Editing Horse (section)

==Domestication and Keeping==
===Ancestry===
Horses were probably born around 3000 BC. First domesticated in Central Asia. There are contradicting theories as to when and where exactly the horse was made usable by humans. Final examinations. which are based on the evaluation of the mitochondrial DNA of today's domestic horses and of fossils of extinct species suggest that the domestication of the horse did not take place in one place, but independently of one another in several places. An essential indicator for this is the breadth of the genetic variations, which is the same in both test groups. With only one place of domestication, a lower genetic range of variation would have been expected in domestic horses. In addition, during these tests, it was found that some of the fossil finds were more closely related to today's species,

Investigations of mitochondrial DNA in 2002 showed that there were at least 77 strain types in mares, suggesting that different wild horse populations in different regions of the world have been domesticated independently of one another; considerably more than with other types of pets.

The wild Przewalski horse apparently does not belong to the ancestors of the domestic horse, as the ancestral lines separated already 120,000 to 240,000 years ago.

===History of the Domestic Horse===
The early nomadic peoples of Central Asia invented the saddle and bridle as early as the third millennium BC. Later the Greek historian Strabo reported on the extraordinary riding skills of the Scythians, who probably brought the horse to Europe.

The domestication of the horse brought the peoples an extraordinary advantage. Long distances were covered in much less time, which made maintaining great empires easier. The early empires of the Assyrians and Hittites profited from harnessing the horse in war. Around 1700 BC The Hyksos invaded Egypt, a nomadic people of unknown origin - horses were unknown to the Egyptians until then, and despite their high civilization, they were so far inferior to the Hyksos in a battle that Egypt could be conquered.

In "Tacitus Germania" (about 90 AD) the following is noted about horses among the Teutons: "And the widespread custom of questioning the voice and flight of birds is also known here; however, it is a Germanic peculiarity, also on At the expense of the general public, white horses are kept in the groves and clearings mentioned, which have not been profaned by any service for mortals. They are harnessed to the holy chariot; the priest and the king or the head of the tribe go next to them and watch their neighing and snorting. And no sign is believed more, not only with the people: also with the noble ones, with the priests, for they consider themselves only servants of the gods, the horses, on the other hand, their confidants. "

The Greek historian Xenophon wrote in the 4th century BC. The work Peri hippikes ("About the art of riding"), in which he gathered knowledge about horses and riding. Most of the advice from this work is still valid today.

While horses used in the war in early antiquity were initially mostly harnessed to chariots, this method became increasingly uncommon during the dominance of the Roman Empire. Cavalrymen on horses that were bred ever-larger turned out to be faster, more agile, and thus more effective than fighters on chariots as the art of riding increased.

The horseshoe was brought to Europe in the 5th century during the Great Migration. The exact origin of this invention is unknown.

The use of the horse as a workhorse was only possible in the Middle Ages with the invention of the collar. Previously, oxen were mainly used in agriculture. The harnesses that were customary up to that time cut off the horses' breath when they were pulling heavily and were only suitable for easy-running wagons, but not for heavy work. The collar made it possible to use horses to pull a plow, for example. Since their labor output was significantly greater than that of oxen, this marked an agricultural revolution.

There were no domesticated horses in the Americas; Although there were originally wild horses in America too, these were extinct before they could be domesticated. It was only the Europeans who brought the horse to America. In North America, some of the horses ran away and formed herds of free-range mustangs. This was the first time the Indians encountered horses; the contact radically changed the way of life of some peoples. Above all, the peoples of the prairie were able to capture the bison more easily thanks to the speed of the horse and due to their greater mobility, they could undertake [[further]] hunting expeditions and thus kill more buffalo than before.

The invention of the automobile made the horse largely superfluous as a means of transport and as a workhorse in the course of the 20th century.