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The History of the Horse

John Sylvester, Phd.

As horse owners, we know that our horses are different from production animals such as pigs and cows; however, most of us rarely stop and take the time to understand why.

Modern horses come from the genus Equuis that branched off a common ancestor about 5 million years ago. And about 5 thousand years ago, horses and humans met for the first time. Humans fell in love with horses and we decided that horses would be a part of our lives from that point forward.

During the past five thousand years, we have selected characteristics from many different horses that have developed into breeds of all different shapes and sizes. Although five thousand years is a long time, from a genetic standpoint is a matter of only a few seconds. So, even though many horses may look different, their physiology (i.e., the structure of their gastrointestinal tract) has not changed much and we must understand that in order to keep our horses healthy. Click here to read the full Post…