This past year we were inspired by the Chinese Year of the Horse. As the Chinese New Year draws to a close we are prepping our 2015 campaign. We wanted to share a wonderful story from the program on the central role horse has played in history. You all love horses, but you might not know the pivotal role the horse has played in civilization--this will article will give everyone a deeper appreciation of the Horse! CELEBRATING THE YEAR OF THE HORSE Equus Horses share their family name, equus, with zebras and donkeys, also known as equine. No one knows exactly where horses originated, but 55 million years ago, a fox-sized creature called Eohippus, or dawn horse (Hyracotherium), appeared as the first mammalian predecessor to the modern day horse. Over the next 55 million years, horses slowly grew larger and taller. Their increase in size followed receding ice during the Ice Age. Early man depended on the horse for meat, and for years, humans’ relationship to the horse was one of predator and prey. For those millions of years, horses roamed free. Today, only one truly wild horse exists, the Equus przewalskii or Przewalskii’s horse. This horse first emerged 3 million years ago and is the oldest living ancestor to the modern day horse. It has never been domesticated. It came close to extinction in the 1940s when numbers dropped to 35, but have rebounded to almost 1,500. The exact spot that man tamed the horse was lost to pre-history until 2012, when University of Cambridge researchers found genetic evidence of domestic horses in the steppes of modern-day Ukraine, southwest Russia, and west Kazakhstan over 5,000 years ago. Once introduced, taming the horse for mans purposes spread rapidly. Society Domestication brought the horse into a central role of civilization. The might of the humble workhorse ushered an agrarian economy into existence, the basis of our modern society and food system. Trade routes expanded as exotic goods came to towns and village via horseback. Society simply would not have evolved without the horse. The relationship of the horse with man is so intertwined that it is a called a “mutual co-evolution,” meaning that humans influenced horses as much they influenced humans. A truly symbiotic relationship on an evolutionary scale—this relationship helped each species survive and thrive. Simply put—society, as we know it simply would not have been possible without the human’s taming of horse. By 3000 B.C., domestication was common throughout Eurasia. Once put to work, this animal became entrenched in every aspect of civilization: food, commerce, war, and recreation. Stone tablets dating back to 1400 B.C. show early nations training horses for both sport and war. Early Persians even had a type of polo they played. In 400 B.C., Greeks recorded racing, war, and riding skills. Similar training is still in use for modern-day equestrians. Different horse breeds evolved in response to how they were used. Large draft horses (similar to the Clydesdale horse) were bred to be hefty so they could carry the weighty armor that knights and chivalry required. During the middle ages, horses were firmly entrenched in civilization and over 50 different words for ‘horse’ were in common use, each reflecting a specific function of the horse. Art of War... Undeniably, the most significant contribution of the horse was in the art of war. Cavalry, soldiers, and invading armies depended on the horses’ and riders’ aptitude in battle to expand boundaries, grow riches, or hold off conquering peoples. On horseback, man overcame distance to conquer far-flung empires. Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Genghis Khan conquered via the horse. The band of Celtic tribes maintained their independent status against Rome’s growing presence because of riding and war skills. All owe their victories to the courage, training, and stamina of their horses. Without them, empires and global trade would have been limited to where man could travel by foot. Up until the early 1900s, horses featured prominently in war and cavalries were necessary to empire building. After World War I, horse cavalry declined, although horses were still utilized in supply lines and for transportation during World War II. Beloved for her courage and loyalty, one utilitarian warhorse, Sergeant Reckless, was awarded two Purple Hearts and other accolades for her battlefield bravery carrying supplies to her unit. The Inspiration for Art Before the art of war, the horse inspired man to create art. Prehistoric man was fascinated by the horse’s form, drawing horses on their version of artist’s canvas: cave walls. Later, Celtic tribes carved horses into their hillsides, and Egyptian artists regularly practiced sketching the outline of the equine on papyrus. But it was da Vinci who elevated the horse to the status of icon. In 1482, an Italian duke commissioned da Vinci to create the largest equine sculpture in the world. Envisioned as a 24-foot tall statue, the Renaissance master imagined the bronze sculpture would be “visible from afar, gleaming in the sun.” Ironically, the French cavalry’s invasion of Italy halted the plans and the sketches were lost for centuries. Da Vinci invested 17 years of his genius into this equine masterpiece, only to have it foiled by war. And an Inspiration for Mankind These days, horses serve as personal inspiration to man. From Sea Biscuit to Secretariat, the horse defines the qualities of a champion as well as any human does. It isn’t just the champion equines that inspire our awe. In the 1880s, on the Steel Pier at a burgeoning area in New Jersey, a new act was just getting off the ground. Known simply as the ‘Diving Horses of Atlantic City’, these horses and riders set the standard for overcoming instinct with a 60-foot dive into a pool of water. Disney memorialized the act with the movie Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken. A wildly popular act for many years, horse diving was risky business. In 1924, one female rider detached her retinas when she and her horse lost their balance on the diving platform, and then dove without proper preparation. The rider, a woman named Sonora Webster Carver, refused to give up her passion or her horses and performed the death-defying act while blind. TODAY, eventing preserves this human equestrian link. It encourages and fosters the qualities of good military horses— stamina, bravery and grace. Rebecca Farm is proud to bring this equine heritage to the Flathead Valley, inspiring us with the animal that has served mankind so well. They don’t seek glory, they don’t do interviews… HORSES JUST DO!
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 22:03:01 +0000
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