Animal expert says 3,000-year-old Oxfordshire landmark may have to be renamed. Photograph: Alamy
Animal expert says 3,000-year-old Oxfordshire landmark may have to be renamed. Photograph: Alamy
from the way the head is oriented I’d say horse.
Nope. That’s a horse.
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.
"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.
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.
Looks like a horse to me, but I’d say ferret, cat or Komodo dragon before I guessed “dog”.
A thin ‘Possum
A horse is a horse.
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.
The beautiful bow of the neck says “horse” to me. You don’t see a neck like that on a dog.
Looks like a cloud......
P
Judging from the leg/torso ratio, I’d say dachshund more than greyhound.
Horse.
Never seen a dog with a neck that long.
Yeah, I’d actually go with something wolfy (or maybe foxish), based on:
a) an assumption that the shape has changed over the centuries, becoming more stylised, so it’s no longer exactly as its creators envisaged and
b) a half-baked personal theory that the word Uffington actually derives from O.E. words ‘Uff’/’Wulf’, i.e. wolfy connection. Etymological dictionaries are fun :)
