Horse & Hound

16 moments that changed our world

CIRCA 431-354BC, XENOPHON

THE Ancient Greeks — who had already developed shoeing — realised they would do better in battle by developing trust with their horses.

Turning on a drachma or galloping from a standing start were taught by patience, repetition and reward. They also understood the benefits of balance and light rein contact. Xenophon, a student of Socrates, recorded the system in his seminal tome On Horsemanship.

Enlightened riding — besides many other things — sunk without trace in the Dark Ages. Xenophon’s philosophy, if not necessarily all his techniques, was revived in the Renaissance, most famously at the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, founded in 1565.

‘Caprilli introduced a revolutionary idea, enabling horses to jump more freely by leaning forward’

1598, CARLO RUINI’S ANATOMIA DEL CAVALLO (ANATOMY OF A HORSE) PUBLISHED IN BOLOGNA

DESPITE Ruini’s absence of formal training, his was a milestone for veterinary knowledge. Its woodcut images were plagiarised

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