horse, (Equus caballus), a hoofed herbivorous mammal of the family Equidae. It comprises a single species, Equus caballus, whose numerous varieties are called breeds. Before the advent of mechanized vehicles, the horse was widely used as a draft animal, and riding on horseback was one of the chief means of transportation. In prehistoric times the wild horse was probably first hunted for food. Research suggests that domestication had taken place by approximately 6,000 years ago. It is supposed that the horse was first used by a tribe of Indo-European origin that lived in the steppes north of the chain of ...(100 of 6770 words)

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