Imagine a person accustomed to traveling at 3 to 4 mph, who
discovers a means (the horse) to speed up to 5 times that pace with
occasional thrilling bursts doubling even that.
At
15 mph, it is then not unreasonable to assume a 1000-mile range for a
week on horseback allowing for breaks and sleep at night. It must have
expanded enormously the horizons of those early Kazakhs who first
domesticated the horse some 6000 years ago.
If
the Kazakhs roamed west, the Mongols, a few thousand years later, roamed
back and began a vast empire that eventually included all of
China. Ties with Russia were close but as a hegemon, until a few
centuries later when the Russians threw off the yoke.
As Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping shake hands forging a new treaty, China is once again a more powerful economy, the largest in the world, while Russia's is more akin in size to Italy's.
If the horse made the vast Central Asian steppes explorable, its remarkable navigational skills ensured the rider would eventually be able to return home.
Apparently horses are sensitive to the earth's magnetic field, and not unlike homing pigeons can find their way home. Confirmatory tests have shown that when magnets are slung over their withers, they get completely lost. Observers have also noted that, in pasture. they tend to stand north-south aligned with the earth's magnetic field.
Up until the advent of the internal combustion engine, horses were used for all kinds of transportation. Where the rail line ended, horses took over. They hauled freight in covered wagons; pulled stagecoaches in the Wild West and elegant carriages in Europe; they were a cowboy's bread and butter, and personal transportation for anyone who could afford one; horses in the cavalry delivered the punch generals were seeking in battle; in racing, they provided thrills for the audience and excitement for punters -- such is true also today, and with all the special attention given to the triple crown races, the casual observer might forget the weekly calendar of racing events across the country.
Horses for courses is a common saying for they are bred for speed in short races and stamina for long steeplechases like the famous Grand National in England.
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