Horse

:This article discusses ungulate mammals. For other meanings of horse, see Horse (disambiguation).

Domestication of the horse and surviving wild species

The earliest evidence for the domestication of the horse comes from Central Asia and dates to about 4,000 BCE. Competing theories exist about the time and place of domestication. However, wild species continued into historic times, including the Forest Horse, Equus caballus silvaticus (also called the Diluvial Horse); it is thought to have evolved into Equus caballus germanicus, and may have contributed to the development of the heavy horses of northern Europe, such as the Ardennais.

Related Topics:
Domestication of the horse - Central Asia - 4,000 BCE - Europe - Ardennais

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The Tarpan, Equus caballus gmelini, became extinct in 1880. Its genetic line is lost, but a substitute has been recreated by "breeding back", crossing living domesticated horses that had features selected as primitive, thanks to the efforts of the brothers Lutz Heck (director of the Berlin zoo) and Heinz Heck (director of Tierpark Munich Hellabrunn). The resulting animal is more properly called the Wild Polish Horse or Konik.

Related Topics:
Tarpan - Breeding back - Berlin - Zoo - Konik

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Only one true wild-horse species survives: Przewalski's Horse, Equus caballus przewalskii przewalskii Polaikov, a rare Asian species. Mongolians know it as the taki, while the Kirghiz people call it a kirtag. Wild populations exist in Mongolia; see: http://www.treemail.nl/takh/.

Related Topics:
Przewalski's Horse - Mongolia

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Wild vs. feral horses

One can distinguish between wild animals, whose ancestors have never undergone domestication, and feral animals, who had domesticated ancestors but who now live in the wild. Several populations of feral horses exist, including those in the West of the United States and Canada (often called "mustangs") and in parts of Australia (called brumbies) and in New Zealand called "Kaimanawa horses". These feral horses may provide useful insights into the behavior of their ancestral wild horses.

Related Topics:
Feral - United States - Canada - Mustangs - Australia - Brumbies - New Zealand - Kaimanawa horse

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The Icelandic horse (pony-sized but called a horse) offers an interesting breed from a historic and behavioural point of view. Introduced by the Vikings into Iceland, Icelandic horses missed out on the intensive selective breeding that took place in Europe from the middle ages onwards, giving us a picture of what horses looked like and behaved like in those times. The Icelandic horse has a four-beat gait called the "tölt", which equates to the rack exhibited by several American gaited breeds.

Related Topics:
Icelandic horse - Vikings - Iceland - Gait - Tölt

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