Wagner Free Institute of Science

December 2011

English Draft Horse Specimen

Around 1889

Skeleton

            This skeleton is an example of an English draft horse from the 19^th century.  It is one of the few things in the Wagner gallery that is displayed in open air and not in a wooden and glass case.  It is an important part of the Wagner collection because of its ability to be used as an educational tool.  This object had more labeling than most objects, allowing it to be more engaging to visitors by encouraging them to spend more time with it. 

            The Wagner acquired the skeleton in 1889.  It was purchased from Edward Gerrard and Sons of London for $10.  In 2009, Charles Besant of Besant Studio repaired and restored the skeleton.  The phalanx (hoof) and coxae (tail) bones were repaired and then reassembled on the skeleton.  These necessary repairs enable this and other objects in the Wagner to remain throughout the generations.  This skeleton provides visitors with more engagement opportunities through its display and accompanying labeling. 

            The open-air display encourages visitors to get close and observe how individual bones fit together to form a whole.  As opposed to other displays in glass cases, this allows for visitors to circle and have an unobstructed 360-degree view of the entire horse.  This corresponds with the labeling for the skeleton.  Adjacent to the signs explaining how the skeleton was acquired and then later repaired by the Wagner is a sign comparing the skeletal anatomy of the horse to a human.  Many people unfamiliar with horse anatomy to not realize how similar human and horse structural anatomy are to each other.  Through drawings of a horse and a human, along with labeled body parts, visitors can compare their own body parts to the skeleton.  Sections of the body such as the neck, shoulder, forearm, knee, elbow, and foot align, allowing for visitors to engage with and understand the body of a horse.  This labeling is also important because many people mistakenly identify the skeleton of that of a dinosaur. 

            Educationally, the horse skeleton provides a connection between certain lessons taught to school groups in the lecture hall and the upstairs gallery.  Among the tools for teaching about bones, is the jawbone of a horse.  Horse’s teeth continue far into their head, unseen due to the comparatively small opening of their mouth.  Their teeth are used for grinding and continually grow.  Domesticated horses that have a set, monitored diet require their teeth to be filed down once to twice a year to keep them healthy.  The jawbone is very large, and being able to go upstairs and compare the size of a jawbone to other bones in the body is an effective way to interpret a skeletal display.