History Flashcards
roles of equus in human history
hunted, domesticated, spiritual symbol, warfare, work, trade, transport, wealth and status, sport, entertainment, companions
hunted:
food source before domestication
-evidence found in caves and other prehistoric sites in ice age europe
domestication
- est. 5-6000 years ago (dogs 15000)
- DNA diversity in domestic and wild horses suggests a large number of mares were domesticated, but only a few stallinos were selected, shown in bottleneck of y chromosomes
- first domesticated in Kraznyl Yar, northern Kazakhstan: evidence of horse manure roofs, leather horse tack, and ceramics with horse milk fat
koumiss
fermented mares milk
Sakha:
‘people of the horse’
-horse herders, used them for food, clothing, transport, symbols of fertility and wealth
spiritual symbols
- common cave engravings of horses
- religious ceremonies
- rites of passage
- seen as guides to spirit world
pech merle cave france
13-16000 bc
-cave painting of spotted horse, genetics indicate same as current spotted horses
unicorn
symbol of christ and sensuous feelings
kiowa and horses
- painted horses were prized
- part of family
- allowed their culture to expand
- seen as “sacred dogs”
warfare
- horses changed the balance of power between civilizations
- chariots, horse-back, transport
- used up until 1900s
- nobles and knights rode on horseback, a symbol of bravery and nobility
knights and king henry VIII
decreed every major landowner must keep at least 2 mares to keep up horse population
-1541 banning of stallions from grazing on public land unless height requirements were met, allowing only strongest to be bred
spanish conquistadors
168 spanish soldiers, 62 on horseback, attacked on inca emperor, who was surrounded by 80,000 inca soldiers
- charged into crowd and killed 7000 incas and eventually the emperor
- eventually natives acquired horses in Chile, argentina, and US great plains
- used their horses to fight off european invaders, thus reintroduced Equus to America
grey horses
often used in paintings to most important figure would stand out
General Robert Lee and Traveller
- bought Traveller for 200 dollars in 1862
- rode and doted on the horse, moved to washington with the horse
- bones kept at U of Wash until 1970 where they were moved and buried with owner
WW1
cavalry offensives used in early part of war
- trench warfare, barb-wire made harder to use horses
- horses ended up used mostly for transport
modern horse soldiers
war in afghanistan 2001/2 U.S. special forces rode horses with Northern Alliance in areas where rugged terrain and lack of fuel made cars impractical
work, trade, and transport
pionneers relied heavily on horses
Pit Ponies
70,000 shetland ponies worked underground in UK
Coaches
horses used to transport people and cargo on wagons and coaches, even as taxis in New York
City Horse Facts
1870s- more than 300 US matents issued for horse-powered machinery
1900-130,000 horses worked in manhattan, more horses back then than taxi cars in new york today
-1916-in chicago more than 9000 horse carcasses carted away
second stage of cruelty
coachman beating fallen horse, 1751
- 1824 society for prevention of cruelty to animals created to prevent abuse to carriage horses
- 1866 ASPCA formed in NY city to protect horses
wealth and status
- associated with high status in europe: gentlemen, chevalier, caballero, and cavalier
- “come off it” and “get off your high horse” come from superior attitude of knights looking down on others
sport
racing: began in england 300 years ago
- ‘sport of kings’ originally royalty bred horses only
- thoroughbred used for galloping; descended from arabian breed
racing phrases
- jockey sure of winning, lowers hands on the reins=”hands down”
- racehorse unfamiliar to racing fans is “dark horse”
- part of course between last turn and finish=”homestretch”
- racing fan with inside tip on likely winner=”straight from horse’s mouth”
hunting
- europe, asia, mideast, hunting as pastime
- middle ages young noble men learn skills like tracking and shooting while on horseback
- used other animals like hounds, hawks, and even big cats
horse quotes
the wind of heaven is that which blows between a horse’s ears=arabian proverb
-horse is a thing of beauty…none will tire of looking at him as long as he displays himself in splendor-greek historian Xenophon
release the old horses and follow them, and thereby reach the right road-Guan Zhong, chinese politician and scholar
Donkeys;
beasts of burden and companionship
-shown as carrying virgin and swaddled christ
