Equestrian History: Horses are one of nature’s most beautiful animals created. They are the definition of grace and beauty, and they have great personalities! If you have your own horses, you know how unique each one of them is. It is truly amazing to see what a horse can do and how strong they are. Horses are trained and ridden for both sport and practical purposes like police work or working on a ranch. Some competitive sports that horses partake in are dressage, endurance racing, eventing, reining, showjumping, tent pegging, vaulting, polo, horse racing, combined driving, and rodeo.
It is crazy to think about how long ago horses were first domesticated. There has been evidence that horses were originally used as a food source way before humans realized that horses were meant for better purposes. It is not precisely known when horses were first domesticated, but they were being used for hunting and transportation purposes. Also, researchers have yet to figure out an exact time frame, so it is not known exactly when horses were first ridden. A reasonable estimate, according to archaeological evidence, was around 5,000 years ago.
B.C. Time Periods
In as early as 5000 BC, scientists found there were the remains of horses alongside the remains of cattle and sheep. It was around this time that researchers found that horses were used for sacrifice and as a food source in the Volga river region of the Eurasian steppes. In around 4200 BC again in steppes, head maces were found, which showed horse domestication. Horses were still being used as a source of food in 3500 BC, but equestrian practices were being used for hunting in northern Kazakhstan.
Equestrian training was found to have started as early as 1400 BC. A Turkish horse trainer used conditioning and training techniques to prepare chariot horses for battle. Some of the techniques included trotting, walking, and cantering. Chariots were continuously found to be used throughout many regions. Chariots were pulled by either two, three, or four horses, each called either a Biga, Triga, or Quadriga. By 1200 BC, the Shang Dynasty in China was found to use the chariot, and it had only become more and more widespread.
In 680 BC, chariot racing had become so popular that it was added to the Olympic games in Constantinople. Up until 350 BC, horses were trained with an aggressive force. It took a man named Xenophon to help transform how horses were treated and trained. He actually wrote a book on horsemanship and goes into detail about how to ride and train horses. He even gave advice about things like biting. His writings could be used for general equestrian purposes as well as military purposes.
A.D. to Present Day
As many may know, in the middle ages, Knights rode horses when going into battle. Around this time is when horses actually started receiving armor and carried light weapons. Many cultures around the world, like Huns, Mongols, Egyptians, and Turks, were found to load their horses with bows and arrows, spears, and eventually rifles. People started to realize that different horse breeds could be used for various activities. Horse breeds like the Arab and Akhai Teke were lightweight and could be used for military equestrian purposes. People learned that horse breeds like Friesian, Lipizzaner, and Andalusian were very strong and agile and used them for these strengths.
In more recent times, equestrian sports like jumping events were featured in the Paris Olympics in 1900 and then again in 1912. Since 1912, the equestrian sport has been a regular event in the Olympics. The first woman to ride in an equestrian event was Helena du Pont in 1964. She represented the United States in the Tokyo Games. Before that, only men were allowed to ride in equestrian events.
A man named Alois Podhajsky influenced the classical equestrian techniques that are used today. He wrote books that outlined horse training and rider basics that move to more advanced techniques. In 1996, Atlanta Games had extensive studies and research done that looked at the effects of heat and humidity on horses during equestrian sporting events. The information gathered from then helps to serve as an excellent resource for beginner riders that are riding all over the world.
We hope you found reading about equestrian history fascinating! It is incredible to see how far humans and horses have come since the B.C. periods. If you would like to know more information regarding our equestrian services in San Juan Capistrano, please check out our website. If you are interested in taking equestrian lessons with us here, call Reveal Equestrian today!
