Eleanor

"Expert"

            I am an expert at horses. They are my favorite animal. Since I like them so much I have read a lot of books about them.

            Some horses live in the wild in groups called herds. Although they are wild, none of them are truly wild. The last truly wild horses (called the pizawalski's) went extinct a few years ago. Now all of the horses that roam free are feral which means they once were domesticated but now they live in the wild.

            The most common horses that we see though are not wild, they are domesticated and live with people. IN the old days horses were used to pull carriages or work on farms, but now people just own them to ride or to show in horse shows. Horses are very expensive and hard to care for. Horses need a saddle, a saddle blanket, a bridle and reigns to be ridden. Horses may be hard to care for but they make wonderful pets.

            A long time ago horses were not like they are today. Scientists think that the first horse was a small fox-sized animal that they named Eohippus. After the Eohippus came the Mesohippus, Merychippus, Pliohippus and was bigger than the one before them and have less toes. The Eohippus had four toes to wade through the marshes. As the evolved their teeth changed to eat tough grasses instead of the leaves and bark that they browsed on before. That is the evolution of the horse.

            I am an expert on horses because I know a lot about them. I know about horses that live in the wild. I also know that horses have many uses. I know about how horses have changed through the years. Next time you see a horse think about all the things that it has done.