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Prehistoric carving of a horse's head out of Mammoth bone found in a cave in southern France. |
Various forms of wild horses
lived in Europe in prehistoric times. In comparison of their skeletons,
especially their sculls, the assumption that some of these wild horses
were the founders of today’s domestic horses is a fair statement. By
studying these skeletons, the origin of many breeds of horses can be
traced to specific groups devised by some known zoo-technicians. The oldest and most known division of domestic horses comes from Munich zoo-technician Frank. He separated horses into the Eastern Group (Oriental Group) and the Western Group (Occidental). In a practical perspective, |
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Frank’s
division is supported by another zoo-technician named Settegast. He
separated domestic horses into Warmblooded and Coldblooded.
Another division comes from Simon Nathusius who has divided
domesticated horses, according to their practical uses, into Runners
(Running Horses) and into Walkers (Walking Horses). A similar division
comes from a French zoo-technician, Sanson, who divided the
domestic horse into groups of short-skull and long-skull horses and
basically recognized the Western and Eastern groups of the zoo-technician,
Frank, as well. The domestic horse was divided into three groups by Antonius, a Paleontologist from Vienna. He took notice, and detailed the differences in skull formations and compared them with the present and extinct wild horses. Somewhat later, a Berliner zoologist, Hilzheimer, added a fourth group (Northern Group) to the list of Antonius. The groups today are as follows:
Edited by R.A. 02/21/04 Translated by
Ludvik K Stanek a.k.a.
Lee Stanek
from the 1953 Special Zoo-Technique - Breeding of Horses |
