It is guessed that the equine genus is around 60 million years old. So lets take a piece of string 60 meteres long to represent this length of time. It is my hope that is may help to put the effects of domestication and selective breeding into perspective, and also to give fuel to those stepping out of the box and choosing a free range natural lifestyle for their horses.
If that piece of string is 60 meters long, modern Equus appeared around 30 meters ago, the horse was first domesticated only during the last 6mm they have only been stabled for 3mm and shod for 2mm! And most surprisingly the thoroughbred horse about a 1/3 of a millimeter long!
I make this point because so many of our horses have thoroughbred breeding and due to the characteristics we have breed into them they are often considered unsuitable candidates for natural management. However if you remember that all horses are out of the same pot and that for millions of years they have survived out in the elements, and also that given a more natural lifestyle they do toughen up considerably, one does wonder we are a help or a hinderance to the equine species?
