Unit 1 History & Development of the Modern Horse

 Identify the major evolutionary horse-like animals.  Describe how humans eventually changed the way they use the horse.  Give scientific name for the horse.  Identify Romans influence on the use of the horse.  Name 3 famous horses of the films.  Identify how racing started in the United States.  Identify 10 modern uses of horses.

 Evolution: Change over time  Eohippus:Earliest ancestor of the horse  Mesohippus:Horse 35 million years ago  Merychippus:Horse 20 million years ago  Pliohippus:Horse 5 million years ago  Hybrids:Cross of two species  Draft:Animal used for work  Hackamore:Device used to control horse; only supports nose  Cavalry:Military force mounted on horseback  Mules:Cross between horse and donkey  Morrill Land Grant Act:Led to establishment of land grant universities.  Rodeo:Spanish for “Cattle ring”

 Here is how the modern horse fits into the zoological scheme:  Kingdom: Animalia  Phylum: Chordata  Class:Mammalia  Order: Perissodactyla  Family: Equidae  Genus: Equus  Species: Caballus

 How do we classify organisms?  Taxonomy: giving each organism a scientific name to organize it into categories. Each name is derived from the classifications: Genus & Species.  Scientific Name: is written using the genus and the species. The genus is written first with the first letter capitalized. Then the species is written with all letter lower case. Also the entire word is written in italicized print.

 Scientific Name of the Modern Horse is …  Equus caballus

 Eohippus: The earliest ancestor of the modern horse.  Small primitive horse about the size of a fox  Elongated Skull  Moderately Arched Back  Shortened Tail  4 Functional Toes on each Front Foot  3 Functional Toes on each Hind Foot  Earliest remains of this extinct animal were found in rocks of North America (about 54 million years old)  Most recent findings of rock fossils were found in Europe.

 Mesohippus: About 35 million years ago  Earth’s temperature changed and conifers began to out number deciduous trees.  Forest thinned and grass became more prevalent.  This animal was larger, and teeth were further evolved.  Only had 3 toes on front feet, better for out running enemies.  This creature evolved over time as the ground became softer, no need for toes. The middle toe became stronger and more prominent.  These animals became extinct about 7 million years ago

 Merychippus: About 20 million years ago, new type of horse.  Adapted to the grassy planes of North America ▪ This was the beginning of the grazing horse today  Height was about 35 inches  Lived in herds  Had developed grinding teeth to chew grass  The lateral toes shrank and did not touch ground  Main toe thickened & hardened for swift travel on ground

 Pliohippus: About 5 million years ago  One branch of the horse ancestor crossed into Asia, quickly multiplied and spread to Europe. ▪ Meanwhile the North American horse developed to final form. ▪ The Pliohippus was the first true (Monodactyl) one-toed animal of evolutionary history. ▪ But these animals became extinct about 8,000 years ago in the Western Hemisphere  Pliohippus needed speed to outrun enemies – so the hoof evolved.  Over Time the modern horse was evolved having powerful long limbs, tough hooves to travel with, and teeth that could chew grass.  Horses were Returned here when Spanish brought to the New World in the 1400’s

 The Hunted Horse: Mankind’s first relationship with horses comes from Stone age paintings on the walls of caves in Western Europe.  Although most paintings show the horse as an object of prey; some also reveal the majesty the artists saw in the horse as well as the effort to capture its beauty

 From Cow of the Plains to Pack Animals: Still primarily used as food; the tame horses eventually became domesticated (reliant on humans for food and shelter).  These domesticated horses began to carry the goods of nomadic tribes – so the horse importance grew as a worker.

 Role of the Wheel: Probably imported from Southern Asia; the first horse appeared as domesticated draft animals in the Eastern North America between 3000 and 2000 B.C.  Because of its speed it soon became the favorite draft animal over the oxen, or donkey.  Eventually the light chariot with spoke wheels had been developed for war and hunting.

 Learning to Control and Harness Horses:  The Yoke was developed early and used with oxen before the horse. (connected to a pole of a plow)  Early Bits were all metal; developed around 1500 bc. They were used to control the speed and strength of the light chariots pulled by horses.

 Learning to Ride: learning to drive horses became before learning to ride. Disciplined military mounts, trained to function with their riders in formation, were used only after 1000 B.C.  Before 1000 B.C. people who rode horse were unarmed, probable grooms or messengers.

 The Scythians: they unified as a group of nomadic horseman with common customs and interests about 800 B.C.  Were skilled at using powerful composite bow’s from horseback  Scythians horses were the first recorded geldings – horses before this time were not casterated.

 The Roman Army: Had the first military force on horse back (Cavalry).

 China: Had the first horse drawn war chariots  The emperors were at ease on their mounts.  Their equipment is rather modern appearance.

 Europe after the Romans: The fall of the roman empire was the start of the middle ages. This was time of religious war and barbaric invasions.  Horses became largely used for battle or hunting  The chariot use declined due to the dangerous hostile relations between kingdoms.  The wagon remained – for a farm vehicle  Horses adopted many roles in agriculture.

 Renaissance:  The anatomy of the horse became the subject of scientific study, and the training of horses became a disciplined art.  The Renaissance enriched the quality of life for humans and horses.  The vehicle design was advanced, and horses assumed a more prominent role in transporting goods and people.

 Study for you Test  Read all notes and answer all the review questions. They will be collected before test.