blue star equiculture

In a quest to place the horse along side humans like they were almost 6000 years ago, I try to learn something new everyday even if it is a small something..... I feel it makes the quest easier to know the horse...

Horses by nature are reactive and very high strung. Evolution has helped man domesticate and see the usefulness of the horse. All present day horses are decedents of the original wild ones. The horses have evolved like most animals with natural selection. It is believed that the horse was one of the last animals to be successfully domesticated. The is no hard evidence of how or when the horse was domesticated but it is believed it originated in the middle or far east approximately 5000 to 6000 years ago. Before domestication the horse was used for hide, milk, blood hair and bone. This process was then changed by what is described as semi domestication. During this process it is believed that man really found the potential usefulness of the horse. Noticing its speed and strength really played a part in the man’s want to domesticate this animal. In the early times they were used much like the oxen and reindeer for carrying loads and wheeled vehicles. It is said that the first riders of horses were the sick, injured and elderly that were hoisted up on them, and named the beast of burden. The next phase in evolution were the horses of war, which were much smaller then modern day horses. It is only the last 100 years or so that the horse over 15hh have become widespread. The speed and strength of these majestic creatures played a huge role in the dominance of empires and civilization. This animal is very unique among domesticated animals and the role it played on warfare. In the early days working in the fields was done by oxen and donkey until man realized that the power and speed of a horse could do the job in half the time and also about this time adopted the measure of “Horsepower”. As man became more and more interested, he realized that some types of horses were better suited to do certain jobs. The breeding process was closely looked at and they realized that breeding certain stallions with certain mares produced an offspring that could be predicted to act just like it’s parents. They tried to promote the characteristics most people wanted, strength and behavior. This ability to pass on certain characteristics is known to be prepotency by breeders. When man would go to purchase a horse for a certain task they would look for specific breeds and would look for a certain height. The “hand” measurement was adopted. It is approximately 4 inches or the size of a man’s hand. Horses are measured from the highest point on the withers to the ground in a perpendicular line. The horse is to be standing on level ground with both front legs together and a measuring stick is placed to its shoulder. Example of this is 15.2 hands are 15 hands and 2 inches. Ok lets fast forward to the modern days horse. The evolution of time has created a perfect working and grazing machine. With proper maintenance of the modern day horse we have the perfect working and playing companion. I also learned about how certain breeds were created and because of my soft spot for Clydesdales I will touch a bit on how they evolved. Sorry folks had to do it J. The Clydesdale is something of a paradox. It without question belongs to the heavy draft horse also known as the working horse. It has been bread to be perfect for the work it does because of its sheer strength and size. It appears elegant yet does any work asked of it and does it with elegance and ease. Compared to some of the heavy breeds the Clyde is fairly new, its records of breed creation only go back to the 1870’s. This breed originated in the Clyde Valley in Scotland in the late 17th or early 18th century. Flemish Stallions who are ancestors to the Belgian Draft Horse were imported into Scotland to mate with existing native draft mares. At the time this breed was started it was not known that this breed would turn out to be one of the most sought after draft or heavy horse breed. A famous agricultural author in the 18th century marked the Clyde to be “the most valuable breed of draught horse in Britain, not only for farming but for every description of work where strength, agility and docility of temper is needed. It is said that every Clyde out there has the blood of the Scottish Galloway Mares, Flemish Stallions and certainly Friesian, Shire and Cleveland Bay running through its veins. Its coat is commonly roan with bay brown and chestnut; in some cases black can be seen. Its hindquarters are very muscular, chest is very wide, barrel is deep and rounded, hind legs are close but straight down. Height average is 16.2hh to 17.2hh but in some case higher. In my book this is perfect breed. Reading and learning about the horse is the best way I see of educating the public and getting this mazing animal back where it belongs beside us in every aspect of life. Ok off to feed my perfect breed.