Hoof Beats: How Horses Shaped Human History
How do we understand the world that came before us, and what might it reveal about the world ahead?
Growing up in Montana, I grew up in a horse culture, but as a kid, never really spent much time with horses. But as a young scientist, I began to work in places like Mongolia that forced me to spend time in the saddle. In the process, I learned the incredible connections that can form between rider and horse - and how moving on horseback can transform both of us into something more than the sum of our parts.
As a museum curator and scientist, my research uncovers how relationships between people and animals have shifted across the deep past , and what those changes mean for the 21st century.
In tracing the ancient connection between people and horses, I’ve been lucky enough to learn from some of the world’s greatest living horse cultures, from the Great Plains to the Eurasian steppes , and many places in between.
Hoof Beats assembles objects and stories that explore how this unique partnership came to be –highlighting the people, animals, technology, and culture that have left lasting “hoof prints” in the world around us.
William Taylor, PhD
Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Curator of Archaeology
Voices
Throughout his research career and travels studying the horse–human partnership, exhibition curator Dr. William T. Taylor has connected with scholars, cultural leaders, artists, and experts from around the world. Through their voices featured below, discover the archaeological discoveries, cultural traditions, and personal stories that reveal the enduring relationship between horses and humans.
Horses from the Ice Age
Paleontologist Dr. Christina Barron-Ortiz shares how a fossil discovered near her childhood home opens a window into North America the end of the last Ice Age, where horses roamed alongside mammoths and people.
Horses in Ancient Mongolia
Archaeologist Dr. William T. Taylor recounts how an unexpected case of artifact theft in western Mongolia revealed one of the world’s earliest known saddles and reshaped our understanding of the origins of horseback riding.
Horses in Yoruba History
Archaeologist Olumide Ojediran explains how trade, disease, and determination brought horses to West Africa, where they became powerful symbols of empire, warfare, and political influence.
Get to Know William Taylor
To learn more about Dr. Taylor's research and career path, check out Museum Unlocked, a podcast from the CU Museum of Natural History.
How Horses Changed History
Explore how the domestication of horses influenced the fate of entire civilizations and dramatically altered human history with this Ted-Ed video featuring the research of William T. Taylor.
Colorado Experience: Native Horses (RMPBS)
This PBS documentary features CU students Carlton Gover (Anthropology PhD student) and Chance Ward (MFS) profiling CU Museum’s NSF research on the introduction of horses into the Great Plains, and the ways that archaeology and Indigenous perspectives are coming together to reshape that story!
