Horse as a pet animal
The wild horse was most likely originally hunted for sustenance in prehistoric times. Based on available data, domestication occurred about 6,000 years ago. The pet horse is thought to have been invented by an Indo-European tribe that inhabited the steppes north of the mountain range that borders the Black and Caspian seas. With the influence of humans, food, and the environment, the horse quickly evolved into its current shape.
Relationship to humans
Horses and people have always had a special bond. The pet horse is a buddy and a companion. It has tracked livestock, followed game, cultivated fields and brought in the harvest, hauled supplies and transported people, and taken adventures to uncharted territory and warriors into combat. It has entertained in horseback riding, carousels, tournaments, and jousting. Terms that imply dignity, respect, politeness, and directness, like “cavalier” and “chivalry,” are examples of how the horse has influenced English language usage.
Common features
The French biologist Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon, claimed that the horse was the “proudest conquest of Man.” Its resting place was by its master, either in the pharaohs’ or Scythian kings’ tombs. The possession of horses was fundamental to many prehistoric human communities. Superstition gave the horse’s colours significance, and a horse’s head hanging above a cemetery, in a sanctuary, or on a house’s gables was thought to bestow magical abilities on the area. The centaur, the most visible representation of the unity of horse and rider, was developed in Greek mythology. The Greek general Xenophon wrote that “gods and heroes are depicted on well-trained horses” and that white stallions were the ultimate sacrifice to the gods.
Therefore, a beautiful and well-trained horse was a prestige symbol in ancient Greece. Politicians, generals, and kings had to be riders by necessity. Some of the most well-known horses and riders are as follows: Roan Barbery, the stallion that Richard II mentioned in Shakespeare; Bucephalus, the charger of Alexander the Great; Incitatus, once thought to have been made a senator by the Roman emperor Caligula (see Researcher’s Note); Hernán Cortés’s favourite horse, El Morzillo, to whom the Indians erected a statue; Copenhagen, the horse owned by the Duke of Wellington, which was buried with military honours.
Horse in art and war
In the world of art, horses have a special place. The horse has inspired artists of all periods and places, from Stone Age paintings to the magnificence of the Parthenon frieze, from Chinese Tang dynasty tomb sculptures to Leonardo da Vinci’s sketches and Andrea del Verrocchio’s Colleoni, from the Qurʾān to contemporary literature.
In life, the horse has helped humanity with labour, travel, and battles; in death, it has given many goods. Horses were hunted for their flesh long before they were domesticated; in fact, humans still eat horsemeat in Iceland and some regions of Europe, where it is a common ingredient in pet meals.
Selection of a horse
Domestic horses that have gone wild, such as the mustangs of western North America, tend to revert to those primitive characteristics when randomly mated: they are typically a little taller (about 15 hands [152.4 cm, or 60 inches]), gray, dun
The horse’s general form is characteristic of a speed animal:
- The long leg bones pivot on pulley-like joints, restricting movement to the fore and aft.
- The limbs are levered to muscle masses for the most efficient energy use.
- The compact body is permanently supported on the tips of the toes, allowing fuller extension of the limbs when running.
The rounded skull contains a vast and complex brain, particularly in areas that control muscular coordination. While the horse is one of the most intellectual nonhuman animals, it is safe to conclude that it is more concerned with the proper cerebral processes. Though much has been published about “educated” horses who appear to be able to spell and count, it is widely accepted that in such circumstances, a highly perceptive animal responds to cues from its human teacher. However, this capacity is extraordinary in and of itself because cues are frequently supplied unintentionally, and detecting such delicate signals needs exceptionally sharp perception.
Patterns and colours
The black colour is pure black, yet a white face marking (blaze) and white ankles (stockings) may appear. The brown horse is practically black, with lighter spots around the nose, eyes, and legs. Bay refers to a range of browns, including red-brown, tan, and sandy. Bay horses typically have a black mane, tail, and stockings. A dilution (or lightening) gene known as silver or silver dapple primarily controls the coat’s dark hues. Chestnut is comparable to bay but lacks black overtones. Sorrel is the term used to describe the lighter tones of chestnut. Palomino horses range in colour from cream to bronze and have a flaxen or silvery mane and tail. The cream is a diluted sorrel, or very pale yellow, almost white.
White in horses varies, from aged grays to albinos with blue eyes and pink skin, as well as pseudoalbinos with a buff mane and brown eyes. The white horse’s primary patterns include gray, roan, pinto, sabino, and appaloosa. Gray horses are born dark brown or black and gradually grow white hairs, eventually becoming almost completely white. Roan is a term that refers to white combined with various colors at birth: blue roan is white mixed with black, red roan is white mixed with bay, and strawberry roan is white and chestnut. The pinto is practically any spotted pattern of white and another color; other names, such as paint, calico, piebald, skewbald, overo, and tobiano, allude to small differences in the type of patterns and colors.
