Remains of a horse that roamed the land long before humans bridled them with their horse tack are to go on display in Canada. The carcass of the prehistoric creature known as the Equus Lambei were dug up by miners at Klondike in the Yukon in 1993 while digging for gold.

The remains have since provided scientists with valuable information from an age 14,000 years before man lived in the area.

The three miners believed the powerful smelling carcass was a dead packhorse from the days of the Klondike gold rush a century ago. However the lack of any traces of tack coupled with various tests proved it to be much more ancient, dating back to around 26,000 years ago.

Thanks to the permafrost, the remains have been well preserved and even the bite marks of wild wolves that may have killed it are still visible in the horse's flesh.
With light-blonde colouring and a pony like build, the creature is believed to have looked much like the Przewalski's horse that can still be found in parts of Mongolia today.
The horse is on display at the Yukon Beringia Interpretative Centre in the appropriately named town of Whitehorse. If the species were around today it is likely they would have been used more for carrying loads or pulling carts rather than for ridden work or wearing dressage saddles and horse tack due to their more ass-like build.

[Image © Drew Avery via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence]