Customer Reviews

Horse: How the Horse Has Shaped Civilizations

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Like J. Edward Chamberlin, the author of _Horse: How the Horse Has Shaped Civilizations_, I am a college English instructor. I am also a passionate trainer of and student of the horse. Right now I have close to 300 books on horse training, horse breeding, horse history, and horse everything else in my private collection. I live and breathe horses. I do not think this is the case with this author. He's obviously fairly well acquainted with them, but this book smacks of casual not dedicated research.

I was disappointed the second I opened it. The text covers 271 pages, but there's a lot of white space between lines. Worse yet, once I started reading I realized it was written at about the junior high school level. Since today's typical college freshman enters reading at about the 9th grade level, this means the book is quite basic in vocabulary and style.

In other words, I was expecting a more scholarly work, not a low level, general audience work. As to style, I was totally unprepared for so much Native American hoo-ha. I mean no offense to the Sioux, the Nez Perce, and other fine Native American horsemen. What bothered me was the author's reliance on simple story telling rather than supported information on horses as shapers of civilization. I was also annoyed by unhelpful analogies and anthropomorphism.

Then the real troubles began. As I turned pages, small slips in word choice and facts added up.

On page 138, Chamberlin says, "[T]he Hittite horsemaster Kikkuh wrote his famous horse-training manual."

The use of "horse-training" will mislead many. Kikkuh deals not with the training in the sense of teaching horses to obey commands but with a remarkably modern method of conditioning horses. Obviously, interval training is a lot older than many of those who resurrected the method think.

On page 145, Chamberlin says the Germans are now eschewing "national types" and producing "regional breeds" of Warmblood.

Chamberlin's use of "type" and "breed" was confusing at best. I suggest anyone interested in Warmblood breeding buy Charlene Strickland's _The Warmblood Guide_.

Here again is an example of dubious assumption: "Many of the draft horses we now think of as bred for peaceful purposes--like the Percherons and the Belgians--began their careers as war horses and only later turned to farm work . . . (Chamberlin 147).

First of all, the Percheron, as a breed, came into existence in the late 19th Century, well past the era of the heavy charger. Furthermore, from my reading and from talking to French horsemen, I'm convinced that the French added hot blood into draft stock not to create a war horse but a "fast freight" horse. That is, they wanted an animal heavy enough for plowing and general farm work, but also quick and active enough to haul produce to market at a trot rather than at a typical draft horse walk.

In the same vein, Chamberlin's explanation of the origins of the Thoroughbred (TB) also perpetuates some common misconceptions about the foundation stallions of the breed. Recent DNA research show the modern TB has no links to modern Arabian horses. The TB has however definite connections to the modern Akhal-Teke. Anyone wanting a history of TBs should buy a copy of Alexander Mackay-Smith's _Speed and the Thoroughbred: The Complete History_.

Overall, Chamberlin's book might be a fun read for non-horsie children, but it's not worthwhile for students of the horse.

This book is the best cultural history of horses and humans from earliest times to the present that I am aware of. I especially liked the passages on horse racing and horse games around the world, from the Scythians to the Sioux and from the ancient Greeks and Romans to the quarter horse races of the Old West. The author makes connections between ancient and modern races, and describes race courses, audiences, and horse breeding techniques around the world over thousands of years. I had no idea that so many cultures played on horseback, from the tournaments of medieval knights and the polo of India's Moguls to the pato of the gauchos in Argentina and the chicken fight of the Navajo. This is both great fun and food for thought!

Chamberlin's book describes the deep emotional connections between human beings and horses, which transcend civilizations. His discussion of the historical artifacts and art forms depicting horses reveals that our respect for the horse has existed since long before recorded history, and extensively details the strong positive feelings horses have consistently evoked among 'horse people'. I also particularly enjoyed Chamberlin's selection of historical anecdotes, which included vignettes illustrating Genghis Khan, Napolean and Alexander the Great's enduring relationships with their horses (among others.)

As a whole, the book was a charming portrait of how humans have seen and loved horses, which changed and broadened my view of the most important of inter-species relationships. The stories, images and facts related comprise a fascinating whole, one that I plan to revisit in the near future. This is a book that I will read and re-read.

This is no straight history of the relationship between mankind and horses. Chamberlin somehow manages to convey the horse spirit in terms both mundane and mythological. One feels the muscled power of the beast, and can both see and hear a breath expelled from velvet nostrils on a cold rural morning. I picked this up in idle curiosity and was smitten with Big Bird. Could not stop turning the pages. I now "get it" - what all those horse lovers are about. Very cool book.

The only creatures to appear more often in historical artwork than horses are humans. "Horse: How the Horse Has Shaped Civilizations" is the tale of this beast of burden and how it has shaped the cultural evolution of humanity through the ages, whether through practical use or as a source of inspiration. Veterans of war, stars of rodeos and races, Horses have always been and still are a massive part of society. "Horse: How the Horse Has Shaped Civilizations" is a deftly written look at the creature, a top pick for horse fans and community library collections dedicated to pets and wildlife.

I thought I knew a great deal about horses and their history until I read this book and now I feel that a wealth of information has been added to my tiny store. This is a fascinating worldview of where horses came from and where and how they traveled, in addition to the relationship between horses and civilizations. Bravo!