my paper

 Horse Evolution 

Paleontologists through many years of study have found that horses have definitely evolved from their small, “dog-like” ancestors (“Hunt”). The equine species, originally indigenous to Europe, have evolved to be able to help people in their everyday lives. To understand their evolution, paleontologists had to carry out in depth studies of the species anatomy. From theses studies, the anatomy of the equine species has evolved due to changes in human interference, habitat and breeding.

 Ever since humans have discovered horses, they have been using them to help with their daily activities. Today’s horses are being used for many different things. These uses range from shows to recreational and even farming. One of the biggest horse shows is called the ASPCA Maclay National Championship. Here some of the country’s best horses and their owners come to compete. Even though this is a competition, the primary objective remains the same, “to uphold the welfare of horses, regardless of value (“Usef”). All horses, due to the United States Equestrian Federation, are required to be treated with kindness, respect and the compassion that they deserve. They are never to be subjected to any form of mistreatment (“Usef”). 

Horses are not always bought so that they can be working horses. Sometimes they are bought just so they can be their owners hiking, or recreational partner. There are trails and campgrounds that have special trails for horses and their owners. Over in Europe, There is a Roman province called Adventure Transylvania, where horse owners can go on a tree to four hour trail ride through the woods (“Adventure trans.”). People in America, also go on trails rides. They can go to fair hill or their own back yard. Before there were machines, people used horses for farming. During the first half of the nineteenth century, inventors were trying to come up with new ways to make farming easier. In the end, some farmers did not want to use the new machines that were being made. They kept with the machines that were drawn by horses. These machines could d the same thing as the big machines. Farmers could cultivate, harvest, till the land using horses instead of the big, expensive machines (“Moore”). Today, people still use horses for farming. If the farm is small to mid- sized, all or most of the work can be done through horse power (“McQuail”). Using horse instead of machines has a number of positive economic effects. One is that horse run on grass and hay with costs less then buy fuel for big machines. Another positive effect that they have is that they are helpful in a woodlot and during the winter they “start-up easily” (“McQuail”). They can get into tight spaces that machines can not get into and also during the winter, farmers do not have to get up early in the morning to warm them up. People have also changed horses by making equipment for them. Some horse owners have shoes put on their horse to protect their hooves from wear and tear. One the early horseshoes, calkins, or small protruding tabs were placed at the ends of the shoe to provide the horse with extra traction (“Wikipedia”). Other reasons that horses are sometimes equipped with shoes are cultivated feed can loose a high proportion of carotene so it does not always provide this vital ingredient to horses. Since the hoof is made of keratin, like human fingernails, it grows hard, tough and flexible only with optimal nutrition (“Wikipedia”). One last reason that horse owner equip their horse with shoes is because in captivity the absence of natural conditioning factors that are present in the wild, the feet can grow overly large, long, fragile and very soft. Due to this, protection from rocks, pebbles and hard, uneven surfaces is decreased. Cracks in overgrown and extremely brittle hoof walls are a constant danger, along with bruising of the soft tissues within the foot because of inadequately thick and hard sole material (“Wikipedia”). Another type of equipment that is used on horses is tack. Tack is everything that goes on a horse so a person is able to ride. Things that are considered tack are: saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, harnesses, martingales, and breastplates. The saddle is the rider’s seat that is fastened around the horse with a girth (in western riding it is called a cinch). It is important that the saddle is comfortable to the rider and the horse. If the saddle fits improperly, it may create pressure points on the horse’s back muscle, causing them pain. This pain can lead to the injuries of the horse, rider, or both. Stirrups support a rider’s feet that hang down one either side of the horse’s body . Stirrups can be dangerous due to the fact that a rider’s foot and get stuck, leading to them being dragged if the are to trying to dismount (get off) the horse. Due to this, saddles are now are made with peacock stirrups. These are either shaped so that a rider can easily remove their foot or they are made with a rubber band. There are also safety stirrup bars. These are hanger for the stirrup leather that allows it to detach from the saddle (“Wikipedia”). Due to changes in habitat, horses had to change to be able to survive. One change that took place was more open space became available. Since there was more space, horses became easy prey for predators. One way they evolved to cope with this change was their feet changed. Instead of walking on “dog-like” pads, they now walked permanently on tip-toe. This allowed them to be faster runners because their weight was supported on one big central toe instead of three small ones (“Hunt”). Another change that occurred was that the legs became longer. Bones in the legs began to fuse together and leg bones and the muscle structure became specialized for more efficient forwards and backwards movement (“Hunt”). For example, the horse known as Mesophippus was beginning to show changes in leg length and height. They were taller then their ancestors because they were moving onto the plains and they need to be taller. Their legs were more flexible, allowing them to move more fluidly (“Hunt”). Another change in habitat that took place was new grass and foliage began to grow. This new foliage caused the horse species yet again to have to adapt. One thing that changed dramatically was the teeth. With the growth of large grasslands, horses took advantage of the new ecological opportunity it created. Since grass is difficult to chew, it wears down the teeth very quickly. To cope with this, they needed to have teeth with ridges of some kind to prevent them from wearing as quickly (“Hunt”). Small crests on the teeth enlarged and connected together. Theses crests are what formed a series of ridges which made it possible for grazers, like, horses be able to eat the harsh and abrasive grasses. Another change that took place in the teeth was that there was a gradual height increase in the height of the tooth crowns. This enabled the teeth to continually grow out of the gum as the tops of were worn down.