But what is most deserving of attention is that while all the other genera and species, found under the same conditions, have either ceased to exist, or have removed to higher temperatures, the horse alone has remained to the present time in the same regions, without, it would appear, any protracted interruption; fragments of his skeleton continuing to be traced upwards, in successive formations, to the present surface of the earth--the land we live in.
In like manner in history, sacred, profane, and modern, the horse is to be found omnipresent, sharing in the conquests, in the defeats, in the prosperity, in the adversity, in the joys, in the sorrows, in the occupations, and in the amusements of man.
In Genesis xlvii. 17, Moses records that the Egyptians (1729 years before Christ), at a time when the famine was sore in the land of Canaan, gave to Joseph their _horses_ in exchange for bread.
Two hundred and thirty-eight years afterwards (1491 +B.C.+), six hundred chosen chariots for nobles and generals, all the war chariots of Egypt armed with iron to break the enemy's battalions, _the horsemen_, and all the host of Pharaoh, in their pursuit of the children of Israel, were overthrown in the midst of the Red Sea, so that there remained not so much as one of them.--(Exodus, chap. xiv.)
"Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously: _the horse and his rider_ hath he thrown into the sea."--Exodus, chap. xv.
The Canaanites whom Joshua engaged at the waters of Merom had _cavalry_, and a multitude of chariots drawn by _horses_. Sisera, general of Jabin, King of Hazor, had 900 chariots of iron. Judah could not get possession of the lands because the ancient inhabitants of the country were strong in chariots of iron. The Philistines, in their war against Saul, had 30,000 chariots and 6000 _horsemen_. David having taken 1000 chariots of war from Hadadezer, King of Syria, hamstrung the _horses_, and burned 900 chariots. During the latter periods of the Jewish monarchy Palestine abounded in horses.
In 1 Kings, chap, iv., it is stated that Solomon had 40,000 stalls _of horses_ for his chariots, and 12,000 _horsemen_.