logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2023
44m 9s

Origins of Horse Riding

History Hit
About this episode

Human and Horse relationships have long be intertwined; from the ancient Eurasian plain, through to modern cowboys. But how did these huge, independent creatures become domesticated - and what was the original intention behind such an act? Originally tamed for their meat and milk, the domestication of horses - and the origins of horse riding, aren't two events that coincided. So when did the horse move from food to friend? And who's responsible for this change?


In this episode Tristan welcomes Carolyn Willekes to the podcast, to talk about this remarkable evolutionary journey. Looking at what archaeological evidence can tell us, from horse teeth to buried skeletons, and the cultural influences that horses had across the ancient world - when did human's domesticate horses, and can they be considered man's best friend?


If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store




Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Yesterday
Origins of Homo Sapiens
Where do we come from? The origins of modern humans stretch back hundreds of thousands of years, and new discoveries are reshaping how we understand our species’ story. In this episode, recorded on location at London’s Natural History Museum, Tristan Hughes speaks with Professor ... Show More
41m 10s
Aug 21
Ashurbanipal: The Last Great King of Assyria
Known as the 'King of the World' and the last great king of Assyria, Ashurbanipal bestrode the ancient Mesopotamian world as a warrior but also a scholar, ruling the great Assyrian empire at the height of its power.In this episode, Tristan Hughes is joined by Assyriologist Dr Sel ... Show More
52m 11s
Aug 17
The White Huns
The Huns weren’t just Attila’s warriors in Europe — in Central Asia, the White Huns built the most powerful Hunnic empire, ruling for a century and dominating the ancient Silk Roads.While the European Huns fought Rome, the White Huns commanded trade routes, overthrew kingdoms, an ... Show More
53m 32s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2023
How Horses Conquered America (Twice)
Horses have been a bulwark of American culture and society for centuries. Think of cowboys in the Mid-West or Native Americans riding bareback on the Great Plains. But new, ground-breaking archeological evidence has emerged to suggest horses were present in the Americas more than ... Show More
25m 18s
Nov 2023
Le cheval, le meilleur ami de l'homme ?
Mes chers camarades, bien le bonjour !Centaures à torses humains, hippocampes à queues de poissons, pégases à aile d’aigles, et bien sûr licorne à corne torsadée : nous connaissons bien tous ces chevaux fantastiques. Comment expliquer leur présence dans notre histoire ? Pourquoi ... Show More
16m 51s
Jun 2023
Hooves Up!
The girlies investigate a beloved middle school archetype — the horse girl. They explain the history of The American Horse™️, the women who protected them from extinction, and why love stories between girls and horses are so much more empowering than the heteronormative scripts w ... Show More
1h 20m
Mar 2023
How Norse Myths Shape The Way We Think
Thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the legends of Thor, Odin and Asgard are familiar to millions today. Yet the histories of these myths are far richer than modern popular culture often implies. From Yggdrasil to Ragnarok, the seemingly unending tales of heroism, betrayal a ... Show More
51m 22s
Sep 2021
Do horses want us to ride them?
For centuries humans have ridden horses. We've ridden them long distances, into wars, in big races and just for fun. We've developed a close relationship with horses. But has anyone asked a horse what it thinks about all this? Would a horse want us to ride it and how would we eve ... Show More
22m 8s
Jun 2024
Fantastic Beasts of the Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages, animals were often the means for survival and the source of great wealth. No wonder then that in the medieval imagination, animals are not just animals. Animals were thought to have traits and characteristics that meant that they could be sorted into moral cat ... Show More
37m 15s
Apr 2024
Welsh mythology: everything you wanted to know
What do white horses symbolise in Welsh mythology? What is the Mabinogion? Was King Arthur from Wales? And why do fairy folk hold a particularly sinister place in Welsh folklore? Speaking to Elinor Evans, Mark Rees takes listeners on a tour of the remarkable creatures and stories ... Show More
52m 31s
Dec 2023
3 Ways to Die in Early Modern Europe
Life in the 16th and 17th centuries was brutal - the development of warfare technology made conflicts catastrophic for civilians as well as soldiers, there were regular epidemics, and famines both man-made and natural.  In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah L ... Show More
32m 51s
May 2024
448. Custer vs. Crazy Horse: Horse-Lords of the Plains (Part 3)
Of all the great characters entangled in the story of George A. Custer and the American Indian Wars, few are as captivating as Crazy Horse. A mighty warrior of the Lakota Sioux, and a tremendous military tactician, he was a charismatic but enigmatic figure. The Sioux, of which th ... Show More
51m 28s