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Equestrian Lifestyle

NOVA’s First Horse Warriors Explores the Early Relationship Between Humans and Horses



The human species wouldn’t be what it is today without the horse. While selective breeding of horses by humans has created the breeds we know and use today, horses helped change the populations of early human civilizations, too. The effects are still seen today. That is why NOVA is premiering an episode titled First Horse Warriors.



That’s one of the findings in an episode of NOVA titled First Horse Warriors. The episode premieres on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 9:00 p.m. on most PBS stations. Consult broadcast listings for your local information.

In this episode, NOVA visits Kazakhstan where it is believed horses were first domesticated thousands of years ago. Today, the area is still home to nomadic herders and populations of wild horses.

Through a study of archaeology and genetics, researchers offer findings about the very first humans to use horses, and how horseback warriors who swept through Europe generations ago left a mark on the population as it exists today.

Earlier this year, the PBS series Nature aired a two-part documentary titled Equus: Story of the Horse, which examined different types of horses and their interactions with humans in historical and modern-day communities.

For more information, check out NOVA.

Leslie Potter

Leslie Potter is a graduate of William Woods University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Equestrian Science with a concentration in saddle seat riding and a minor in Journalism/Mass Communications. She is currently a writer and photographer in Lexington, Ky. Potter worked as a barn manager and riding instructor and was a freelance reporter and photographer for the Horsemen's Yankee Pedlar and Saddle Horse Report before moving to Lexington to join Horse Illustrated as Web Editor from 2008 to 2019. Her current equestrian pursuits include being a grown-up lesson kid at an eventing barn and trail riding with her senior Morgan gelding, Snoopy.

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