When discussing animals that have been integral throughout human history, horses undoubtedly come to the forefront.
After domestication, horses participated in countless wars, influencing the rise and fall of dynasties and driving the progress of different eras.
Besides serving as mounts in warfare, horses played significant roles in agriculture, pulling plows, transporting grains to warehouses, and fulfilling the basic survival needs of humans.
Horses not only changed human life, but humans also constantly altered the fate of horses.
In fact, without humans, horses might have long been extinct.
Animals that evolved alongside horses in the wild have nearly all gone extinct, with only those reliant on humans surviving.
About 55 million years ago, during the Eocene epoch, the earliest horses appeared on Earth—the Eohippus, also known as the dawn horse or Eohippus.
Eohippus had a significantly different physique compared to modern horses, with a body length of about 50 cm and a weight of around 10 kg, roughly the size of a dog.
Eohippus also looked quite different from modern horses, with a short face, curved back, slender limbs, and multiple toes—four on the front feet and three on the back feet.
They were not adept at running and lived in shrubs or deep forests, using dense vegetation for cover and feeding on roots, stems, and tender leaves, leading a cautious life.
By the Oligocene epoch, Eohippus evolved into Mesohippus.
Although Mesohippus did not significantly increase in size, its limbs became sturdier, the number of toes on the front and hind legs unified to three, and the hooves became larger and harder.
Mesohippus’s speed and endurance improved, allowing it to escape predators by running rather than hiding in forests, enabling it to roam freely on the grasslands.
In the Pliocene epoch, horse evolution entered a new phase with the appearance of Pliohippus.
Pliohippus’s toes reduced to one, and its body size increased significantly, reaching a height of 1.25 meters, close to that of modern horses.
By the late Pliocene, the most direct ancestor of modern horses, the Equus, appeared.
Equus resembled modern horses in body size, measuring about 2.5 meters in length and weighing around 300 kg, with a straight back, long and sturdy limbs, and a single hard hoof, suited for running and with strong endurance.
About 4 million years ago, true horses (Equus) appeared, and all horses we see today are descendants of these true horses.
Throughout the evolutionary history of horses, their bodies grew larger, their limbs became stronger, their backs straightened, and the number of toes reduced, all adaptations for faster running.
However, eventually, humans domesticated horses, putting them under harness.
The history of horse domestication is very long.
Traces of horse domestication from over 4,000 years ago have been found at the site of Chengziya in Longshan Town, Zhangqiu, Shandong.
Ancient texts also record that 4,000 years ago, people used four-horse chariots as a means of transportation, aligning with archaeological findings.
However, this was not the earliest time horses were domesticated.
As early as 5,000 years ago, ancient humans in Siberia learned to tame wild horses for plowing and cart pulling.
Chinese ancient horse-drawn carriages may have also been introduced from there.
Initially, horses were merely food for humans, hunted and roasted after capture.
Later, people discovered that horses had developed tendons and ligaments, strong heart and lung functions, making them suitable for running, and with straight backs, they were comfortable to ride.
Thus, humans began to domesticate horses.
Riding horses was first invented by the nomadic tribes of Central Asia, who also invented the saddle.
Horse riding was introduced to China relatively late, with cavalry appearing during the Warring States period.
By the late Tang Dynasty, to facilitate mounting, people invented the stirrup, initially having only one, later developing into two, and when introduced to Persia, they were called "Chinese shoes."
By the end of the 20th century, with the advent of modern weapons like tanks and helicopters, traditional cavalry gradually withdrew from the historical stage.
Today, horses are mainly used for sports and patrols.
In some large cities, mounted police patrol the streets, and in China's border areas, military horses are used, especially in patrol areas with long routes and complex terrain, making horses the best patrolling tools.
Besides riding and pulling carts, horses are also used for meat and milk.
In 732, Pope Gregory III of Rome ordered Christians to refrain from eating horse meat, but this decree was largely ineffective, and many people continued to eat horse meat.
During World War II, the United States supplemented beef shortages with horse meat, which was later banned after the war.
Horse milk is a common food among nomadic tribes, who are adept at making kumis from horse milk, known as "white jade liquid," which has a sour and spicy taste and is said to drive away cold, relax muscles, and promote blood circulation, considered one of the "Eight Delicacies of Mongolia."
Today, horses have also found a new role as pets.
Through human breeding, the size of horses has been reduced to only 0.56 meters tall, making the evolution from Eohippus to modern horses particularly interesting.
While domesticated horses have been extensively utilized for their milk and meat, wild horses face even greater challenges.
The once-thriving wild horse populations are now reduced to a single species, the Przewalski's horse, with a population of only around 2,000, on the brink of extinction.
Przewalski's horse, also known as the Mongolian horse or Asian wild horse, was named after the Russian officer Przewalski who discovered them.
To save this endangered species, China launched the "Return of the Wild Horse" project in 1985, importing 18 Przewalski's horses for artificial breeding and then releasing them into the wild to gradually restore their populations.
Today, the number of Przewalski's horses remains critically low.
In contrast, domesticated horse populations are stable, not becoming endangered.
The extinction of wild horses is partly related to humans, but without humans, their survival might have been worse.
Horses belong to the odd-toed ungulate order, with only one hoof, unlike the even-toed ungulates like cows.
The odd-toed ungulates once had a vast number of species, but today only a few remain in the horse family, the tapir family, and the rhinoceros family.
In the natural selection of survival of the fittest, odd-toed ungulates like horses evidently struggle to survive.
Horses cannot ruminate and can only obtain limited energy from the grass they eat, requiring large amounts of food daily.
The saying "A horse does not get fat without night grass" vividly illustrates the horse’s need for continuous feeding.
In seasons with abundant grass, eating enough is not difficult, but in winter, when grass withers, horses find it hard to get enough food to replenish their energy.
Humans' existence has caused many animals to go extinct, yet it has allowed horses to continue their lineage.
Wild horses choosing freedom became fossils, while horses choosing to rely on humans became slaves.
Even if criticized for lacking spirit, they can rightfully retort, "It’s your evolutionary path that was chosen wrong."
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