Horse

VHS cover

*Horse* is the third episode of the first season of *Eyewitness*. The topic of this episode concerns the lives of wild and domesticated horses, looking at how they have influenced human culture. The episode aired on 22nd August 1994.

Horse is based on a book that was first published in 1992, and has been republished in 2004, 2008 and 2016.

## Episode

### Introductory sequence

A whinnying black horse jumps over an obstacle, throwing off its reins as it does so. It lands in a sandpit and throws white sand over the screen; the title sequence then begins.

### Episode outline

Click here for the full transcript for Horse.

Since the beginning of recorded history, people have had a need for the horse. While powerful people and even gods rode horses, none could conquer its spirit and instead harness its energy. The powerful movements of the horse have captivated us and the image it creates in our mind is one of excitement and danger, which can transform ordinary people into heroes. It was a horse, in April 1775, that elevated Paul Revere from humble craftsman to living legend. He rode across the state of Massachusetts to warn that soldiers from England were marching overland, allowing the Americans to prepare for the first battle in the war of independence.

The horse is perfectly built for marathon journeys and is the fifth fastest land animal. The horse’s wild relative, the zebra, shows why they are such effective runners. They need to be able to race after rainclouds seen on the horizon, where food will be available. Feral horses in the Camargue do not need to run for food, but share the same ancient ancestor as the zebra.

The second section transitions from feral horses to horse evolution, from the adaptation to grasslands to why humans first domestivated horses to begin with. Fifty-five million years ago, the earliest horse was dog-sized and had three toes on its back feet and four on the front to help it walk on soft ground. As forests gave way to grasslands, horses grew longer legs with a single hoofed toe on each foot. They also grew a longer neck to help them graze. Three million years ago, Equus evolved – the modern horse family. The Przewalski’s horse, a wild animal from Mongolia, resembles the primitive Equus and has features in common with both zebras and domestic horses.

Humans developed with the horse. At first, they hunted them for food but five thousand years ago the people of Ukraine harnessed them to pull their carts. Horses were chosen because they lived close to human settlements and could eat low-quality food. In the wild, a horse feeds for up to fifteen hours. Lifting and lowering the head to feed and look for danger would tire the horse out, were it not for neck muscles that store energy. While horses are intelligent, their brain is mainly developed for muscle coordination.

Horses are built for marathon speed, with many skeletal features designed to increase speed and reduce weight. The coarse hair of horses was believed to contain magical properties. It was used to string musical instruments, was said to cure goitre and would turn into eels if put in water. In some cultures horses also had feathers – the Greek mythical horse Pegasus was captured with a golden bridle. And so men captured, held and adapted the horse family to suit their different needs. In ancient Rome, donkeys and mules became expensive because of their value for hauling equipment. Horses were used to pull chariots.

To protect the feet of horses, horseshoes were created. Horseshoes are believed to keep the devil at bay and in almost every country are a symbol of good luck, even at sea. But a horseshoe must be hung open end up, so the good luck doesn’t fall out. Like almost all riding equipment, the horseshoe was invented by the horsemen of Asia. They invented the stirrup in 200 BC, giving the rider balance and the freedom to use two-handed weapons on horseback. The invention of the stirrup is seen as the greatest development in warfare between the domestication of the horse and the invention of gunpowder. Attila the Hun brought the stirrup to Europe, but it didn’t catch on everywhere. It is said that the Normans used stirrups at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and so defeated the English. Genghis Khan was the ultimate triumph of the eastern horsemen. Over a fifty-year period, they captured the biggest empire the world had ever seen on horses no bigger than ponies. The horses they rode are called hot-bloods because they originated in desert environments and are high-spirited and quick to react. Breeders call horses from cooler regions cold-blooded – nothing to do with blood temperature but instead with the origin and temperament of the horse. Cold-bloods are used for farm work and pulling carriages. A mix of hot and cold-blooded contain warm-bloods; apart from racehorses, all modern sporting horses are warm-bloods.

Breeding allows custom-made horses; the word cocktail comes from the breeding of horses with cocked tails. Breeding can create hybrids such as zeedonks and mules, but these are infertile. When left to nature, the birth of a wild horse shows off the instincts its wild cousins share. Horses are most vulnerable at birth and must quickly learn to recognise their mother and find their feet. A zebra learns to identify its mother’s striped coat, but the function of the stripes is unknown – it may help deter flies or confuse predators.

Horses and zebras use their bodies to communicate. Flicks of the ears and tossing the head carry messages of anger or defiance, while mutual grooming strengthens bonds in the herd. Horses need to be in a herd for survival in the wild, allowing them to easily spot predators. All horses, given the choice, revert to herd life. When running they tend to stick together. To win a horse race, the rider must convey urgency to the horse so it will pull out ahead of the herd.

The father of all racehorses is the Arab. The emperor Napoleon always rode an Arab stallion to make himself appear bigger. The high of a horse is measured in hands, from the bottom of the hoof to the top of the back, the withers. The biggest horse breed is the shire and the smallest the Shetland pony. It took photographs by Eadweard Muybridge to understand how a horse moves. Horses have four different leg motions – a walk, trot, canter and gallop.

Horses are associated with the Wild West, but they became extinct in North America 10,000 years ago and only reappeared when Europeans brought them over in the 16th century. Horses changed the culture of the Native Americans and became central to the settlers – America soon became a horse culture. The importance of the horse lasted right up to the invention of the train, the first mode of transport to challenge the horse for long-distance journeys. The car has also replaced the horse, although engines are still measured in horsepower.

Horses have diminished as a role of transport but are still important in entertainment. The circus ring was originally designed for horses. The sport of dressage only involves stallions, which exaggerates natural courtship and combat behaviours. Horses respond to our commands so well we mistake their obedience for intelligence. The Celts believed horses had clairvoyant powers. Artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci, elevated the horse to a symbol of nobility and power. The nobility of horses then ended up reflecting the nobility of the rider with the appearance of chivalry. This word, associated with the nobility of knights, comes from cheval, the French word for a horse. One of the greatest horses in history was Bucephalus, mount of Alexander the Great.

No-one knows the name of Paul Revere’s mount; it was just a horse galloping for freedom. While today the horse has become less a necessity and more a symbol, for some people horse-riding is an essential part of life from childhood to adulthood. We will always have a need, and a desire, for the horse.

## Animal species filmed for the programme

### Studio footage

* Domestic horse, *Equus ferus caballus*
* Plains zebra, *Equus quagga*
* Mule, *Equus africanus asinus* x *E. ferus caballus*

### Stock footage

* Domestic horse, *Equus ferus caballus*
* Grevy’s zebra, *Equus grevyi*
* Plains zebra, *Equus quagga*
* Patagonian mara, *Dolichotis patagonum*
* Przewalski’s horse, *Equus ferus przewalskii*
* European eel, *Anguilla anguilla*
* Lion, *Panthera leo*
* Blue wildebeest, *Connochaetes taurinus*
* Domestic cattle, *Bos taurus*

## Stock footage sources

Coronation of Elizabeth II (1953) – Black-and-white footage of coronation

Web of Life: The Living River (1973) - Eels

The First Eden: Wastes of War (1987) – Central Asian and Arabic horsemen, Camargue horses

Pets in the Wild: The Zebra in your Stable (1991) – Silhouetted horse (used for Pegasus), Przewalski’s horse, horse grooming human

Life on Earth: The Hunters and the Hunted (1979) - Mara, models of prehistoric horses, galloping zebras

## Credits

* Assistant Producer - Gavin Maxwell
* Director - Justine Kershaw
* Graphics Director - Alisa Robbins
* Writer - Paul Thomas
* Script Supervisor - Brian Neehl
* Camera - Ian Salvage
	+ Assistant - Andy Shillabeer
* Set Design - Ben Scott
* Production Manager - Peter Thornton
* Production Assistant - Lisa Garvin
* Production Secretaries - Cathy Wilkin and Caroline Elston
* Unit Manager - Grant Dean
* Researcher - John James Hancock
* Picture Researcher - Martin Wills
* Graphics Design - Caroline Sherry and Adrian Woodward
* Editors
	+ Offline - Mark Fox
	+ Online - Sharon Stiles
* Dubbing Editor - Julie Mitchell
* Dubbing Mixer - Andrew Wilson
* Music - Guy Michelmore
* Executive Producer - Michael Bright
* Unit Manager - Felicity Jones
* Special thanks to:
	+ Film Horses - Alan Larson, Janet Rogers
	+ Lloyds Bank
	+ The Downland Trakehner Stud
	+ The Richard Green Gallery

## Making this programme

In The Making of Eyewitness, the importance of the horse in culture was considered paramount for this episode, so Napoleon and Alexander the Great were invited into the studio. To film Paul Revere’s midnight ride, the cameras were taken into a real forest. To recreate Pegasus, the editors combined footage of a horse with the flapping wings of a swan.

## Home media releases

As well as being released on VHS, Horse was also released as part of the DVD release in the USA.

Horse America-release DVD cover

**Writing staff**: Anne MacLeod • Ben Southwell • Ben Steiner • Brian Meehl • David Hanson • David Stafford • David Helton • George Bloom • Lynette Singer • Mike Tomlinson • Paul Thomas • Stan Cullimore
**Directors**: Gavin Maxwell • Justine Kershaw • David Hutt • Andrew Jackson • Justin Hardy • Ludo Graham • Jerry Foulkes • Derek Hall • Sanjida O'Connell • Caius Julyan • Bonni Cohen • Leanne Pooley • Edwina Vardey • Alexandra Beazley • Sam Hodgkin • Karen Walsh • Jack Weber • Richard Simkin • Alex Hearle • Brian Cummins • Ben Southwell
**Composers**: Guy Michelmore (season one) • Guy Dagul (seasons two and three)

**Season One**: Cat • Fish • **Horse** • Dog • Jungle • Bird • Amphibian • Insect • Shark • Elephant • Reptile • Dinosaur • Skeleton
**Season Two**: Desert • Tree • Ape • Mammal • Butterfly and Moth • Volcano • Rock and Mineral • Seashore • Pond and River • Weather • Arctic and Antarctic • Prehistoric Life • Shell
**Season Three**: Flight • Bear • Sight • Island • Survival • Mountain • Monster • Human Machine - Plant • Ocean • Planets • Life • Natural Disasters