The horse was headed towards extinction about 6000 years ago. It had disappeared from the Americas, where it originated. The remaining herds were a shrinking population in the Eurasian plains. Then some human, likely a male teen egged on by buddies, tried riding a horse—and succeeded.
“The Horse: A Galloping History of Humanity,” by Timothy C. Winegard, relates the result: a partnership benefiting both species. It saved the horse from extinction and shaped human history thereafter.
Winegard opens the book by discussing the horse, from the ancestral Eohippus in North America 55 million years ago to the appearance of the modern horse 5 million years ago. He discusses the features that make it uniquely suited as a mount, including its hooves, its ability to efficiently extract energy from grasses on the move, and the traits that make it domesticable.
Next, the author presents how this man-horse partnership, a “Centaurian Pact,” changed humans and horses. The Equine Revolution transformed the plains from barriers to highways, linking Europe and China. It shaped everything. The world’s dominant languages, the Indo-European group, was spread by the horses’ riders. These languages spread from the Indian subcontinent in the east to Britain in the west.
Horses also shaped civilization. Equines impacted every civilization they entered, starting with the ancient societies of the Fertile Crescent and Egypt. Late adaptors were the 2nd century B.C. Han Chinese. Adopting horses gave nations new capabilities. The hunt for horses drove the establishment of national boundaries. Equestrian societies bested those without horses. The horse gave Europeans an edge that North and South American cultures couldn’t counter.
Horses drove technological advancement from Ancient Roman times until the end of the 19th century. They shaped trade, travel, agriculture, and industry. Horses were profit-spinning engines that fueled the dominance of Western Europe and China. They fueled the post-Medieval agricultural revolution and helped launch the Industrial Revolution.
The horse reached its apogee in the late 19th century. Horses were indispensable even in urban areas. Their presence in high concentrations created a manure crisis in the 1890s. This crisis led horses to be replaced by the internal combustion engine.
“The Horse” is a fast-paced and fascinating book with an epic sweep.
