Announcing a new series of short posts tracing the chronological history of horsemanship. The series will be published daily on both Facebook and Twitter as short ‘tweet’-sized posts.

The series will trace earliest horsemanship up to the modern era, completing just before the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games in London … as part of the countdown to publication of Book #3 of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy next Summer (June 21, 2012).

Unlike dogs and cats, horses have not been domesticated so much as tamed. The horse is an ancient species and has never surrendered his basic nature. In a real sense, every horse is born wild.

The horse’s strong natural instincts are a large part of what makes riding a challenge. Spooking or shying, bolting, rearing, wanting to run home—horses do these things because they retain their basic nature as prey.

Horses have never left the plains

It’s long been observed that even well-bred and highly-trained horses set loose onto a prairie successfully revert to the wild. The “wild” mustangs of the American West are descendants of tamed horses which escaped or were set loose on the plains.

Science finds that horses are not fundamentally changed from their contact with humans. The recent book, Documenting Domestication: New Genetic and Archaeological Paradigms [University of California Press] concludes, “…despite over a century of morphometrics on equid skeletons, there is still no consensus on which criteria are reliable for distinguishing between wild and domestic horses…”

Even though we have been able to breed changes of body size and type, the horse remains intrinsically itself.  Remarkably it is mankind that was changed — by the horse!

Horses are an Ancient Breed

The reason for horses remaining “wild” is that equines are a much older species than humans. Horses existed in their present form for over 3 million years before the development of modern man.

This is not to say the horse remains aloof from mankind. Our animal partner long ago made a bargain to cooperate with humans, forging a unique and amazing partnership that helped build human civilization. In fact, evidence of our profound connection can be seen in mares, who will not typically permit members of her own herd to approach her newborn foal … but will allow a trusted human.

The misunderstanding is understandable: we humans have always been a few flakes short of a bale when it comes to our equine partner … the writ-large story of horsemanship is one of human ignorance staggering toward a cooperative path it wants nothing of, until some innovation in cavalry tops the ridge and a new way is more or less happily accepted (mostly much less).

When I tell people I’m writing a fiction adventure about horses in history, reactions vary. Some smile in a rush of good feelings and memories (these we call ‘horsepeople’), some are intrigued; other’s eyes dart away with a short nod and change of subject, or peer at me curiously trying to grasp why a grown man would spend time writing about ‘horsies.’

Horse Talk

Well, I don’t write about ‘horsies’ — no author does — but about an animal, a force, that has been an essential partner in civilization. I write to honor the intangible spirit in horses which sparks humanity’s creative impulses, a spirit which has served as mankind’s inner guide by providing a concrete image of noble humility, courage and selfless service. Discussions about horses deal in ideas that created the cultures we live in and have succeeded. Horse talk is really about humanity.

We can speak about horses in bold terms and not be embarrassed: it is hard to find expressive terms to describe how close and longstanding man’s partnership with the horse truly is. History has moved to the sound of hoofbeats since prehistoric man enshrined horses on cave walls, and celebration of our partnership has ennobled mankind throughout recorded time.

Is the great ride over?

Is mankind ready to dismount and proceed into the terrifying future alone? This is a graver decision than the attention it is given.

Yes, we have machines to replace buggies and hoofed cavalry … but perhaps we should consider the lessons of the countless cultures that rested upon the status quo of their horsemanship–and were overridden by newly-discovered potential in the horse.

Today horsemanship’s ancient roles of youth development, leadership training and community-fostering deserve examination, and there are exciting new roles to explore in horse-powered ‘green’ commerce, recreation, and healing so relevant to our crowded future.

It may even be that the ancients were correct in believing the horse was a gift of the Creator, and the future belongs to horsemen as much as did the past.

My answer to skeptics? Horse talk is more than it seems.

The opening historical scene of Eclipsed by Shadow is set in prehistoric times, highlighting the earliest relationship between man and horse: hunter and hunted.

It was not our most enjoyable association, casting humans in the shabby role of trickster … and leaving the horses not too happy either.

The horse has few natural predators

Lions and wolf packs are the only major predators with horse on the menu, and they mostly avoid contact. As a horse’s kick can crush an adult lion’s skull — something we could call a ‘game-changer’ — the horse’s enemies remain on the lookout for immature, elderly or sick equines.

If hooves are the danger in horse-hunting, getting close to the animal is the difficulty. A horse may not have the sprinting take-off of a gazelle, but with a short headstart no predator on earth can catch him.

The horse’s anatomy is a balance between power and swiftness: his heavy body is balanced on thin, well-leveraged limbs that take a few strides to reach full speed but allow him to gallop for miles. The horse simply outclasses all predators at any real distance.

So sneaking around is the rule for horse-hunters … and it ain’t easy. As anyone who has spent time with horses knows, our silent partner is quite alert to potential lions in the flower-pots. The horse instinctively knows his survival depends upon a good headstart.
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Copyright © 2010  John Allen Royce, Jr.

Horses are built for speed over distance, and with a good headstart he is safe from his natural predators.

The only hole in the equine’s survival program is the time it takes to reach top speed.

The solution is predator early-warning detection, and horses come “fully-loaded” with highly advanced bio-technology.

The Super-Human Horse

An equine’s sense of hearing and smell rivals that of a dog, with additions of swiveling ears and a canyon of a nose that sifts the wind with every breath. Their eyesight is much different than our own, featuring extreme motion-detection ability and a field of vision of almost 360 degrees, with only a few blank spots right behind and in front (which is why you never walk up behind a horse, and why jumping is such a challenge).

Equine abilities extend beyond the human experience. A horse’s legs serve as a sounding board to feel ground vibration, and can even recognize a person by their walk. Horses also have an amazing “photographic” memory and are able to see well at night.

Horses don’t see the world as humans see it

As you ride, the horse has mapped out the robin in the hedge 100 yards away, noted a freshly-painted mailbox and the spot where a dog barked seven years ago … even as feels the rumble of a distant train and responds to your cues.

We don’t share the outlook of horses, the same mind or same senses–we hardly share the same world. Yet somehow, implausibly, a close partnership was made … and is still kept.

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Copyright © 2010  John Allen Royce, Jr.