Eyewitness II; #102; Horse

This is (signal tone) Presentation of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by annual financial support from viewers like you. (music) (intro music) Since it first crossed the human horizon, it has captivated our imagination:

the horse. We've grown up with it, made use of its wild instincts, "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" Great kings, generals, explorers, even the gods all rode horses. But no one ever conquered its independent spirit. We simply harnessed its energy. Horse: it's powerful, perfect movements have always dazzled us. Horse. It answers to many names: thoroughbred, mustang, Arabian, unicorn, zebra, Prsewalski. Horse. Even the name creates in the carousel of our minds a whirling image of excitement, adventure, danger, an image that transforms

ordinary people into heroes. It was a horse that elevated Paul Revere from humble craftsman to living legend. One April night in1775, he borrowed a neighbor's horse and galloped across the state of Massachusetts to warn that soldiers from England were marching across the land. His early warning gave the colonists time to prepare for the first battle in the War of Independence. The horse is perfectly equipped for marathon journeys such as this, journeys that require strength, stamina, and speed. It's the fifth fastest land animal. A cheetah can sprint nearly twice as fast, but over long distances the horse will always win. The key to the horse's marathon success can be found in its wild relative, the zebra. On the dry plains of central Africa, zebras will race 60 miles to find rain they've spotted on the horizon.

Where there's rain there's food. Wild horses such as these Camargue don't need to run for food, but they still have the same instincts as the zebra, for they are descended from the same ancestor. 55 million years ago, the first horse was no bigger than a small dog, with three padded toes on its back feet and four on the front. The toes spread out so the animal could walk on soft ground. As forest diminished and grassland spread, it moved out onto the plains, adapting to the changing environment. To run faster, it grew longer legs, lost all but one of the toes on each foot, and developed that into a hoof. With longer legs, the creature needed a longer neck to graze, and so 3 million years ago Equus evolved, forerunner of the modern horse family.

The Przewalski, a primitive horse from the plains of Mongolia, resembles the original Equus. It shares features with both the zebra and the domesticated horse. Its mane doesn't flow. It stands up straight, and has a dorsal stripe, like the zebra. As horses developed, so did humans. For centuries they had hunted horses simply for food. Then, 5,000 years ago, the people of the Ukraine harnessed them to pull their carts. Of all the animals, why harness the horse? Because it lived close to where people raised flocks and grew their crops. In the wild, they spend at least 15 hours a day eating. With heads so close to the ground, eating can be dangerous, so a grazing horse must look up to search for predators at least a thousand times a day. The horse is an intelligent creature, but its brain is most developed in areas

associated with muscle coordination. The skull is long in order to contain all the teeth needed for grinding up vegetation. The horse is built for marathon speed. The bones are thin, the skeleton light. The backbone keeps the body rigid. The rib cage protects the heart and lungs. Long leg bones pivot on pulley-like joints connected to muscle groups, and the whole body is covered in coarse hair believed in folklore to contain magical properties. As well as being used to string bows of musical instruments, horsehair was said to cure goiter, and if put in water to turn into eels. In some cultures, it wasn't just hair but also feathers that covered the

horse. In Greek mythology, the goddess Athena used a golden bridle to catch and tame the flying horse, Pegasus. (music) And so it was that people captured and trained members of the horse family to suit their many needs. In ancient Rome, mules and donkeys became military pack animals. They were vital to the great emperors such as Julius Caesar, and because they were valued, they became very expensive. Horses pulled chariots, and being trampled wasn't the only problem under foot. Hooves, made of a thick fingernail-like material, wear down on hard surfaces. Horseshoes were devised to protect the horse's feet, created with fire and the magic metal iron, which was believed to keep the devil at bay and fixed by a lucky

number of nails: seven. In nearly every country, the horseshoe is seen to be a lucky charm. Even at sea, sailors used them to avert storms and shipwrecks. In 1805, Admiral Nelson had a horseshoe nailed to the mast of HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. But the horseshoe must always hang open and up so that good luck doesn't fall out. Like almost every other item of riding equipment, horseshoes were invented by the horsemen of Asia. They were the first people to mount and ride on a horse's back. They also invented the stirrup around 200 B.C. The stirrup gave riders balance and stability and gave mounted warriors the freedom to use both hands for their weapons. It has been viewed as the most significant development of warfare between the taming of the horse and the invention of

gun powder. Attila the Hun brought the stirrup to Europe in 435 A.D. But not everybody caught on to this new way of riding. There's There's a story that the English didn't use stirrups at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The invading Normans did. Guess who won. The ultimate triumph and mastery of the Eastern horseman was the cavalry of Genghis Khan. In the 13th century, over a period of 50 years, the mighty Khans, Genghis and his grandson Kublai, created the greatest empire the world had ever seen. Their motto was, "A man's greatest pleasure is the defeat of his enemies," a pleasure they achieved on horses no bigger than ponies.

The horses they rode are hotbloods, small but fast. The name hotblood was given to them because they originally came from the hot deserts of the Middle East and North Africa, and because they are high spirited and quick to react. (battle sounds) (battle sounds) Breeders call the horses from the forestlands of the North "cold blooded", nothing to do with the blood temperature, just the origin and temperament of the horse. Cold bloods are strong, heavy horses for battle and for work, horses for people who grow crops, or who are important enough to travel in style.

(cheering sounds) Warm bloods are a mixture of the two, hot meets cold, usually gentle. Modern sporting horses, except for race horses, are warm bloods. Breeding has become so advanced, horses can be custom made. Most modern day horses are reared from a cocktail of breeds, and the origin of the word cocktail actually comes from horse breeding. The phrase "a cocktail horse" refers to a horse of mixed blood with a docked tail that resembles the tail of a rooster. Cross-breeding has led to some interesting combinations. For instance, long term breeding of wild asses led to the donkey, and donkeys can carry on breeding forever. But you can only cross a zebra with a donkey once, which equals

a sterile zedonk. Horse plus donkey equals mule. It's a strong and useful animal, but again, sterile. So, end of equation. When it comes to breeding, there's a certain truth in the phrase "to be stubborn as a mule". When left to its own devices, nature delivers every time. And by witnessing the natural birth of a domestic horse, we can begin to understand the instincts that govern the survival of its wild relative. In the wild, the horse family is most vulnerable at the moment of birth. As soon as they are born, the young must be able to fend for themselves, even in the face of danger. Foals can see and can run within half an hour of birth. They must immediately learn to recognize their mother by both sight and smell. Bonding from birth means that each foal has imprinted in its mind almost instantly an image of its mother, so when danger threatens a foal knows

where to go for the best chance of safety and survival. Each zebra has a unique pattern, one of a kind, almost like a human fingerprint. A zebra's stripes provide one of the most striking and distinctive coats in the animal kingdom. Is it white stripes on black or black stripes on white? The question remains: Why do zebras have stripes at all? Some scientists think they could be a form of protection against flies. Tse tse flies are attracted to large black objects, yet appear to miss zebras. Stripes can certainly provide camouflage.

Where does one zebra end and another one begin? Those predators that see only in black and white find it difficult to pick out an individual victim from the herd. But it isn't a foolproof system, especially when once in a while the zebras spread out to claim their share of water. (animal sounds) This is no Crazy Horse. It's a creature trying to rid itself of a predator's grip. The bucking bronco was simply following its natural instincts. If someone ever tried to ride a zebra, they might get a similarly bumpy ride.

Like all horses, zebras use their bodies to communicate with one another. By observing how their wild cousins behave, we can perhaps begin to interpret the messages that our stable friends are trying to pass on. Every muscle and every movement communicates a message, from the tiniest twitch of the ears that expresses boredom or anger, to unmistakably defiant shakes of the head. And when you think you're getting nibbled for keeping your horse clean, be flattered. You're actually being accepted as one of the family. Mutual grooming such as this strengthens the bond of the herd. Not only does the practice get rid of unwanted parasites, it also reduces heartrate and helps the horse to relax. Horses need one another not only to keep flies off but for survival in the wild. The more ears and eyes there are on the alert for predators, the more time there is to eat, drink, and rest.

Given the chance, as with these feral horses, all horses revert to herd life, with the stallions keeping the herd together by rounding the individuals up from behind with a driving posture. This form of control is used by people. Most horses run together. Perhaps they regard whoever is herding them as the stallion. When horses run from danger, the safest place to be legally is in the middle of the herd. Why then would any horse want to win a horse race? Certainly no horse would want to be last. A straggler at the back of a group is most likely to get picked off by a predator. But to be out at the front of the herd is also to be vulnerable and alone. So why do it? What makes a fast horse a winner? The rider. The horse responds to the rider's commands, understanding his

sense of urgency. And the whip, like the stinging claw of a predator at the horse's back, reinforces the need to escape with speed. The Arab: father of all race horses. The Emperor Napoleon always chose Arab stallions, not just for their strength and speed, but to lift him to new heights. For looking at him on his horse, you would never guess he was barely five feet tall, or 15 hands. The height of a horse is measured in hands, from the tip of the hoof to the highest point of the back, known as the withers. Originally just the distance between

little finger and thumb, used by the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans alike, this measurement was standardized by King Henry the 8th of England. Now one hand equals four inches. The largest breed of course is the Shire, measuring over 18 hands, while a small pony like this Shetland stands at only 10 hands. Between heavy horses and ponies come the light horses, the so-called riding horses, from 14 to 17 hands. We've measured the height of a horse in a standard way since the 16th century, but we didn't understand how a horse moves until the 1880s with the photographic techniques of Edward Muybridge. The horse has four different types of leg movement, each suited to different speeds. A horse walks, then trots when the legs move

in diagonal pairs almost together. Next it canters, a three beat gait, graceful and elegant, with one foreleg and both hind legs leading, then the other foreleg followed by a momentary suspension. Finally it gallops in a four beat gait, and seems to fly through the air like its mythical ancestor, Pegasus. At this speed a horse will take 140 strides per minute and just over two breaths per second. Think of horses, think of the American Wild West. Yet horses

became extinct in North America 10,000 years ago. There were no horses there until the Europeans reintroduced the domesticated horse in the 16th century, and what an effect. The arrival of the horse transformed the lives of Native Americans and brought a totally new way of life to the American plains. The horse opened up the whole continent. America quickly became a horse culture. From fighting battles to farming, riding became a central feature of the American way of life. The prairie schooner: America's first mobile home. The trend towards horse locomotion spread like wildfire. It lasted right up to the invention of the

railroad. The train was the first form of transportation to challenge the horse for long distance hauls. Indeed, for some Native Americans, the association was so strong that the train became known as the "Iron Horse". Similarly, the first cars were called horseless carriages. The horse's role has waned as a form of transportation, but not as a form of entertainment. Shows that combine horse spectaculars, acrobats and shadow plays were a runaway success and toured the world. Indeed, the circus ring was designed for horses. It was the trainability of the horse which helped create the circus and the sport of dressage, so nobly demonstrated here at the famous French Academy of Riding.

Throughout the world, the nobility of the horse came to be reflected in the nobility of the rider. Good horsemen were expected to be honorable and courteous. This became the definition of chivalry, a word derived from the French word for horse, "cheval". In Medieval Europe, whole societies were governed by the rules of chivalry. In times of peace, the knights enjoyed jousting at tournaments where they could exhibit their skill, courage, and chivalry. [Chanting and drum music] Today the rules have changed, but the tradition lives on. One of the greatest horses the world has ever known is Bucephalus, ridden by Alexander the Great. In 300

B.C. he established an empire that stretched from Greece to India, astride Bucephalus. When the horse died, he named an Indian city Bucephala, after his faithful steed. 2,000 years later, an unknown horse helped save a nation. No one knows the name of Paul Revere's mount. It was just a horse, faithful, reliable, strong, following the instructions of its rider, galloping for freedom. Times have changed. Today in most societies, the horse has become less of a necessity and more of a symbol. But just beneath the surface is always that other horse, a creature of independent spirit that will never be conquered. Perhaps that's why we say, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." True lovers of horses appreciate their fiery spirit. For some, horseback riding is an essential part of life from childhood to adulthood.

The partnership between horse and human will endure for centuries to come. (outro music) Presentation of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by annual financial support from viewers like you. To

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