Dog-horse Hybrids
Mammalian Hybrids
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If a mare gives birth to a foal with the claws of a dog, the nation will be diminished.
An Assyrian birth omen*
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Caution. The reports of this cross, some of which are quoted below, need further verification.
Various reports about ostensible dog-horse hybrids are on record. The following is a brief account of a strange canine offspring foaled by a mare. It appeared in The Progress (May 26, 1888, p. 4, col. 5), a newspaper published in White Earth, Minnesota:
A mare belonging to Mr. Bellefeuille gave birth to a monstrosity on Tuesday. The feet, tail and head of this singular freak, bore a striking resemblance to that of a dog. It was lively and strong, and would, in all probabilities, have lived had not the owner unwisely put it to death.
(It is not unusual for owners to put newborn hybrids to death, the reason being that they see them as unnatural monsters.)
White Earth is a census-designated place in Becker County, northwestern Minnesota.
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If a mare gives birth to a foal with the head of a dog, her mistress will be cursed and the nation will be diminished.
An Assyrian birth omen†
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Four years earlier, a report of a similar hybrid ran in American newspapers. The following is from the bottom of column 4 of the front page of the issue of the Dodge City Times (May 1, 1884, p. 1, col. 4), a newspaper published in Dodge City, Kansas:
The next report is from the front page, column 6, of the January 22, 1885, issue of The Manitowoc Pilot, a newspaper published in Manitowoc, Wisconsin (access source):
A notice about a dog-horse appeared in Part II (p. 12, col. 6), of the September 4, 1887, issue of the Omaha Daily Bee, a newspaper published in Omaha, Nebraska (access source):
And, just before the outbreak of World War I, another notice about such an animal appeared on the front page of the June 6, 1914, issue of the San Bernardino News, a newspaper published in San Bernardino, California (access source):
SEAFORD, Del., June 6.—Allison Riggin, who lives on a farm between Laurel and Bethel, is the owner of a dog-faced colt. The animal is normal except that its nostrils and tail are like those of a dog. Riggin says he has refused $500 for his freak.
An additional report about a dog-horse hybrid appeared on the page 3, column 2, of the April 3, 1877, issue of The Daily Intelligencer, a newspaper published in Seattle, Washington (access source):
Freak of Nature—The Victoria [British Columbia] Colonist of the 1st inst. is responsible for the following. “The celebrated racing mare, lately owned by Frank Saunders, had a colt yesterday. The hindquarters, legs, tail, &c., are exactly like those of a Newfoundland dog. The strange creature was alive and frisky yesterday. Its head and forelegs are those of a horse and it barks almost constantly.”
This last report is especially suspect because “the 1st inst.” would in this case be April 1st.
In a much older account, the 17th-century German equine veterinarian Georg Simon Winters von Adlersflügel (1703, p. 138) mentions that he himself saw a horse with a long dog’s tail at Castle Dachau in Bohemia in 1648. His illustration of the animal (Adlersflügel 1703, Plate 26) is shown below.
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Adlersflügel was one of the leading experts on horses of his day.
* Divination among the Chaldeans, p. 112