Horses on a Trail Ride

Imagine the world without horses! Think of the projects that were finished and places that were explored with horses. People have been keeping horses for their own uses for more than 6,000 years. At first, horses were hitched up to pull things. Later people rode them. Horses were put to big tasks after they were shod with horseshoes and saddled up, stirrups and all.

The world's great travelers, such as Marco Polo, covered huge distances with horses. Rulers including Genghis Kahn, Alexander the Great, and Charlemagne controlled large areas of land and built empires thanks to horsepower.

More recently, horses played an important role in transporting people and their goods as well as providing added muscle for hard jobs such as plowing and pulling. Visit a museum of pre-industrial life to learn about horses' jobs to help humans. Where can you still see working horses today?

Think about some of your favorite horses and their uses. Do you like to take long trail rides? Watch parades? Go to rodeos? Read National Velvet or The Black Stallion? Watch the wild horses on the beach on Chincoteague?

Fold a long piece of white paper accordion-style. Draw one horse in each section with Crayola® Markers. If the horses face the same direction, they can be on parade! Think about your horses' markings. What colors are they? Are the horses saddled or running free? Are their tails braided or blowing in the wind as they gallop away?