White Horse of Uffington is a dog, claims vet

Guardian ^ | Tuesday 12 October 2010 | James Meikle

[SunkenCiv]

Challenging the traditional description of the Oxfordshire landmark, retired vet Olaf Swarbrick asks whether the "beautiful, stylised" figure might instead be a dog such as a greyhound or wolfhound. In a letter to the Veterinary Record, his profession's journal, the former cattle and poultry specialist suggests a canine origin for the 110-metre by 38.5-metre animal, which was carefully dug into the downland. He invites alternative theories, too.... "Looking at it again, it seems that it is not a horse at all: the tail and head are wrong for a horse and more suggestive of a dog. It appears more like a large hound at full stretch. I thought it may be a greyhound, but an anthropologist suggests it is a wolfhound, which (assuming it is not a horse) makes more sense."

...Doubts over its equine origin have been aired before but written records suggest the hill on whose slopes it gallops has been named after the white horse since at least the 11th century... [Swarbrick] added that other horse hill figures in Britain were "quite clearly horses", even if more recent than the Uffington one. And the Long Man of Wilmington in Sussex and Cerne Abbas giant in Dorset were clearly human. Keith Blaxhall, the National Trust warden for the area, was not convinced. "I think we all think it is a horse," he said, adding that coins from roughly the same period show a similar stylised horse and chariot. "Horses were enormously important. It signified power. You were mobile." ...There had been claims it might be St George's white charger, he said, but the figure long predated his era. The dog suggestion was new to him. "I have really only heard the theory it is feline because of its sinuous design."

[SunkenCiv]

Animal expert says 3,000-year-old Oxfordshire landmark may have to be renamed. Photograph: Alamy

[GeronL]

from the way the head is oriented I’d say horse.

[calex59]

I agree, I think this guy is just trying for his 15 minutes.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Nope. That’s a horse.

[ottbmare]

No, he’s mistaken. This is stylized—beautifully so—but it represents accurately the way a horse canters or gallops. The sequence of footfalls is right hind, left hind, right fore, left fore (on the left lead gallop). That is exactly what this sculpture shows. Dogs don’t move like that because their spines are more supple; with each stride they bend more deeply than horses and put their front paws between their back legs, then stretch out again like a bent bow springing straight.

[SunkenCiv]

· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach · · join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Antiquity Journal  & archive  Archaeologica  Archaeology  Archaeology Channel  BAR  Bronze Age Forum  Discover  Dogpile  Eurekalert  Google  LiveScience  Mirabilis.ca  Nat Geographic  PhysOrg  Science Daily  Science News  Texas AM  Yahoo  Excerpt, or Link only?	This one has "blam" written all over it, IMHO. ;') One claim that has surfaced from time to time is that ALL of the chalk figures are from the Middle Ages or later -- the antiquaries who started "finding" them (the most recent was about 250 years ago I think) dug out the turf in what the discerned as low spots (which obviously could have been erosive features, if you look at the photo) to see what could be revealed. The Cerne Abbas giant has been said to have been a representation of Hercules (or the Celtic equivalent, who was more a suave character in the myths) but may date from the late 17th century. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
· History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword · · Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword ·

[doc1019]

Or a mudsucker ... land walking fish.

[Defiant]

Not just that, but the horse was central to these people’s lives and their culture. They loved their dogs, but they idolized their horses.

[JoeProBono]

[FrdmLvr]

Hi Ho Silver! Away!

[McGavin999]

You’ve never watched a Wolfhound doing a double extention gallop have you? It could well be a hound, but I do think it is a horse.

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

I vote horse as well

[The KG9 Kid]

"The White Horse of Uffington is actually a dog."
-- retired vet Olaf Swarbrick, 2010 AD.

"Nay, it's a tribute to my beloved horse from my people, dammit. The hell do YOU know anyway? You're from Sweden."
-- Thymbaerdic, Chieftain of the Hill People, 753-701 BC.

[Tucker39]

I think if they pass the roach around a few more times they’ll come up with even more ideas.

IMHO: The FRONT end has possibilities of being equine, except for the lack of the distinguishing equine jaw line. The rear end lacks the roundedness of an equine hip and croup. The whole thing is probably merely a serendipitous result of erosion! Akin to someone imagining they see a likeness of Christ or the Virgin Mary in a frijole.

[Question Liberal Authority]

Looks like a horse to me, but I’d say ferret, cat or Komodo dragon before I guessed “dog”.

[woofie]

A thin ‘Possum

[rdl6989]

A horse is a horse.

[Dudoight]

I have been there at least 3-4 times and I agree it certainly doesn’t look like a horse...but I prefer to believe it is a horse.

It is one of my favorite sites in all England.

[Dudoight]

I would also have to say that some of Picasso’s works don’t exactly look like what he said they were. It is said that his figures seemed increasingly to withdraw from objective reality.

So....I say the Uffington Image is a horse, painted by an Iron Age Picasso!

[Salamander]

The neck is too long for a dog, plus, all Sight Hounds [which Wolf Hounds and Greyhounds are] have *double flexion* spines.

There would be an arch in the spine that no horse could achieve.

It’s a horse, not a dog.

[The ‘expert’, however, ~may~ be a jackass]...:)