes and Strains

(Click the blue words to display more information about that topic)

[Most of this article is out of my head from years in Anthropology and independent study.  I have lost track of many of my references, particularly to the illustrations,  but wish to thank anyone who contributed that I may have inadvertently forgotten to credit]

Prehistory

Most people are introduced to evolution with the example of the ancestors of the horse which most eloquently illustrates the progression from Hyracotherium (Eohippus) to Equus to modern horses. Most clearly illustrated by comparative anatomy of the foot, the gradual progression from toed to hoofed animal can easily be seen.

This diagram shows the evolution of horse hind feet.

a. shows Hyracotherium, from 55 million years ago.

b. shows Miohippus, from 35 million years ago

c. shows Merychippus, from 17 million years ago

d. shows Equus, the modern horse, with its single hoof.

This diagram shows the growth of the fetal foot.

e. is the foot at 6 weeks (3 toes)

f. is the foot at 8 weeks (middle toe dominant)

g. is the foot at 5 months (middle toe now a hoof)

Modern horses have vestigial extra toes, which are too small to be easily noticed.

As prehistoric horses evolved and migrated throughout the world, dynamic forces of nature selected different characteristics and very distinct species resulted from the diversity of evolving branches. It is claimed that all light breeds came from a single source, the source that evolved into the Arabian horse.  There were several lines of ancient horses; in fact, their course resembles a bush more than a tree.    

The first diminutive horses evolved in North America and migrated over the Bering land bridge to evolve into a number of species including the Arabian horse. They returned to North America with Spanish conquistadors in the blood of their barbs, then were finally brought home in the pure Arabian blood with the imports of the 19th century.

The History of Horses and Humans

Equus to Arab

First Domestication

The Middle Ages

Arabia to Egypt

The Return to America

Arabians Come to America 

Regardless of the FIRST domestic use, there can be no doubt that the domestication of horses was the catalyst that allowed many civilizations to succeed. Nowhere did the horse have a more profound long-term impact as when it arrived in the Middle East. For it was the species of Equus that wound up in the hands of the Bedouin nomads of the Arabian desert that, through stringent breeding practices, developed into the horses that would found many modern light breeds including the English Thoroughbred.

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