In the history of humankind there has never been an animal that has made a greater impact than the horse. Other animals were hunted much more or domesticated earlier, but the horse changed the world in innumerable ways with its tremendous swiftness. While asses, camels, elephants, yaks, and other animals were ridden by people, the horse provide the first source of “rapid transit.” Prior to horseback riding, most people traveled on foot, carrying all their cargo on their shoulders, or they were restricted to using boats along rivers and coastlines. Other animals were slow, limited in how much weight they could carry, or were more restricted in their geographic distribution. Horses were swift of foot, could easily support one or two human passengers, could carry heavy loads, and, like asses, could survive, if necessary, on very poor quality vegetation or fodder.

Because of the obvious advantage of ease of transport, horses expanded the range that people could travel from their homelands. This provided the means to widen trade circles and increase communication among diverse cultures. The advantages of trade expansion and diffusion of technological innovations from one group of people to the next through increased long-distance travel were immeasurable.

The impact of horseback riding was not all positive, however. Along with domestication of the horse came a new way to move armies. The military advantage fell dramatically to those who were the quickest to gain access to and adopt the horse into their life-styles. This was as true in the New World as it was in Europe and Asia.

In our highly industrialized society we may tend to forget the enormous impact that horses have had on our history. In some areas of the world that impact may have dwindled but is still quite evident. There are other cultures, however, that should we become overconfident with our mechanized civilization, we should look at countries in the former Soviet Union that have reverted back to the highly reliable horsepower in the face of fuel crises and machinery breakdowns (figure 1). The time may come in our own future when an intermediate technology that includes horses may become advantageous over costly high-tech solutions.