HORSE (AS. hors, OS., heel. hross, OHG. ros, Ger. Ross; possibly connected with Lat. currcrc, to run. less probably with Skt. kard. to spring, Gk. s6p8aE, kordax, wanton dance, or with AS. hreodon, OI1G. rust en, Ger. riisten. to adorn). One of a genus of pachydermatous quadrupeds of the family Equidoe (q.v.). Since the domestica tion of the horse it has become next to man him self the most important factor in the business and pleasures of the world, and in fact all the practical details of every-day human life. Ac cording to the monuments, the horse was intro duced into Egypt at the time of the shepherd kings. His use, however, was very limited, both the Egyptians and Assyrians confining the use of the horse to warfare. Subsequently, however. his services to man increased, and he became an emblem of rank and an objeet of luxury or sport, as well as an aid in war.
The speed of a horse is its greatest asset, be cause it is its chief value to man. It is the rec ognition of this value that has been the important factor in the evolution of the horse, an animal especially plastic in the hands of the breeder. His size, form, action, and instincts are subject to modification to a degree unknown in that of any of the other larger species. During his early his tory modifications of type were due to the chang ing conditions of warfare; but to-day the princi pal variations of type are, to a far greater extent. due to the exigencies of commerce, or the de mands of sport. It has been suggested that the different breeds of the modern domestic horse have been developed out of the interbreeding of several original wild species; this, however, is only conjecture. What is known is that domestic breeds have existed in Europe from prehistoric times, and also that they have been improved con tinually by blending with Oriental horses.
Arabian horses are divided into three classes. which have been recognized as sub-breeds since the fifteenth century. The genuine Arabian is found in the region from Damascus to the Eu phrates, as well as in Arabia proper. The breed is found in its greatest purity and excellence in the stables of the Sultan of Turkey. The Turk, or Turkish horse, found in portions of European Turkey, but principally in Asia Minor, was of considerable importance in the seventeenth cen tury, but it has deteriorated very much since then. The Barb is a native of the Barbary States, whence its name. It is found in greater perfection among the Moors, who introduced the Barb blood into Spain during their rule in that country, and so improved the Spanish horse that for several centuries it occupied the first place throughout Europe. Spanish horses of this stock brought to America by the Spaniards are regarded as the progenitors of the mustangs and the other wild breeds common to Mexico and Ca li torn ( See heading. The Horse in America.)
About the middle of the sixteenth century Ital ian and Spanish horses (the former heavy types, and the latter, owing to their Barb blood. very much lighter and fleeter) were in the greatest demand. It is during this period that horseman ship (q.y.) began to be studied as a science, the first book concerning which was published by Grisoni in Italy in 1552. The Italians were also the first to take up the teaching of horsemanship as an accomplishment, after which riding came into vogue throughout Western Europe. The English thoroughbred is spread over a larger por tion of the earth to-day than is that of any other breed, and the literature bearing upon it equals that of all the other animals combined. It is used more than any other to improve the blood of horses of general utility throughout the world, and, according to statistics, more capital is in fluenced by it than by any other two or three breeds combined.
The history of English horse-breeding has been divided into three periods: the first extending from the earliest records to the end of the six teenth century: the second from the accession of .James I. to the first year of the Stud Book (q.v.). 1791 (in which period the thoroughbred came into existence) : and the third period ex tending to the present time. in which the thor oughbred has become a clearly defined as well as a pure breed. The original British horse was a small pony, shaggy and hardy. and rarely more t'Man 14 hands high, but the importation of stal lions from Spain, Italy, and France improved the breed from time to time. During the Crusades and the consequent general use of heavy armor, which continued up to about the sear Him), large horses came into vogue. A knight in armor, to gether with his horse-aecuutrements. weighed from 350 to 123 pounds, so that during the age ut chivalry all breeding was directed toward im provements in the size of the horse. Stallions tinder a certain size were rondenmell by law, and in I•17 one hundred stallions were imported from Normandy, and for nearly live hundred years subsequently size was sought for rather than speed; thus laying the foundation of the different modern brand• of British draught-horses. What was the ease in England was equally so with the nations of Western Europe and their horses; so that the horse of this period is particularly re markable for its broad chest. heavy neck, and round buttocks. With the op's-artifice of gun powder and firearms, and the disappearance of armor, these breeds became useless for the pur pose of warfare, which now demanded fleetness as a tirst essential. They passed. however, to a greater sphere of usefulness. and to-day consti tute the heavy draught breeds known as the Dutch and Flemish, tlit• Per•herons (q.v.) of France, the Clydesdale Of Scotland, and the cart and shire horse of England (see SHIRE HORSE).