Sure, Dogs and Cats might be our constant home companions, but it is the Horse who helped shape the modern world. Domesticated about 5,500 years ago, Horses connected nations and bore the warriors that would carve some of the most famous empires in history.
BEFORE ANGKAS, THERE WERE HORSES
It was, for instance, a sudden boom of Ponies caused by 15 years of good rain that gave Genghis Khan the cavalry needed to conquer half the known world.
As the first iteration of Grab, Uber, and Angkas, Horses were once indispensable –– transporting people, supplies, food, and everything in between. In 1886, an invention finally ended four-legged dominance: The automobile, now sputtering worldwide, pays homage to its predecessor by rating engine strength in horsepower.
Today’s Horses have largely been relegated to agriculture or for riding enthusiasts. Though their heyday may have galloped on, the world still has around 60 million Horses, belonging to over 400 breeds.
HORSE CATEGORIES
Horses generally fall under one of three categories. Hotbloods are frisky, agile racers like Thoroughbreds and Arabians; coldbloods are large and docile breeds like the Shire or Percheron; and warmbloods like the QuarterHorse or Cleveland Bay combine hot and cold qualities as a sort of middle ground.
History has seen many types of workhorses. During the medieval era, enormous Destriers bore fully armored knights to battle. Quarterhorses helped cowboys chase down cattle, while Native Americans rode Buffalo Runners to hunt the once-numberless Buffalo of the American plains.
HORSES OR PONIES?
Horses are not native to the Philippines, with the ancestors of our island-born ponies imported mostly from Malaysia, China and Japan, according to a 1916 study by David Mackie. True Horses were brought in only recently, at the end of the Spanish era and continued by the Americans.
Most of the Kabayo (from Caballo, the Spanish term for Horse) we see in the Philippines are actually Ponies. Compared to “true” Horses, Ponies tend to be smaller, stockier, more hard headed, but easier to keep. Many also display “primitive” traits, such as upright, zebra-like manes and faint stripes on their legs. Generally, Ponies stand 14 hands or about five feet at the shoulder, while Horses are taller and slimmer.
HISTORICAL REWIND
Once ubiquitous, the familiar clip-clop of calesa Ponies can now only be heard in places that embrace the past, like Intramuros and Vigan. Still, workhorses continue to haul vegetables and other produce down muddy mountain roads across the country, going where no cart or motorcycle would dare.
Recently, we rode with Kabayo Pilipinas, a new riding outfit based in Amadeo, Cavite. They have around a dozen Horses and Ponies, mostly retired Thoroughbreds, plus excellent stable hands.
We were able to explore nearby forests, orchards, glades, and farms. For a memorable (and butt-smashing) day at least, we saw the world as our ancestors once did – atop the faithful animal that helped shape world history.
