T he horses of the world are usually considered having their most distant ancestors in Condylarthres (75 million years ago), Eohippus, and Hyracotherium (about 55 million years ago), a doglike creature with three toes (the earlier Condylarthres had five) and a height of barely 20 cm. Hyracotherium also had pads.

m illion years ago the next type of horses appeared, which, though still distant in regard to their physiognomy, were somewhat more reminiscent of present day’s horses. They were bigger and their teeth had a more adapted design. Their weight was carried by the three fingers on each foot, mainly by the middle finger. Via Merychippus (25-10 million years ago) the development was carried on further towards the modern horses of today. The eye placement was adjusted so that the horses were better able to discover predatory animals in a more open terrain, and the look of the teeth and the extremities was accentuated. Pilohippus (real hoofs) and later Dinohippus was the subsequent horse types in the chain of prehistoric ancestors. Dinohippus lived about 13 million years ago, and in regard to its morphology it was already very reminiscent of today’s horses. From Dinohippus Equus and Equus caballus then evolved. Zebras and donkeys are together with Equus caballus also sub types of Equus.

T oday’s horses and the horses that are historically mentioned to have served mankind, are all believed to be derived, in varying proportions, from three uniform stem types, including the tarpan (from Equus caballus gmelini), the przewalski horse, and the European wood horse (Equus silvaticus or Equus caballus fossilis). All these stem types of horses are now gone, with the exception of the przewalski horse which also is on the verge of extinction. (The tarpan that we see today is a bred reconstruction of the real tarpan.) Although most part of the variation in modern horses is a result of deliberate breeding practices, the coarser workhorse types may have the major part of their ancestry derived from the European wood horse, while the oriental racial group to a larger proportion have their origin in the tarpan. Those horse races whose heritage mainly stems from the tarpan and the przewalski horse are usually called warm-blooded while the big workhorses are called cold-blooded.

F rom the three stem types of horses a development into four main types has been historically observed. The first horse race displays similarities with the Exmoor pony, and established its presence in the north western parts of Europe where it lived under comparatively harsh conditions. Another type of horse, also a pony, was bigger and more solid, and found its habitat in northern Eurasia. The third horse race, reminiscent of today’s Akhal-teké, was to be found on the central steppes of Asia, while the fourth form, a smaller horse, lived in occidental Aisa.

A more modern classification of today’s horses than the old one based on cold-bloodedness and warm-bloodedness, may be into brachymorphic, mesomorphic and dolichomorphic horses with regard to race. Though a few middle types are added here, the older classification into cold-blooded and warm-blooded is no less problematic. In the brachymorphic group especially heavy workhorses are to be found. The dolichomorphic group is characterized by long-leggedness and a capacity of higher speeds. The mesomorphic group is typically constituted by riding-horses and light workhorses. Brachymorphic horses are thus traditionally mainly called cold-blooded.

T he official weight record for a single horse in modern times is held by the Belgian stallion Brooklyn Supreme. At most this horse weighed 1450 kg. Brooklyn Supreme died in 1948. A less certain piece of information states a weight on the horse Mammoth (of Shire race) to 1524 kg. Mammoth lived during the middle of the 1900th century. The Shire race is commonly regarded as the biggest race (horse by horse) among horses. The smallest adult horse (of a mini race) weighed 11,9 kg. There is also a unverified report of a horse which is said to have weighed only 9,1 kg as an adult.

S ome horses have a very homogenous ancestry within the race. For example, all English thoroughbred horses can be derived from three stallion: Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian and Godolphin Arabian. Most trotter races can to a large extent be traced back to one specific English thoroughbred named Sampson, french trotter also to Conquerant, Phaëton and some more. Some types of workhorses are bred with less consideration to uniqueness and purity of ancestry, but with more focus on a wide spectrum of varying characteristics. This can be said of some cold-blooded horses and not least of many pony races.

T he pure colours referred to horses are brown, black brown, chestnut (reddish), (light brown), albino, yellowish-brown, DUN, black and dark blue dun (greyish). Some horses are of mixed colours, that is grey (light) type or of roan, or parti-coloured, that is piebald or striped type. Other than that there are a large number of combinations of colour signs such as iron and white-face, and variations between horsehair and body hair.

H orses were very popular between 1600 and 1900. All arduous personal land transports were then undertaken with their help, and the agriculture was dependent on them, and the same goes for warfare. Many horse races have been heavily affected by the industrialization. Nowadays horses are only used in forestry and agriculture in exceptional cases. Their great use is as riding-horses and in trotting. It can be added that horses also come to some use in hamburgers.

   Kåre Andersson