The Oldest Breed on Earth

It's hard to imagine that, of the hundreds of different breeds of horses we have today, all trace back to a single wild type, but it's true. The horse didn't always have the familiar look we now know, either. Imagine him as a little swamp-dwelling creature, about the size of a border collie, with five toes on each foot! That was the first ancestor of the horse, Hyracotherium (sometimes called Eohippus, the dawn horse), who lived some 50 million years ago.

That wild ancestor of the modern horse is still with us, in the form of the Przewalski's Horse. Przewalski's Horse first showed up during the last Ice Age. He has survived in remote areas of Asia to this day. At one time he was thought to be extinct, but Russian explorer Colonel Przewalski discovered a herd running free in an isolated part of Mongolia in the mid-1800's. Unfortunately, human hunters have made the Przewalski's Horse extinct in the wild, but zoos around the world are actively breeding this prehistoric horse, and some are now starting programs to re-introduce them to their natural habitat. You may have caught a glimpse of him at the Metro Toronto Zoo!