Just Stallions

Most “wild” horses today are actually feral horses (see feral horses), animals that had domesticated ancestors but were themselves born and live in the wild, often for generations. However, there are also some truly wild horses whose ancestors were never successfully domesticated.

The “Four Foundations” theory

There is a theory that there were four basic “proto” horses that developed with adaptations to their environment prior to domestication.

There are competing theories, some arguing that the prototypes were separate species, others suggesting that the prototypes were physically different manifestations of the same species. Either way, the most common theories of historical wild species from which other types are thought to have developed suggests the following base prototypes:

The “Warmblood subspecies” or “Forest Horse” (Equus ferus silvaticus, also called the Diluvial Horse), thought to have evolved into Equus ferus germanicus, and which may have contributed to the development of the warmblood horses of northern Europe, as well as older “heavy horses” such as the Ardennais.

Wild species surviving into modern times

The tarpan, Equus ferus ferus, survived into the historical era, but became extinct in 1879. Its genetic line is lost, but its phenotype has been recreated by a “breeding back” process, in which living domesticated horses with primitive features were repeatedly interbred. Thanks to the efforts of the brothers Lutz Heck (director of the Berlin zoo) and Heinz Heck (director of Munich Tierpark Hellabrunn), the resulting Heck horse together with the Konik resembles the tarpan more closely than any other living horse.

Przewalski’s Horse (Equus ferus przewalskii), a rare Asian species, is the only true wild horse alive today. Also known as the Mongolian Wild Horse, Mongolians know it as the taki, while the Kyrgyz people call it a kirtag. Small wild breeding populations of this animal, named after the Russian explorer Przewalski, exist in Mongolia. There are also small populations maintained at zoos throughout the world. After a battle against extinction, the Przewalksi’s Horse is finally flourishing in the wild once again.

Other truly wild equids alive today include the zebra and the onager.

Related posts:

1. Horse Anatomy – Stuff You Want To Know
2. Feral Horses – Stuff You Want To Know
3. Horse Evolution – Stuff You Want To Know