|
Can You Count Your Horse's Toes? - Page 2© Patricia Celley
Page 2
Apr 1, 2001
According to evolutionists, all hoofed animals evolved from Condylarth which existed about 75 million years ago. Condylarth was a five-toed animal about the size of a dog. There is one more place on the horse’s leg that has a funny growth with no purpose or other explanation for being there except that it may be the remains of the fifth toe. It is called the chestnut. Located just above the knee on the front legs and just below the hock on the hind legs, it is similar to the ergot in texture. It usually lays flush to the skin, periodically peeling off outside layers. Like the ergot, it can also grow to protrude and look unsightly. One argument in favor of this being the remains of the fifth toe is that the location high up on the leg would correspond to the small size of Condylarth. This is the least acknowledged toe. This article is intended to share some fun trivia. It is not a complete report on the evolution of the horse. I have skipped some of the ancestors, and have not discussed the changes in size and teeth. If you would like more information on the subject there are lots of great sites to visit. Check out The Evolution of the Horse which also has other related links. The Equine Studies Institute has a page on evolution that can be viewed at www.equinestudies.org/historical.htm. The Equine Studies Institute is a great reference for other horse information too, but it is available by paid subscription only. You can click on their home page for more information. For in-depth evolution information try Talk.Origins. A search for "Horse" will give you 78 articles. I especially liked the second article by Kathleen Hunt. Now you can count five toes on your horse. The hoof is one, two splint bones, the ergot is four, and the chestnut makes five...If you choose to believe it.
Go To Page:
1
2
The copyright of the article Can You Count Your Horse's Toes? - Page 2 in Horse Talk is owned by . Permission to republish Can You Count Your Horse's Toes? - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Hi Patricia,
Guess what? You are the winner! Whenever I set down to read here at S101 I pick a single word and put it in search just to see what I'll come up with. Tonight it was "toes" and you came ...
|
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to
Patricia Celley's
Horse Talk topic, please visit the Discussions page.
|
