Horseback Riding: an Art Vital to the History of Mankind
Without doubt the horse has been the most important animal in the development
of mankind, at least for the last six millennia and perhaps longer. I do not
think that any other animal comes close to the horse in importance to our
civilization. The fact that we can ride them is what interests me the most, but
one must consider that they have many other uses. In many parts of the world
they were and sometimes still are highly valued as a source of meat. France,
Poland, Italy, Switzerland, Iceland and Belgium still prize horsemeat. In
Mongolia, and probably other places as well, people drink mare’s milk. I have
read too that the Mongol Cavalry under Genghis Khan used to nourish themselves
at times by opening a vein in a horse and sucking raw blood from it for energy
on the march. I am not sure they really did that at the gallop as some have
claimed, but, after seeing how the Masai take blood periodically from their cows
and use it mixed with milk as a renewable resource I can well believe they used
the blood for nourishment.
Of course the use of horses to power agricultural machinery and for
transportation is far more important for the development of civilization than
its value as food. Probably one horse pulling a plow could do the work of
something like 20 men, thereby liberating huge numbers for other pursuits than
the subsistence farming necessary to prevent our ancestors from starving. Horses
gave mankind much more time for art, writing, manufacturing, building and
thinking by liberating people from many menial tasks. Imagine also how horses
facilitated the transport of products from one place to another by pulling carts
and sometimes barges on canals. They were the life blood of commerce. Coaches
with relay stations facilitated the transport of passengers and fast riding
couriers carried communications. For a short time before the telegraph put them
out of business, the Pony Express had the fantastic, if somewhat quixotic,
achievement of carrying the mail from St. Joseph to San Francisco; 2,000 miles
in seven days.
It goes without saying that the horse and the art of
horseback riding had a
determining influence on many of the pivotal battles of recorded history. Until
the First World War most of the great battles were strongly influenced by
cavalry and there would have been no chance of victory without a cavalry arm. As
well as conferring speed and power, the horse was often a huge psychological
weapon. It is ironic to think that when Cortez and Pizarro defeated the Aztecs
and the Incas with ridiculously inferior forces, the horse was one of the main
reasons for Spanish victory.
Spanish Arabian Horses
left from Arab invasions proved versatile and effective in subduing resistance.
It was ironic because the horse had originated in North America and migrated to
Asia across the Bering Straits. Around the end of the last ice age the horse
became extinct in North America, some think because of over hunting from native
tribes. If Native Americans had been the first to domesticate the horse instead
of exterminating them, world history could have been written far differently.
Aside from the military, a great use for horses was to facilitate hunting.
The speed of the horse made it possible to go faster than most game and when
horsemen were using hounds they could stay much closer than they could have done
on foot. Many societies depending on cattle and sheep find horses greatly
facilitate there work. The cowboys of the American West and the gauchos of South
America are prime examples.
As with so many skills which people learn to handle necessary jobs, horseback
riding has developed into an agreeable and extremely popular sport from the
beginning and it is one of the oldest sports known to man. There is something
about the rhythmic motion of the animal moving in unison with a rider which
seems to provide mutual comfort and pleasure. Horseback riding is also excellent
exercise as well as being challenging and exciting.
Bayard Fox has been riding for 70 years on six continents and has ridden
enough miles to circle the globe several times. He is owner and founder of
Equitours Worldwide Horseback Riding Vacations. He and his wife also own the Bitterroot
Dude Ranch
where they raise and train Arabian horses. Bayard has been leading and
organizing riding tours for 35 years.
© Copyright 2009 Bayard Fox and Equitours, Ltd.
This article is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License.p>
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