Horses, asses, zebras, mules, and mule breeding

Front matter

$4 ray REEVES ae)

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

THE Hlomer Veterinary Library : FOUNDED BY ROSWELL P. FLOWER for the use of the

PART I. Cuaprer I

CuHapter I.

Cuapter IT.

Cuaprer IV.

Wild Ass of Somaliland

Asiatic Wild Ass Mountain Zebra Grevy’s Zebra ..

Burchell’s Zebra The Quagga ...

Hybrid Equide

Cuarter V.

CuaptTer VI.

CHAPTER X.

vi CONTENTS.

Part II. Mules And Mule Breeding

Cuapter XI.

The Utilisation of Mules... ae ede .. page 71 CuaptTer XII.

Non-fertility and Lactation in Mules ae we a ~@9 Cuaprer XIII.

The Poitou Mule on we sa — ee a. §=85 Cuaprer XIV.

Poitou Ass as a Sire of Mules oa wy if we 95 CHAPTER XV.

Mules for Military Service... ey ais ea ses L27 Cuaprer XVII.

Practical Remarks on the Use of Mules... dae ... 138 APPENDIX.

MEMORANDUM ON MULE BREEDING IN INDIA.

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.

Italian Razza Jack

Prejevalsky’s Horse

African Wild Ass

Somali Wild Ass

Onager ... ; we Captured Onagers at Morvi eg Kiang

Mountain Zebra

Zebra Broken to Saddle (in vet) Grevy’s Zebra ... ‘

Skin of Grevy’s Zebra (in ia Burchell’s Zebra

Skin of Burchell’s Zebra (in text) Utilisation of Burchell’s Zebra Burchell’s Zebra in Cape Cart

Burchell’s and Mountain Zebra Contrasted ...

Quagga

Burchell’s Zebra and Hybrid (in ~— Supposititious Mule

Brown Poitou Mule

Poitou Mule, Brunette

English Mule ...

PAGE

Frontispiece

.. facing viii LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.

PAGE Poitou Jack, Typical ... be bes ve ... facing 95 Poitou Jack, Smooth-coated ... e en a 99 Poitou Jack, Yearling ... oa oe bs we 4, LO1 Poitou Jenny ... oe st si wy 108 Poitou Mare and Mule Foal . = sats pee 005) Gun Mule, Indian Mountain Se ed wn o 229

Packing Baggage Mules (in text) ... st .. 182-188

PART IL.

HORSES, ASSES, AND ZEBRAS.

CHAPTER LI.

THE HORSE. (Equus caballus. Linn.)

In the views of modern zoologists all the species of wild horses, asses, and zebras at present existing constitute but one genus, distinguished by the name Equus, the separation of the asses and zebras into distinct genera under the names of Asinus and Hippotigris, as has been proposed by some zoologists, not being generally accepted.

The number of the existing species of the genus Equus cannot be accurately defined, but may be taken as not exceeding twelve in number.

. Equus caballus (the Horse).

. Equus przewalskii (Prejevalsky’s horse). . Equus asinus (African wild ass).

. Equus asinus somalicus (Somali wild ass). . Equus onager (the Hemione)

. Equus kiang (the Kiang). — »

. Equus hemippus (the Hemippe).

. Equus zebra (the Mountain zebra).

. Equus burchellii (Burchell’s zebra)

. Equus chapmanii (Chapman’s zebra)

. Equus grevyi (Grevy’s zebra).

. Equus quagga (the Quagga).

Several of these, it is probable, are mere local varieties,

B or what naturalists term sub-species. This is possibly the case with Prejevalsky’s horse, and may be so with the Somali ass. The kiang and the hemippe are now regarded by naturalists as local varieties of the onager ; Chapman’s zebra appears to be but a variation of the older known Burchell’s zebra; and the quagga is now generally believed to have been exterminated.

The horse is distinguished from the other Equide by the tail being covered with long hair from its base to its end; it possesses also a small bare callus on the inner side of the hind leg below the hock, in addition to the one on the inner side of the foreleg, which is present in all the other species. Further distinctions are the longer mane and forelock, and shorter ears, whilst, in proportion to its size, its limbs are longer, its hoofs broader, and its head smaller than in the species known as wild asses and zebras.

An important distinction between the horse and the other species of the genus, namely, the asses and zebras, appears to have been overlooked or mis-stated by preceding writers—namely, the difference in the period of gestation ; this in the horse is eleven months, whilst in the asses and zebras it exceeds twelve months, as evidenced in the succeeding chapters on those animals.

It is remarkable that this difference should have been so generally ignored. Thus, it is not mentioned by Capt. Hayes in his “ Points of the Horse,” although he devotes no less than five pages to the enumeration of the “ Differences between the Ass and Horse.” Again, Mr. Blanford, in his “ Fauna of British India: Mammalia,” writing of the Asiatic wild ass, says: “The period of gestation is probably the same as in the horse and ass, about eleven months,” and Sir William Flower, in his “Mammals, Living and Extinct,” when describing the general characters of the

Equidee, states definitely “the period of gestation is eleven months.”

The distribution of the horse on the earth’s surface at the present time is largely owing to the agency of man. In Europe wild horses were exceedingly abundant long before the historic period. Their remains are found associated with those of man and domesticated animals belonging to what is called the Neolithic or Stone period. Representations of horses have been found carved on bones and antlers in caves in the south of France, the horse resembling that which is at present feral in the Steppes of Russia and Tartary. Czesar records the ancient Britons as using war chariots, and the horse is represented in the monumental records of Egypt nearly 2000 years before the Christian era. Horses have now been conveyed to every part of the civilised world. It is probable, though not quite certain, that the horse did not exist in the historic period in America until after its discovery by Columbus, although it is remarkable that fossil remains of true horses are found in almost every part of America. They then appear to have been exterminated and have since been re-introduced by man, and have now become feral in large numbers. The horse was undoubtedly introduced by man into Australia, no hoofed animals existing in that vast continent at the time of its discovery.

Whether there are any truly wild horses at the present time—that is to say, animals whose ancestors have never been domesticated—is doubtful. Sir Wiliam Flower says that the nearest approach to the truly wild horse existing at the present time are the so-called tarpans, which occur in the Steppe country north of the Sea of Azoff. Thev are small in size, dun colour, with short mane, and rounded obtuse nose. There is no evidence to prove whether they

B 2

* are really wild—that is, descendants of animals which have never been domesticated ; or feral—that is, descended from animals which have escaped from captivity, like the horses that roam over the plains of South America and Australia, and the wild boars that now inhabit the forests of New Zealand.

Enthusiastic as sportsmen and hunting men may be over the form and endowments of the horse, it is hardly too much to say that naturalists enjoy the contemplation of this glorious creature with no less pleasure, tracing with great interest the modifications that have taken place from the forms of the old extinct horse-like animals as shown in their fossil remains; modifications which have adapted the modern horse to the present condition of things on the earth’s surface. The extinct horse-like animals of the older world had large feet with three and even four toes, with short legs adapted for walking on marshy or yielding ground, like the tapirs and rhinoceroses of modern times. Leaving out of consideration these extinct animals, and speaking of the modern horses only, we find that the specimens of the genus Equus are inhabitants of the plains, for which their whole organisation is specially adapted.

It is interesting to compare the statements of two of the most eminent zoologists regarding these equine animals. The late Sir Richard Owen, in his “Anatomy of Vertebrates,” writes most graphically on the fitness of the organisation of the horse for the needs of man, and he speaks of the coincidence of the modification of the old fossil forms into the present animals with the earliest evidence of the human race. He fervently descants on the fact that, of all the servants of man, none have proved of more value to him. The horse, he says, since its subjugation, has acquired nobler proportions, higher faculties, more strength, more speed, and more amenability to guidance.

“No one (writes Sir Richard Owen) can enter the ‘saddling ground’ at Epsom, before the start for the Derby, without feeling that the glossy-coated, proudly-stepping creatures led out before him are the most perfect and beautiful of quadrupeds. As such, I believe the Horse to have been predestined and prepared for Man. It may be weakness, but, if so, it is a glorious one, to discern, however dimly, across our finite prison wall, evidence of the ‘ Divinity that shapes our ends,’ abuse the means as we may.”

Sir William Flower, the successor to Sir Richard Owen, in describing the horse from a somewhat different standpoint, speaks of the adaptation of its organisation to its life on the open plains, where it is found. He calls attention to the length and mobility of the neck, the position of the eye and ear, the great development of the organ of smell (which gives the wild horses, asses, and zebras the means of becoming aware of the approach of their enemies), while the length of their limbs, the angles which the different segments form with each other, and the combination of firmness, stability, and lightness resulting from the reduction of all the toes to a single one, upon which the whole weight of the body and all the muscular power are concentrated, give them speed and endurance surpassing that of almost any other animal.

“Tf we were not so habituated (writes Sir William Flower) to the sight of the horse as hardly ever to consider its structure, we should greatly marvel at being told of a mammal so strangely constructed that it had but a single toe on each extremity, on the end of the nail of which it walked or galloped. Such a conformation is without a parallel in the vertebrate series, and is one of the most remarkable instances of specialisation, or deviation from the usual type, in accordance with particular conditions of life.”

The consideration of the varieties of the horse, which have resulted from its long domestication, does not come within the scope of the present work, except as far as the different breeds influence the character of hybrids between the horse and the other species, a subject that will be fully considered in the concluding chapters on Mules and Mule Breeding.

CHAPTER ILI.

PREJEVALSKY’S HORSE. (Equus praewalskii. Poliakof.)

Mucu interest has been excited amongst naturalists respecting the existence of a supposed additional species of horse, which was first brought to notice by, and subsequently named after, the distinguished Russian traveller Prejevalsky.* His single specimen, which he presented to the Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy, St. Petersburg, was not really captured by him, but was given to him by the chief magistrate of the district of Zaisan, it being at that time the only one that had been obtained by the wild camel hunters in the deserts of central Asia. A drawing of this animal was published by Prejevalsky, and is accurately reproduced in the engraving by Mr. Frohawk. The specimen was described at considerable length by the Russian naturalist Poliakof in the “Proceedings of the Russian Geographical Society” for January, 1881. This description was translated by Mr. E. Delmar Morgan, and published in the “Annals and Magazine of Natural History” for 1881. Poliakof distinguishes the animal from the tarpans or

* In the above account I have employed the western mode of spelling Prejevalsky’s name, retaining the Russian form only when used as the specific appellation, which, in accordance with the rules governing scientific nomenclature, I cannot alter.

8 PREJEVALSKY’S HORSE.

so-called wild horses of Tartary, which appear to be really domestic horses that have recovered their liberty, and maintains that it is a perfectly distinct species. In his description he says that the specimen is about three years old, its size is equal to that of the wild asses, but that its head is better shaped near the end of the muzzle, and has shorter ears than those of the wild ass. In shape it takes after the horse, the legs being relatively thick for the size of the body, the hoofs round and broader, and the tail better furnished with hair than the wild ass. The colour is dun, with a yellow tinge on the back, becoming lighter towards the flank and almost white under the belly. The hair is long and wavy, brick-red on the head, cheeks, and lower jaw. The extremity of the nose is almost covered with white hairs, in strong contrast to the red of the other parts of the head. It has no forelock, but the mane is short, upright, and “ hogged,” extending from between the ears to the withers, and of a dark brown colour. There is no dorsal stripe along the back, as in the Asiatic asses. The upper half of the tail is the same colour as the back, but it is longer and thicker at the root than that of any kind of ass. The extremity of the tail is covered with dark brown, or nearly black, hair. The fore legs are brown near the hoofs and on the knees, a peculiarity, he says, which is never known to occur with wild asses, and dark hairs occur on the lower part of the hind legs. The skull and the hoofs more closely resemble those of the horse than any animal of the asinine group. Such is Poliakof’s description of the animal; commenting on which Sir William Flower writes as follows:

“Tt is described as being so intermediate in character between the equine and the asinine group of Equide, that it completely breaks down the generic distinction which some zoologists have

PREJEVALSKY’S HORSE. 9 thought fit to establish between them. It has callosities on all four limbs, as in the horse, but only the lower half of the tail is covered with long hairs, as in the ass. The general colour is dun, with a yellowish tinge on the back, becoming lighter towards the flanks, and almost white under the belly, and there is no dark dorsal strype. The mane is dark brown, short, and erect, and there is no forelock. The hair is long and wavy on the head, cheeks, and jaws. The skull and the hoofs are described as being more like those of the horse than the ass. Until more specimens are obtained, it is difficult to form a definite opinion as to the validity of this species, or to resist the suspicion that it may not be an accidental hybrid between the kiang and the horse.”

Additional specimens of this interesting animal have recently been obtained. The Brothers Grijimailo met with this wild horse in the desert of Dzungaria. The account of their expedition, which was published in the “ Proceedings of the Russian Geographical Society,” has been translated, with notes by Mr. E. Delmar Morgan, and published in the “ Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society” for April, 1891. In their account they state as follows :

“ Springs enable the numerous animals inhabiting Dzungaria to exist; of these the most interesting is Prejevalsky’s horse (E. przewalskii). The only known specimen of this animal, in the Zoological Museum of the Imperial Academy, was obtained by Prejevalsky from the chief magistrate of the district of Zaisan, who had received it from the Kirghiz. Prejevalsky himself, though he crossed the desert of Dzungaria | in three several directions, never came across any of these wild horses, and if he wrote otherwise he was mistaking kulans (E. onager) he had seen in the distance for wild horses, a mistake the most experienced hunters are liable to make, for at that distance it is almost impossible to distinguish between them. It is only by their manner of holding themselves that

10 PREJEVALSKY’S HORSE.

these animals may be recognised. The stallion of the wild horse never leads the herd, but is always behind, taking care of the young, which he protects better than do the mares. But however this may be, we were the first Europeans who, for twenty days, made a study of these interesting animals, adding the skins of three handsome stallions and one mare to our collection—an acquisition we may well be proud of, though made at the cost of many hardships and privations. Besides Equus przewalskii, Dzungaria has the tiger, two antelopes (A. saiga and A. gutturosa), two wild asses (HE. hemionus and H. onager), and, among small animals, a hare and a few rodents not yet determined.”

They seem to throw no suspicion on Prejevalsky’s horse being a distinct species, and do not even allude to the possibility of its being a hybrid between the ass and the horse. They obviously paid great attention to their zoological collection, having obtained a large number of specimens, comprising twenty-nine large mammalia, thirty-nine medium, and forty-two small, and they regarded the four specimens of Equus przewalskii as amongst their most interesting acquisitions. Of these they secured three skulls and one perfect skeleton. Sir W. Flower thinks that it is difficult to form a definite opinion as to the validity of this species, or resist the suspicion that it may be a mule. The latter supposition is unlikely, as, if it were true, sO many specimens could hardly have been obtained; moreover, hybrids between two species are rarely produced except through the agency of man. The capture of a female E. przewalskii in foal would settle this disputed question, equine mules being invariably barren.

Chapter III. The African Wild Ass

(Equus asinus. Linn.)

Tue two species of the genus Equus, namely Equus caballus and Equus przewalskii, are both regarded as horses, being distinguished, amongst other characters, by the presence of callosities, also known as ergots, chesnuts, or castors, on both the hind and fore legs; these are absent from the hind legs of the other species, whilst some of the hybrids (mules) have them, and others have not—by their broad hoofs, and by the long hair not being confined to the extremity of the tail.

The remaining equine animals may. senvaniouth, though not with any great accuracy, be divided into two groups, those which are plainly coloured, the true asses, and those which are striped, and are known popularly as zebras.

The distinction, though obvious to the eye, has no great zoological value. Several of the varieties of the horse, such as the pure bred Norwegian ponies, habitually have the spinal and leg stripes, and numerous other breeds that possess them are described by Darwin in his work on “Variation,” and one African ass, that from Somaliland, is characterised by its transverse leg stripes. The asses are, however, characterised by their geographical distribution, those from Africa being markedly distinct from the Asiatic species.

The African wild ass is now regarded by all zoologists as the origin of our domesticated animal. As this species was originally termed Equus asinus by Linnzus, the name should be retained in place of Equus tceniopus, which was subsequently given it by Heuglin, even although the latter has been extensively used in scientific works. The appellation toeniopus, stripe footed, expresses the fact that many of the species possess dark markings on the lower part of the limbs.

The African ass is found wild in Abyssinia, Nubia, and other parts of North-east Africa lying between the Nile and the Red Sea. Its colour and markings approach closely to those of the ordinary domestic ass ; it possesses a distinct shoulder stripe running frum the withers down to the commencement of the fore leg, similar to that seen almost invariably in the donkey. The ears of the African are longer than those of the Asiatic asses. The activity and speed of the animal must not be judged of by those of the domesticated ass, which has suffered, in this country at least, from continued neglect and scanty fare for centuries. Sir Samuel Baker, speaking of the wild ass, says:

“Those who have seen donkeys only in their civilised state can have no conception of the beauty of the wild or original animal. ‘It is the perfection of activity and courage. It has a high bred tone in its deportment, a high-actioned step when it trots freely over the rocks and sand, with the speed of a horse when it gallops over the boundless desert. The specimens now in the Zoological Gardens will enable any one to perceive the character of the animal as it was before being altered by generations of captivity.”

The bray of the African is identical with that of our common ass, and Darwin, in his “ Variation,” notes the marked aversion to walking across a brook, which characterises our domestic donkey, as indicating its being derived from a desert-haunting animal, as also, he says, does its pleasure in rolling in the dust.

Of the African wild ass there are now (1894) three specimens in the Zoological Gardens. A female purchased by the Society in 1881, has repeatedly bred, once with the Asiatic ass (H. hemionus), and four times with a male of her own species.

The male African ass now in the Regent’s Park is stated to be not a native of Africa, but is said to have come from the island of Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, where African asses were taken by sailing vessels, and have become wild, retaining all their characteristics, although somewhat reduced in size. In reference to this statement, Admiral Kennedy, of H.M.S. ‘ Boadicea,’’ writing from Madagascar, June 25, 1893, informed me that he had lately met with a gentleman who had lived for eighteen years on the island of Diego Garcia, during which time he had never met with a donkey (at least a wild one), and he is certain that such an animal never existed there.

As is the case with the horse, the ass has been so long a period under domestication that great variations exist in its size and general character. Some asses in India are said to be not larger than Newfoundland dogs. In the south of Europe they are reared with care and attain a large size, and in Poitou a very large breed, of great strength and stoutness of limb, is reared for the purpose of breeding draught mules that rival our large draught cart horses in size and strength.

The period of gestation in the ass is not, as generally stated, even in scientific works such as Blanford’s “ Fauna of British India: Mammalia,” identical with that of the é horse. The stud book of Mr. C. L. Sutherland, who is so greatly interested in ass and mule breeding, testifies to the fact that it is a month longer, and in some instances even more. Thus, a Spanish jenny that visited a Poitou jack on July 7, 1876, foaled a jack on July 28, 1877.* ‘Another distinction between the ass and the horse is that twin births are not uncommon in the case of the former, but are much rarer in the latter.

A singular variety of the African ass was foaled in the Gardens of the Zoological Society in 1892. The female parent was purchased by the society in 1881, and produced her first foal in June, 1883; the other parent being not an African, but the variety of the Asiatic ass known as the Hemippe (H. hemionus). This offspring was of a reddish colour, similar to that of the male parent, the female being of the usual grey. This half-bred was exhibited at the Agricultural Show at Windsor, in 1889. It was a vicious, untamed animal, and was sold to Mr. Guy, and is now in the Gardens of the Zoological Society at Dublin. In the report of that Society

* As this difference in the gestation of the two species is so generally ignored, I have thought it desirable to adduce the following definite instances of the period of gestation in the ass (the result in six cases of a single service) from the stud book of Mr. Sutherland :

- é j Period of Dam. Sire. Date. Foal Born. Gestation.

The above were all large ae of foreign breeds, such as the Maltese, Spanish, Poitou, and their crosses, which belonged to Mr. Sutherland. They were put to large foreign jacks with the above results.

for 1892 this hybrid is described as a fine animal, which resembles its male parent rather than the mother. Since then the female African ass has produced other foals, the male parent being in all cases an African of the usual grey colour and dark shoulder stripe common to the species. These foals were born respectively in 1889, 1891, and the last on October 18th, 1892. The latter offers a striking example of variation from the usual markings and colour of the species to which it belongs. It is of a reddish fawn colour, somewhat shaggy in coat, and is remarkably distinguished by a large star on the forehead and a white blaze down the face, such as is rarely, if ever, seen in any species of ass, wild or domesticated. There is the slightest possible indication of stripes on the legs and of the shoulder stripe, and the ears are shorter than those of the parents. It has passed into the possession of Mr. A. J. Scott, of Rotherfield Park, Alton, Hants, and is remarkably tame and sociable.

Now, the question that presents itself is whether this is an accidental variation, such as occurs from time to time in almost all animals, especially those in confinement or domestication, or whether it is an instance of the influence of a previous impregnation, and that the animal has reverted to the characters of the Hemippe, which was the parent of the first foal produced by the female.

The influence of the first sire on all subsequent offspring is a subject of very considerable importance that has not received the scientific investigation that it merits. It is generally accepted by breeders of dogs, and in the case of valuable animals the effect of a mésalliance is carefully guarded against. It is one that is recognised by physiologists as affecting the human species, and the example of the striped foals that were always bred by a mare whose first foal was a hybrid of zebra parentage is well known.

Whether this young ass bred in the Gardens is merely an accidental variation, or whether it owes its peculiarities to the influence of the Hemippe, is a point which I will not endeavour to decide. The white blaze on the face is most peculiar, and I am informed by Mr. C. L. Sutherland, who is well known in connection with the breeding of equine animals and their hybrids, that he has never seen this blaze, so common on the horse, on any of the many thousand asses that have come under his notice in Europe and America. The facts of the case are, therefore, worth putting on record.

Captain Hayes, in his recent work on “The Points of the Horse,” says:—

“The ass hardly ever has any irregular markings on its coat, such as a ‘star,’ ‘blaze,’ ‘reach,’ or ‘stockings,’ all of which are very frequent amongst horses. ‘A small star, on one or two occasions, is the only mark of the kind I have ever seen in the ass. At the same time, I must state that I have not had much experience among these animals.

“TI believe I am correct in saying that the colour of the ass is never of a bright bay, chestnut, red or blue roan, or nutmeg grey. I have seen mules of an iron-grey colour, but have not observed it in the ass. This conservatism in colour and freedom from irregular markings, shown by the ass, is very remarkable, considering how greatly the coat of the horse’ varies in this respect.”

Captain Hayes also calls attention to the different extent of the patches of thickened skin, which he terms the shell, that cover the croup and the pelvis in the horse, whereas in the ass it extends all over the ribs, which are, consequently not as sensitive to the effects of blows as are those of the horse. This thickening is due toan extremely dense layer of connective tissue, which is so close and hard that when the skin has been tanned and dried it looks like horn, and is utilised for the manufacture of the long boots worn by foreign cavalry officers.

Mr. C. L. Sutherland furnishes me with the following , list of five cardinal points in which the ass differs from the horse :

* (1) In the period of gestation, which in the’ ass, as before tated, is at least twelve months, whereas in the horse it is eleven.

(2) The absence of chestnuts on the hind legs of the ass.

“(3) The number of loin vertebre in the ass is five, in the horse six. In the mule it is sometimes five and sometimes six.

“(4) The ass in comparison with the horse more frequently produces twins; in many cases, however, these are the result of superfeetation, as is evidenced by the difference in size of the produce. In my experience, writes Mr. Sutherland, an ass in foal with twins always aborts.

“(5) The entire absence in the ass of the white stockings or fetlocks so common in the horse, and also of the star or blaze on the forehead. In these particulars the mule follows the ass, which is very prepotent over the horse in those cases where the ass is the male parent. The mule may be said to be three-fourths of an ass rather than intermediate between its parents, whereas the mute, which is also called a hinny or jennet (the ‘bardot’ of the French), in which the horse is the male parent, favours the horse rather than the ass.