Ann Findlay, age 12, of Brockville, Ont., for her question:

What was the early horse like?

There were no horses here when Columbus discovered the New World. The Indians were terrified because they thought that the horse and his Spanish rider were one strange animal. At that time, no one knew that North America was the cradle of the horse family. The noble animal was really coming back home.

There were horses in North America 50 million years ago. But we would hardly recognize them as the ancestors of our modern horse. They were 11 inches high at shoulder level, no bigger than foxes. The little creatures had toes, four on each front foot and three on each hind foot. Small as they were, there was something horsey about them, even then. Perhaps it was the gracefully arched necks and backs, the long flowing tails and manes.

Scientists have named the ancestor of our noble horse Eohippus, which means Dawn Horse. He lived in the Eocene Age, the dawn age of the Mammals, In those far off days, the year round climate was like a spring morning. There were palm trees in the Dakotas, and ginkgo trees in Washington state, Alligators wallowed in the streams of the northwest.

Fig trees, chestnuts, magnolias,  beeches and elms grew way up in Alaska. Giant redwoods grew from Alaska all the way down the western edge of the continent. The Rocky Mountains were not so high as they now are. The Great Lakes were not yet born and the Gulf of Mexico bit into the land as far north as Illinois.

The center of the continent was gentle park land. There were lakes, forests and grassy glades. And this is where we find Eohippus and his herd. The grass is soft and tender, which is lucky for the little horse. For his teeth :ire not strong enough to chew tough grasses,

The little fellow has his enemies that keep him ever alert, always ready to run. He is hunted by the sharp‑toothed, meat‑hungry ancestor of the foxes. Eohippus and his herd must be ready to stop grazing and scamper away, tails flowing, at a ‑moment's notice.

How did this dainty creature become the splendid horse we know today? The job  took time ‑ it took 40 million yours. Nature weeded out all the smaller  horses. Only the larger, swifter ones survived. To stay alert and run  fast, you need to keep on your toes, and so did Eohippus. He learned  to stand and run on one toe of each foot. It became a hoof and nature, who tends to discard what she does not use, let the other toes waste away. The soft teeth of Eohippus became harder and coated with long wearing cement. For the soft grasses gave way to tough prairie grasses  as the climate changed.

In America, the horse was ready for man ten million years ago. But he did not wait. We do not know what tragedy struck. But all the horses were gone from the New World long before Columbus came. The family survived in other lands because some had trotted over a land bridge to Asia.