New Farm Technology and the Horse

During the medieval period in Europe (the fifth to the fifteenth centuries), the horse became important in farming. Farmers in ancient times relied on a team of two oxen to pull a plow and created a yoke so that animals could pull either a plow or a cart. Oxen were among the first animals used as a power source; their use dates to between 4000 and 3000 B.C. Horses, on the other hand, were first harnessed some 2,000 years later. The equipment required to harness oxen was relatively simple: a wooden yoke was placed around the animal’s neck. Here anatomy plays a role in technological development. The spine of an ox is quite bony and the area between the protrusions was a natural location for a yoke. Oxen were then used as side-by-side pairs with the plow attached by a shaft between them. However, horses have greater endurance than oxen and can work on average two hours longer per day.As the historian John Langdon points out, the replacement of oxen by horses in farming was a great technological innovation, even though one animal simply replaced another.

Horses are obviously not oxen, and a rigid yoke that worked on an ox would not work with the same effectiveness on a horse; indeed, the ox yoke would constrict the longer neck of a horse. Horses have smooth backs and an upright neck that was better exploited by some variety of collar than by a throat-and-girth harness (a harness held in place by one strap circling the neck and another circling the middle of the body).The drawback with the throat-and-girth harness was that the straps often shifted position as the horse moved and could potentially choke the animal. The invention of the rigid collar solved this problem; it was placed over the horse’s head and rested on its shoulders. This permitted unobstructed breathing and placed the weight of the plow or wagon where the horse could best support it. The new collar was introduced in Europe around the eighth century but the earliest depiction of this innovation is seen in the famed Bayeux Tapestry, created in the eleventh century. There was a steady increase in the number of horses used for farming, and by the fifteenth century horses accounted for around 30 percent of animals used to pull plows and other heavy hauling tasks.

A horse pulling a plow required secure traction on a variety of surfaces. Footing was a major issue in farming and indeed in all areas of horse use. The practice of shoeing a horse had been widespread during the period of the Roman Empire. Most historians believe that this technology had been lost by the start of the medieval period and that it was not recovered until the late years of the medieval era. However, some scholars argue that no evidence exists to defend this long-lost technology thesis and that the practice of shoeing horses continued throughout the entire medieval period.

The horseshoe is best seen as hoof protection for the horse, a device to prevent undue wear and tear on the hooves as the horse works on rocky or uneven land. There does seem to have been a proliferation of horseshoe use in the tenth and eleventh centuries. This has been attributed to the rise of hard-packed medieval roads in areas where transportation relied greatly on horsepower. Here, commerce and profit motivated people to care for the hooves of horses that were expected to carry goods to markets, often over great distances. Horses fitted with shoes could also be counted on to carry and pull far greater loads than would have been possible with bare hooves. What is more, shoed horses were able to point the front edge of their hooves and dig them into the ground to aid in forward motion.

For the cultivation of soft farmlands, the horseshoe perhaps was not as important as past scholars have believed. Nonetheless, in harsher European climates, horseshoes were required if the land was to be fully cultivated. This was certainly true in the climatic varieties of northern Europe. Prolonged periods of cold and wet winters tended to soften and weaken the hooves of horses, which then became lame.

According to paragraph 1, what was one way in which oxen were less desirable as a source of power than horses were?

AOxen have a relatively bony spine.

BOxen had to be used as side-by-side pairs.

COxen more quickly been too tired to work.

DOxen had to be harnessed using a wooden yoke.

Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

AAn important respect in which horses differ from oxen is that horses have a much longer, more easily constricted neck.

BThe fact that a rigid yoke does not work the same way on horses as on oxen makes it obvious that the two animals are very different.

CThe rigid ox yoke worked effectively only on those oxen that had shorter necks than horses.

DThe rigid ox yoke would not work effectively on horses became of the physical differences in the necks of the two animals.

The word “potentially” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Aquickly

Baccidentally

Cpossibly

Dessentially

The word “depiction” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Arecognition

Billustration

Cbenefit

Dproduct

According to paragraph 2, what was a major advantage of the new horse collar?

AIt allowed the collar straps to shift position as the horse moved.

BIt could be used effectively both for oxen and for horses.

CIt enabled horses to breathe freely while pulling a heavy object.

DIt rested on the horse’s neck rather than on its shoulders.

Paragraph 2 supports which of the following statements about the horse collar introduced into Europe in the eighth century?

AIts images appeared right after it was introduced in the eighth century.

BIts images encouraged farmers to make similar innovations across Europe.

CIt was improved during the eleventh century.

DIt helped popularize the use of horses as farm animals.

According to paragraph 3, there is some disagreement among historians about whether the technology for shoeing horses was

Aavailable during the period of the Roman Empire

Bdeveloped during the period of the Roman Empire

Cpracticed in the early medieval period

Dwidespread during the late medieval period

The phrase “proliferation of” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Achange in

Bincrease in

Cimprovement in

Dinterests in

The phrase “attributed to” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Amodified by

Bcredited to

Cencouraged by

Dintroduced by

In paragraph 4, why does the author include the information that the use of hard-packed roads began to appear in some areas?

ATo help explain the expansion of horseshoe use during the tenth and eleventh centuries

BTo explain why people began to rely more heavily on transportation involving horsepower during the tenth and eleventh centuries

CTo support the idea that, during the tenth and eleventh centuries, horses often had to deal with rocky or uneven surfaces

DTo point out one important effect of the need to care for the hooves of horses during the tenth and eleventh centuries

According to paragraph 4, horseshoes provided all of the following advantages EXCEPT

Aprotecting horses’ hooves from wear and tear

Bgiving horses a way to help themselves move forward

Cenabling horses to carry far greater loads

Deliminating the need for horses to dig in their hooves

According to paragraph 5, why were horseshoes particularly important in northern Europe?

ABecause the climate of northern Europe was damaging to the hooves of horses

BBecause the farmlands of northern Europe tended to be particularly soft

CBecause the farmlands of northern Europe were more fully cultivated than those elsewhere

DBecause the climates in northern Europe were far more varied than climates elsewhere

Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage

Using horses for farming, however, required developing the right harness.

Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.

Although oxen were used as a power source as early as 3000 to 4000 B.C., horses did not become important in farming until much later.

ASince ancient times, oxen had been used by farmers primarily in teams of two animals, with each animal harnessed to one of the two shafts that were attached, one on each side, to a wagon or a plow.

BHorses can work significantly longer than oxen can, but horses could not be used effectively for farm work using the simple, traditional throat-and-girth harness that had served well for oxen.

CIn the eighth century in Europe, a new horse collar began to be used that made it possible for a horse to pull a plow or other heavy load by encircling the horse’s shoulders rather than its neck.

DHorseshoes came into increasing use during the medieval period because they allowed horses to walk more effectively while experiencing fewer injuries on hard farmlands and roads.

EIn areas where commercial transportation came to rely heavily on horsepower, profit motivated people to maintain hard-packed roads that were suitable for horses carrying heavy goods to market.

FBecause European climates vary, a wide variety of horseshoes were developed, some designed for cultivating soft farmland and others for areas where dampness posed a threat to hooves.

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