To Olis Thurston Special thanks to Jodi Kelly and Daniel J Kelly D V M of Stonecliff Animal Clinic Bradford Vermont
In a lush green meadow a herd of animals is grazing One of them neighs Another shakes its mane Horses What powerful graceful and majestic animals they are A STALLION is a male horse NEIGH A MARE is a female horse A HERD is a group of large animals that live together
Horses have been around for a long time Their earliest ancestors lived about 60 million years ago in what now is known as North America Scientists named this ancient creature Eohippus It stood about 15 inches 37 5 cm tall Its front feet had four toes and the hind feet had three Each toe had a small hoof The name EOHIPPUS EE o-HIP-us comes from two Greek words EO means dawn HIPPUS means horse
Over millions of years Eohippus evolved into the horse The horse migrated to South America Europe and Asia before mysteriously disappearing from North America People first hunted horses for their meat and hide Then about six thousand years ago people learned they could domesticate horses They taught them to pull things NORTH AMERICA EUROPE ASIA SOUTH AMERICA DOMESTICATE also means to TAME
