| The desire to get a riding horse as close as possible to gallop led to what appeared in the form of the first galloping horse, and later on a special breed was bred which is today the fastest thoroughbred riding horse. These trials with galloping also led to further results – after a few generations, these horses became larger in height, harmonious and enduring.
In the past, people used horses for horse hunting, riding, jousting, and racing.
The latest craze among humans is the super small sized horses. The famous falabella horse the size of a medium sized dog was reared in 1950 in Argentina as an experiment, but now these miniature-horses have become popular all over the world and are very expensive. Seriously speaking, they are not suitable even for very small children. But they can be kept in a city apartment and taken for a walk like dogs.
Horse riding is good for health. This was noted by Plato (427-347 BC) and Pliny the Elder (23 – 79 BC). Horse riding is useful for the stomach and joints, and it also improves posture and breathing, reduces the risk of hypertension and the occurrence of heart attack. Therapeutic riding is also known as riding therapy or hippotherapy. In addition, horse riding has positive effects on the state of the vestibular apparatus besides giving the body required exercise. For the disabled, riding brings the joy of walking, which many of them can’t.
The horse business (breeding and stud farming) is very much developed in several countries in Asia, Europe and North and South America.
Usage of horses in food :
Horses are valuable and productive as animals. In Russia, the productive breeding is 7% of the total horse breeding, which provides valuable eatable meat. In Western culture, the horse is used as food only for pets (especially dogs), although some nationalities do consume horse meat and milk. Kumiss, a drink prepared from mare's milk, is considered to have many medicinal properties (possesses a tonic and healing effect, and is beneficial in diseases related to the lungs and stomach). In recent times, mare milk is also being used for feeding infants. It is also a fact that not every mare can give the milk of desired composition and quantity so that good Kumiss could be made. Horse meat is also added in many varieties of sausages. In Italy, France, Belgium, Japan, and Yakutia, horse meat is considered to be an important part of food thanks to its special chemical composition. Horse meat also helps a liver to recovering from jaundice, and horse fat is used in frostbite and colds.
Horses are a great source of valuable raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry, including for making diphtheria serum.
Horses in Warfare:
The usage of horses in the battlefield began in Mesopotamia during the third millennium BC. In the tenth century BC, there appeared the first riders. Horses were used for military purposes (for transportation or in the battle) without exception by the people who inhabited the areas where horses lived. Horses became the property of the state: it was also said that if there are no good horses - there will be no victory in the war. Therefore, the care for horses has always been paramount to every soldier. People reared horses, constantly improving the quality of all riding horses, both internally and externally.
Horses were valued quite highly as pack and draft animals prior to 1950. In the beginning of World War II, artillery infantry divisions of all the belligerent countries were driven by horses. In 1941, Wehrmacht, being a part of the armored unit Guderian, was the only Cavalry Division at that time that advanced through the difficult terrain of the Pripyat marshes.
The horse can cross almost any terrain, as opposed to vehicles. Therefore, it is often used in mountain chasseur units as a beast of burden.
In modern times, horses are used by police in most developed countries, where any other form of transport is useless.
In many countries, mounted police units are used for patrolling, as well as for security during mass events. It is believed that the view of a policeman, towering above the crowd riding on strong animals, casts an overwhelming and chilling effect on the crowd. |
