Horses Changed History
The close relationship between horses and humans has changed us both. People have remade horses, creating dozens of breeds in our efforts to make horses faster, stronger, bigger or smaller. But horses have also changed us. The ways we fight wars, work, travel, trade and play, have all been profoundly shaped by our use of horses. The galleries that follow provide a glimpse into the countless ways that horses have transformed human societies around the world.
Sports
A well-trained horse is a magnificent athlete. Most horses, no matter what breed, can trot for many hours without resting. A fit quarter horse can sprint 400 metres in less than 21 seconds, and a talented thoroughbred can jump a fence more than 2 metres tall.
Equestrian sports make the most of these skills, while also pushing human athletes to perfect their horsemanship. In sporting events, people and horses must cooperate brilliantly to succeed.
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The Byerley Turk
This hand-coloured lithograph by an unknown artist is based on English painter John Wootton’s The Byerley Turk, and represents one of the three stallions of the eighteenth century that began the thoroughbred horse lineage in Britain.
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The Darley Arabian
Based on English painter John Wootton’s original painting, this hand-coloured lithograph by an unknown artist depicts one of the three stallions of the eighteenth century that began the thoroughbred horse lineage in Britain.
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The Godolphin Barb
This hand-coloured lithograph by an unknown artist is based on British painter George Stubbs’s The Godolphin Barb. It depicts one of three stallions that began the modern thoroughbred horse lineage in Britain in the early eighteenth century.
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Riding Whip for the Buzkashi Game
This riding whip comes from Afghanistan, dating back to the late 1800s. It is made of leather, wood, iron, white metal, cotton and copper alloy. In the Central Asian game called buzkashi, players fight for control of a heavy bundle made from the carcass of a slaughtered goat. When necessary, riders hold their whips in their teeth to keep their hands free.
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Trotting Horse Mount
This skeleton of Lee Axworthy, the first trotting stallion to break the two-minute mile, was mounted by Samuel Harmsted Chubb, an anatomist and research associate at the American Museum of Natural History, during the first half of the twentieth century. Chubb’s innovation of mounting skeletons in lifelike, natural positions revolutionized the presentation of these specimens in museums.
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Lee Axworthy Bronze
This bronze statue is a model of the famous trotter Lee Axworthy, the first horse in racing history to trot a mile (1.6 km) in less than two minutes.
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