2,500,000 years ago: Equus, the modern horse, evolves. It spreads across North America.

10,000 years ago: The horse mysteriously dies out, disappearing from North America altogether.

1510s-1520s: Horses return to their native land on the ships of Spanish conquistadors. Hernan Cortes is probably the first person to reintroduce the animal, bringing sixteen horses to the New World in his invasion of present-day Mexico.

1865: Donald Hall's great-grandfather buys Eagle Pond Farm, the setting for "Names of Horses."

1878: Hall's grandmother Kate is born at Eagle Pond Farm.

1903: Hall's mother, Lucy, is born there.

1975: Donald Hall purchases the farm and moves to New Hampshire.

1830s: Horses and horse-drawn vehicles are the most common forms of transportation.

1910s: Use of the horse as a work animal reaches its peak in America.

1917: Henry Ford introduces the Fordson Tractor, the first commercial tractor.

1929-1941: The Great Depression cripples the nation economically...