THE SUNDAY TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017 'A beautiful and thoughtful exploration of the role of the horse in creating our world' James Rebanks 'Scintillating, exhilarating ... you have never read a book like it ... a new way of considering history' Observer The relationship between horses and humans is an ancient, profound and complex one. For millennia horses provided the strength and speed that humans lacked. How we travelled, farmed and fought was dictated by the needs of this extraordinary animal. And then, suddenly, in the 20th century the links were broken and the millions of horses that shared our existence almost vanished, eking out a marginal existence on race-tracks and pony clubs. Farewell to the Horse is an engaging, brilliantly written and moving discussion of what horses once meant to us. Cities, farmland, entire industries were once shaped as much by the needs of horses as humans. The intervention of horses was fundamental in countless historical events. They were sculpted, painted, cherished, admired; they were thrashed, abused and exposed to terrible danger. From the Roman Empire to the Napoleonic Empire every world-conqueror needed to be shown on a horse. Tolstoy once reckoned that he had cumulatively spent some nine years of his life on horseback. Ulrich Raulff's book, a bestseller in Germany, is a superb monument to the endlessly various creature who has so often shared and shaped our fate.

This book assesses the impact of the horse on human society from 4000 BC to 2000 AD, by first describing initial horse domestication on the Pontic-Caspian steppes and the early development of driving and riding technologies. It traces the radiation of newly mobile equestrian cultures across Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It then documents the transmission of steppe chariotry and cavalry to sedentary states, the high economic importance of the horse, and the socio-political evolution of equestrian empires, which from antiquity into the modern era expanded across continents.

The New York Times bestseller: “Lifelong equestrian enthusiast Williams takes on the topic at full gallop . . . [a] lively, fascinating read.” —Discover A Best Book of 2015, The Wall Street Journal A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Journalist and equestrienne Wendy Williams chronicles the 56-million-year journey of horses as she visits with experts around the world, exploring what our biological affinities and differences can tell us about the bond between horses and humans, and what our longtime companion might think and feel. Indeed, recent scientific breakthroughs regarding the social and cognitive capacities of the horse and its ability to adapt to changing ecosystems indicate that this animal is a major evolutionary triumph. Williams charts the course that leads to our modern Equus-from the protohorse to the Dutch Warmbloods, Thoroughbreds, and cow ponies of the twenty-first century. She observes magnificent ancient cave art in France and Spain that signals a deep respect and admiration for horses well before they were domesticated; visits the mountains of Wyoming with experts in equine behavior to understand the dynamics of free-roaming mustangs; witnesses the fluid gracefulness of the famous Lipizzans of Vienna; contemplates what life is like for the sure-footed, mustachioed Garrano horses who thrive on the rugged terrain of Galicia; meets a family devoted to rehabilitating abandoned mustangs on their New Hampshire farm; celebrates the Takhi horses of Mongolia; and more. She blends profound scientific insights with remarkable stories to create a unique biography of the horse as a sentient being with a fascinating past and a finely nuanced mind.

A tender and magical tale from the 2016 recipient of the Astrid Lindgren award and author of international bestseller How I Live Now, National Book Award finalist Picture Me Gone, and most recently Jonathan Unleashed Pell Ridley, daughter of a good-for-nothing preacher in mid-nineteenth century England, has watched her mother crushed by the burden of too many children and too little money. Unwilling to repeat her fate, Pell runs away on her wedding day taking only her beautiful, white horse. But, as she journeys through a strange world of gypsies in search of a new life, Pell finds that her ties to home refuse to release her. Like the works of Philip Pullman and Sue Monk Kidd, The Bride's Farewell will resonate with readers of all ages as it grapples with timeless questions of how to live, how to love, and how to be true to one's self.

"Our relationship with the working horse, which had existed since prehistoric times, reached its peak during the long reign of Queen Victoria [(1837-1901)]. .. On the farms of Britain little moved without horse power and the coming of the railway only increased the number of horses in the country. Yet following the First World War, the empire of the horse evaporated, and within a few decades the working horse had disappeared completely from the British landscape. ... Here the author looks in detail at the prominence of the working horse in rural Britain during Victoria's reign, the challenge of steam power and the internal combustion engine, and the movement of population away from the countryside. The devastating effect of the First World War is then examined, followed by the years in which the world of the working horse quickly faded from memory. ..."--Book jacket.

Covering origins and evolution, communication and behavior, physiology and biomechanics, seasoned nature writer and horse owner Stephen Budiansky offers an accessible guide to the centuries-old mysteries and the latest findings about this marvelous creature. Line drawings throughout. 4-page color insert.

Horses of the World is a comprehensive, large-format overview of 570 breeds of domestic and extant wild horses, including hybrids between the two and between domestic breeds and other equids, such as zebras. This beautifully illustrated and detailed guide covers the origins of modern horses, anatomy and physiology, variation in breeds, and modern equestrian practices. The treatment of breeds is organized by country within broader geographical regions--from Eurasia through Australasia and to the Americas. Each account provides measurements (weight and height), distribution, origins and history, character and attributes, uses, and current status. Every breed is accompanied by superb color drawings--600 in total--and color photographs can be found throughout the book.--AMAZON.

A “superb” account of the enduring connection between humans and horses—“Full of the sort of details that get edited out of more traditional histories” (The Economist). Fifty-six million years ago, the earliest equid walked the earth—and beginning with the first-known horse-keepers of the Copper Age, the horse has played an integral part in human history. It has sustained us as a source of food, an industrial and agricultural machine, a comrade in arms, a symbol of wealth, power, and the wild. Combining fascinating anthropological detail and incisive personal anecdote, equestrian expert Susanna Forrest draws from an immense range of archival documents as well as literature and art to illustrate how our evolution has coincided with that of horses. In paintings and poems (such as Byron’s famous “Mazeppa”), in theater and classical music (including works by Liszt and Tchaikovsky), representations of the horse have changed over centuries, portraying the crucial impact that we’ve had on each other. Forrest combines this history with her own experience in the field, and travels the world to offer a comprehensive look at the horse in our lives today: from Mongolia where she observes the endangered takhi, to a show-horse performance at the Palace of Versailles; from a polo club in Beijing to Arlington, Virginia, where veterans with PTSD are rehabilitated through interaction with horses. “For the horse-addicted, a book can get no better than this . . . original, cerebral and from the heart.” —The Times (London)

A surprising, lively, and erudite history of horse and man, for readers of The Invention of Nature and The Soul of an Octopus. Horses and humans share an ancient, profoundly complex relationship. Once our most indispensable companions, horses were for millennia essential in helping build our cities, farms, and industries. But during the twentieth century, in an increasingly mechanized society, they began to disappear from human history. In this esoteric and rich tribute, award-winning historian Ulrich Raulff chronicles the dramatic story of this most spectacular creature, thoroughly examining how they’ve been muses and brothers in arms, neglected and sacrificed in war yet memorialized in paintings, sculpture, and novels—and ultimately marginalized on racetracks and in pony clubs. Elegiac and absorbing, Farewell to the Horse paints a stunning panorama of a world shaped by hooves, and the imprint left on humankind. “A beautiful and thoughtful exploration. . . . Farewell to the Horse is a grown-up, but also lyrical and creative, history book, and I very much enjoyed it.”— James Rebanks, author of the New York Times bestseller The Shepherd’s Life

""Secretariat" is an elegantly crafted, exhilarating tale of speed and power, grace and greatness, told with such immediacy that the reader is lost in the rush of horses and the clatter and ring of the grandstand." --Laura Hillenbrand, bestselling author of "Seabiscuit" Updated with a new preface by the author In 1973, Secretariat, the greatest champion in horse-racing history, won the Triple Crown. The only horse to ever grace the covers of "Time," "Newsweek," and "Sports Illustrated" in the same week, he also still holds the record for the fastest times in both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes. He was also the only non-human chosen as one of ESPN's "50 Greatest Athletes of the Century." The tale of "Big Red" is an enduring and inspiring classic, more than thirty years after its initial publication.