“People have been captivated by horses for a long time. They appear more than any other animal in cave paintings dating back 30,000 years. But how did horses make the journey from wild animals to ones humans could hitch themselves to and even ride, determining the fate of civilizations and dramatically altering history?”
Travel back in time, from North America to Eurasia—where nomadic Scythian peoples, the Han Dynasty, and the Mongol Empire all embraced the advantages equestrian life.
And then into Africa, where “the Mali Empire was said to have had a cavalry of more than 10,000,” and back to the Americas with this TED-Ed lesson by William T. Taylor, directed by Denys Spolitak: How horses changed history.
Related exploration: Horses and Human Societies in the North American West.
Watch these videos next:
• Kentucky’s Horse-Riding Librarians
• The Comanche and the Horse, a PBS Native America Sacred Story
• Horseback Riding in Yosemite National Park
Plus: How do war horse puppeteers make their War Horse real?
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