The world is full of horse lovers, and for good reason. They are strong, beautiful, and emotionally intelligent creatures that have been by humanity’s side for thousands of years. But how did the domestic horse first come about? Saddle up for the first episode of History on Horseback as Keagan and Keely go back millions of years ago to a time when horses looked more like small dogs, and follow their evolution into the modern horse that we know and love today.

 

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Sources:

• Hoof Beats: How Horses Shaped Human History” by William Taylor
• Horse Evolution
• Librado, P., Khan, N., Fages, A. et al. The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes. Nature 598, 634–640 (2021)
• Librado, P., Tressieres, G., Chauvey, L. et al. Widespread horse-based mobility arose around 2200 BCE in Eurasia. Nature  (2024)