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Domestication of the Horse
There are a number of hypotheses on many of the key issues regarding the domestication of the horse. Although horses appeared in Paleolithic cave art as early as 30,000 B.C., these were truly wild horses and were probably hunted for meat. How and when horses became domesticated is disputed. The clearest evidence of use of the horse as a means of transport is from chariot burials dated c. 2000 B.C. However, an increasing amount of evidence supports the hypothesis that horses were domesticated in the Eurasian steppes (evidently centered in Ukraine) at approximately 4000 B.C. The date of the domestication of the horse depends to some degree upon the definition of "domestication." Some zoologists define "domestication" as human control over breeding, which can be detected in ancient skeletal samples by changes in the size and variability of ancient horse populations. Other researchers look at broader evidence, including skeletal and dental evidence of working activity; weapons, art, and spiritual artifacts; and lifestyle patterns of human cultures. There is also evidence that horses were kept as meat animals prior to being trained as working animals. Attempts to date domestication by genetic study or analysis of physical remains rests on the assumption that there was a separation of the genotype or phenotype of domesticated and the wild populations... MORE
New Evidence of Early Horse Domestication
Soil from a Copper Age site in northern Kazakhstan has yielded new evidence for domesticated horses up to 5,600 years ago. The discovery, consisting of phosphorus-enriched soils inside what appear to be the remains of horse corrals beside pit houses, matches what would be expected from Earth once enriched by horse manure. The Krasnyi Yar site was inhabited by people of the Botai culture of the Eurasian Steppe, who relied heavily on horses for food, tools, and transport. "There's very little direct evidence of horse domestication," says Sandra Olsen, an archaeologist and horse domestication researcher at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, PA. That's because 5,600 years ago there were no saddles or metal bits to leave behind... MORE
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Harnessing the Horse
Oxen had already been yoked to the pole of a plow, probably early in the forth millennium B.C.E ("before the Common"), in the Near East. Towards the end of the millennium they were yoked to sledges, which were eventually mounted on rollers and then on wheels. Vehicles with disk wheels appear near the beginning of the third millennium B.C.E. and are depicted as drawn also by equids — either donkeys or onager hybrids. The four-wheeled war wagon depicted on the "Standard" from Ur, in southern Mesopotamia, of about 2,500 B.C.E., is pulled by a yoke team of four equids with nose-ring control. By the early 18th century B.C.E., numerous horses had been brought Near East from the north and a light chariot with spoke wheels had been developed for war and hunting... MORE
Horseback Riding: A History of Style
Horseback riding is not only a sport, but a style and a culture as well. When you mount a horse, do you think about the style of horseback riding you perform, or where this style originated? Understanding these styles and how they developed can enrich the riding experience and help create an even deeper relationship between horse and rider. In addition, how these styles of riding affect the horse physically can be a critical part of caring for your horse. It is important to remember that horseback riding originated from a culture very different from the one we live in today. In the modern world of speed traveling and technology we sometimes forget that there was a time where horses were not only the primary mode of transportation, but an integral part of everyday life. If a horse became ill it meant days or even weeks of lost work and an inability to function in what was then a modern society. This “ancient” culture (as it is viewed today) produced styles of riding that are still recognized in our current society, Western and English. The basic elements of the two styles are very similar even though the purpose and style of equipment is different. The Western riding style comes from the “Wild West” where horses were used for work... MORE
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