Chapter 8: Domestication

Chapter 7: Behavior in Horses
Listings
Chapter 9: Breeding of Horses

Competing theories exist as to the time and place of initial domestication. The earliest evidence for the domestication of the horse comes from sites in Ukraine and Kazakhstan, dating to approximately 3,500-4,000 BC. It is thought that the horse was completely domesticated by 3000 BC, and by 2000 BC there was a sharp increase in the number of horse bones found in human settlements in northwestern Europe, indicating the spread of domesticated horses throughout the continent.

The "Four Foundations" theory

Modern DNA evidence suggests that domesticated horses evolved from multiple wild populations. Classification based on body types and conformation, absent the availability of DNA for research, suggest that that there were roughly four basic wild prototypes, thought to have developed with adaptations to their environment prior to domestication. There are competing theories, some argue that the four prototypes were separate species or subspecies, while others suggest that the prototypes were physically different manifestations of the same species. These animals probably were able to crossbreed with each other, thus were not completely separate species. Other theories hold that there was only one wild species and all different body types were entirely a result of selective breeding after domestication.

Whether wild or developed during early domestication, under the four foundations theory, all types and breeds of horses are thought to have developed from the following base prototypes:

•The "Warmblood subspecies" or "Forest Horse" (once proposed as Equus ferus silvaticus, also called the Diluvial Horse), which evolved into a later variety sometimes called Equus ferus germanicus. This prototype may have contributed to the development of the warmblood horses of northern Europe, as well as older "heavy horses" such as the Ardennais.
•The "Draft" subspecies, a small, sturdy, heavyset animal with a heavy hair coat, arising in northern Europe, adapted to cold, damp climates, somewhat resembling today's Fjord horse and even the Shetland pony.
•The "Oriental" subspecies, (once proposed as Equus agilis) a taller, slim, refined and agile animal arising in western Asia, adapted to hot, dry climates, thought to be the progenitor of the modern Arabian horse and Akhal-Teke.
•The "Tarpan" subspecies: dun-colored, sturdy animal, the size of a large pony, adapted to the cold, dry climates of northern Asia, the predecessor to the Tarpan and Przewalski's Horse as well as the domesticated Mongolian horse.