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3600 BCE
Domestication of Horses
Horses were domesticated thousands of years ago. People needed them for transportation, work, and they were even used for meat and milk in some places at that time. -
1900 BCE
Carriage Horses
People needed better ways of transportation, so they hooked their horses up to carriages and wagons to transport them to where they needed to be. -
1500 BCE
Horses on the Battlefield
Around this time, people began using horses to pull chariots into battle. Eventually they began riding them into war and using them for other reasons during wars as well. -
1066
Plow Horses
People needed better ways to move their heavy plows for farming. So they began to use large draft horses to pull their plows. This way, horses earned their keep and it was a much more effective method. -
1300
Horses in the Renaissance
Horseback riding gained some popularity during the renaissance. Those with money would buy expensive horses to compete in tournaments such as jousting or mounted archery. -
1572
Equestrianism Gains Popularity
Around this time, a large Spanish riding school was created in Vienna. This was a huge foundation for the sport and it gained much popularity from this -
Discovery of Horse Ancestors
The first ancestors of the horse were called Eohippus. They were said to have lived approximately 55 million years ago. Fossils were discovered in Paris in the 1820s. -
Horseback Riding in the Olympics
Horseback riding became an Olympic sport in the 1900s. People would jump their horses over large obstacles in a sport now known as show jumping. This gained the sport quite a bit of popularity. -
Fox Hunting Takes Off
The sport of fox hunting became very popular in the United Kingdom around this time. People (usually men) would take their horses and dogs out hunting for foxes on the countryside. It was normally a longer event and became popular quickly. This sport is now banned in the UK. -
Horses Today
Today, horses are used mostly for entertainment purposes such as horse racing, rodeo, English riding, and more. They are also used to pull carriages and are quite popular in movies as well.