THE INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE HORSE
The Legacy of the Horse
Chapter One
A Chronological History of Humans and Their Relationship With the Horse
Table of Contents
58 MILLION B.C. - 450 A.D.
THE FIRST HORSES - ATTILA THE HUN
- THE FIRST HORSES
- Eohippus - 58 Million Years Ago
- Mesohippus - 40 Million Years Ago
- Merychippus - 25 Millions Years Ago
- Pliohippus - 10 Million Years Ago
- EARLY CIVILIZATION, 30,000
- Prehistoric Equine Art
- The Cave Horses Resemble Today's Przewalski Horse
- THE DOMESTICATION OF THE HORSE B.C.
- The Horse: Prehistoric Prey
- The Horse: Cow of the Steppes
- Pack Animal for a People on the Move
- THE WHEEL
- Early Man Has the Cart Before the Horse
- Horse and Wagon: Speed and Power
- The Yoke, 800 B.C.
- Anatomy of on Ancient Wheel - 1,500 B.C.
- Harnessing the Horse's Power
- Kikulli, 1,350 B.C: "The Care and Feeding of the Chariot Horse"
- THE RELUCTANT RIDER, 1,350 B.C.
- Early Attempts at Riding
- Early Controling Devices
- The Mysterious Grandeur of the Etruscan Horsemen, 1,000-509 B.C.
- The Sythians: Mastering the Art of War on Horseback - 800 B.C.
- The Horse in China
- THE CLASSICAL WORLD, 700 B.C.
- The Mythical Horse
- Ancient Man Held the Horse in Awe, Placing Equus Among the Gods
- Poseidon Creates the Horse From the Ocean's Waves
- The Horse-drawn Chariot of the Sun
- The Centaur-Ultimate Horse-Man
- Epona-Protectress of the Horse
- Pegasus, the Winged Horse
- THE HORSES OF HOMER, 750 B.C.
- The Immortal Horses of Achilles
- XENOPHON: THE FATHER OF CLASSICAL EQUITATION
- Exerpts From the "Art of Horsemanship"
- ALEXANDER AND BUCEPHALUS, 356-323 B.C.
- Indomitable Man, Indomitable Horse
- Alexander and Bucephalus Conquer the World
- THE ROMAN EMPIRE
- THE CIRCUS MAXIMUS
- The Furious Circle of the Ancient Horse Race
- A Day at the Track
- THE ROMAN ROAD
- One of the World's Greatest Engineering Achievements
- Troops and Trade Goods Moved Quickly and Reliably Over the Roman Roads
- The Earliest Horseshoe
- THE ORIENTAL HORSE
- The First Stirrups Came From the Orient
- Attila the Hun, 406-453 A.D.
During the more than four centuries of its existence, the Roman army changed from an essentially infantry formation to a
predominantly cavalry-led force. The change was brought about primarily by the type of enemy it faced on the frontiers.
To the east, rivals such as the Persians, which employed all cavalry armies, had inflicted serious defeats to Roman infantry.
The only way to effectively counter these armies was with more and better cavalry forces. The same was essentially true
when facing the mounted Germanic tribes to the north and west, and eventually the mounted nomadic tribes of the steppe.
The ever-competitive nature of man would suggest that from the time there were two charioteers, they were probably pitted
against each other in a race. Chariot races were a central event in the earlier Olympics in Greece. It was the Romans, however,
who brought chariot racing to its zenith of popularity. When it came to chariot racing, the Romans were fanatics.
One-third of a mile in length, the stadium of the Circus Maximus was built during the second century B.C. in a valley between
the Capitoline and Aventine Hills in Rome, which had been used by the Etruscans for horse racing. Julius Caesar once held a
mock battle there with 1,000 foot soldiers, 600 cavalry, and 40 elephants. After being destroyed by fire, it was reconstructed
in 200 A.D. and had a capacity for 250,000 spectators. Races were held there until 549 A.D.
In many respects the atmosphere of a race day at the
Circus Maximus was similar to a modern harness race track. Programs were sold to patrons in the stands, and there were
usually twelve races with four chariot teams. The entrants represented various teams, each with its own color: white (winter),
green (spring), red (summer), and blue (autumn). These colors were the predecessors of modern racing "silks."
Then each team had its own breeders, drivers, and veterinarians.Under the Flavian emperors, chariot racing grew even
larger. A spectator would sometimes spend morning 'til night at the track since, , the number of races held numbered no less
than one hundred! In order to get race results to off-track betters, bookmakers' agents kept carrier pigeons which were
released after each race.
The chariot driver was similar to the modern harness driver. He wore a coat with his team's colors, a helmet made of leather,
a corselet to protect his ribs, and carried a whip. To protect his legs he wore leather leggings, and he carried a dagger to cut
himself free of his reins in case of accident. The latter was necessary sincethe drivers wrapped the reins around their waist to
insure greater leverage when leaning back to slow the horses for a turn. The great drivers became rich men, some having won
over 3,000 races. They were richly rewarded with money and sometimes houses or farms. But these rewards were won only
at the daily risk of the drivers' and horses' lives.
The race proceeded counter-clockwise, and the near-side horses were trained to slow rapidly and hold their position while
the outside horses flew around on the outside. If the chariot came too close on the turn, it would crash. If it went wide, it
risked being hit by other chariots. The number of laps completed in the race was measured by a rack of dolphins which would
tip once a circuit was made. (The dolphins represented Neptune, the Roman equivalent of Poseidon, who created the horse.)
At one time the Romans maintained up to 14,000 horses for chariot racing, and there was always a demand for more.
Horses began training as two-year olds, were put into training harness at three, but were not raced until they were at least
five years old. They received only the very best care by skilled grooms and trainers. To insure the horses' tranquillity before
a race, the Praetorian Guard (the elite guard of the Roman emperors) were instructed not to sound their trumpets so that
the horses would not be disturbed.
The Roman road system comprised some 50,000 miles of first class highways, stretching from Syria in the east to Britain in the
west. Rome remained the center of the highway system, and each mile of road had a cylindrical stone mile post which told the
distance between that point and the Forum Romanum in the city of Rome. It took nearly 500 years to complete the Roman
road system. The roads were built to exacting specifications: straight, graded, through tunnels, and over bridges. Roman
chariots sped military personnel and important civil officials over the vast expanses of the Roman road system.
Caesar once covered 800 miles in ten days on one of the Roman roads, and a courier on horseback could cover 360 miles in
two and a half days. Horse and mule carts averaged five to six miles per hour. Mail carts and wagons conveyed the post from
town to town. This speed of transportation remained unequalled until the 19th century. Some of the roads, for instance, the
Appian Way in Italy, are still in use today. Roman mail coaches were often covered so that the officials who traveled in them
could sleep inside.
The first horseshoes were manufactured by the Romans and were known as "hipposandals." These iron shoes were
not nailed to the horse's hoof, but were tied to the hoof with leather thongs. These devices would have decreased hoof wear
when the harness or draft horse traveled on paved roads. However, these early shoes were very heavy, and they could not
have been attached to the horse with any great firmness.
The Chinese did not employ the horse in great numbers until the third century B.C. well after its use was common in the West.
The value of the horse quickly became clear to the Chinese. By the seventh century A.D., the T'ang emperors had huge stud
farms holding as many as 300,000 horses, with each horse given seven acres of pasture. Paintings from the tenth and eleventh
century reveal the Chinese as thorough horsemen. Their equipment is rather modern in appearance, and they seem altogether
at ease on their mounts. Handsome spotted horses were a favorite in the Orient.
Known throughout history as the "Scourge of God," Attila the Hun commanded one of the greatest mounted armies
in history. Attila terrorized and controlled a vast area between Gaul and the Caspian Sea, and from Greece to northern Europe.
His great reputation commanded tributes of more than a ton of gold a year from the Romans - a payment which insured that
Attila would not attack Roman territories. When the Romans neglected to pay the tribute, Attila unleashed his wrath. In his
twenty years of power, Attila was defeated only once.
For more information on Attila, visit theAttila the Hun and the Battle of Chalons site.
The first solid evidence of the stirrup comes from an illustration on a fifth-century A.D. Korean jug. Many believe that the
Huns were the actual inventors of the stirrup. In any case, the stirrup provided much greater stability for the rider, allowing
him to stand while shooting arrows and giving him added stability when fighting with the sword.
Next Chapter - The Middle Ages - The Emergence of Light Cavalry
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