All About Horses

The First Horses

The origins of today's horses can be traced back over 60 million years. The first horses probably started to evolve in what is now North America, before the continents split and moved to their present positions. Horses became extinct over there about 8,000 years ago, but thrived in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Eohippus

This small browsing animal, no bigger then a rabbit, was the ancestor of the modern horse. It became extinct about 40 million years ago.

Mesohippus

As the forests began to thin out, and the land became drier and harder, early horses such as the MESOHIPPUS could run and trot over long distances.This was about the size of a modern day sheep.

Miohippus

This was a more advanced form of the Mesohippus and lived around 30 million years ago. This was about the size of a donkey. This early horse was capable of the canter. It had still to develop the galloping action of the modern horse.

Merychippus

A long neck helped the Merychippus graze, rather than browse. This horse lived on the prairies of present-day Nebraska, in the North America mid-west, about 15 million years ago.

Pliohippus

The direct ancestor of the modern horse, Pliohippus lived about 6 million years ago. It had the general proportions of todays equines and stood around 122cm (48 inches) high at the shoulder.