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Horses Have Shaped History

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Horses are incredible creatures that have shaped history around the globe. There are over 150 different breeds of horses that have countless skills. Between their extraordinary intelligence and obedience, horses have worked at the mercy of humans for many different reasons. Their expertise ranges from being one of the fastest modes of transportation on land, to helping fight in wars, herd cattle and even serve as a source of recreation or sport (Duren). Horses have been present throughout all of history up until present day specifically in religions or cultures, war, and their uses in modern times.
Horses exist in many different religions and cultures in history. In Greek mythology the god Poseidon, the god of the sea, created the horse while many of the other gods used them. Ares, the god of war, was known to ride a chariot that was driven by four white horses. Even Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, was represented by the head of a black horse and her temples were known as “foals” which is the name for a young horse. The Greeks establishment with the horse dates back to about 2000 BC (Edwards). Also in Greek mythology, there is a creature known as a centaur which is a half-man and a half-horse being. The American Museum of Natural History poses and insightful explanation for the creation of centaurs when reasoning that, “If early sightings of strangers on horseback might have inspired the Greek myths about the legendary half-man, half-horse beings” (Horse American). In other cultures around the world, horses were known to symbolize the essence of power, wealth, status, prestige (Horses) and freedom (Horses American). Horses were a great luxury that could not even be ridden by Buddhists or Taoists who had given up the l...

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