The Horse – an oft powerful and majestic creature with prehistoric relatives that emerged some 55 million years ago. And way back in time is where this story of the horse, past and present, begins…

The horse family as we know it came into existence, sources indicate, about the size of a dog. This was the Hyracotherium. For millions of years, the equestrian species were quite tiny.

Then, ecological conditions improved for them, leading to food abundance. At the 20 million year point, new species appeared with animals growing larger. Grazing developed and some of those early horses had hooves like today.

At 10 million years, horse species were of various shapes and sizes, enjoying life in the open or woodland.

It wasn't until about 40,000 years ago that humans started to appear in the same landscape as horses. Evidence is linked to western Europe which was in the grip of the Ice Age but wild horses abounded.

They were a plentiful food supply for Ice Age hunters who used weapons to kill and eat these early horse relatives. But many cave paintings and bone carvings indicate horses played key parts in early human life and culture.

Wild horses number very few these days – in the UK, New Forest ponies, of Hampshire, are probably among the most well known and loved.

Most have been domesticated to live among humans. It is reckoned this domestication began between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago – being bred since this time as warhorses, racehorses, eventers, show jumpers, farm horses, to just plain friendly riding club and riding school horses.

It is only this last 40,000 years, and within that the last few thousand years, that horses have become an often intrinsic part of human life and civilisation.

But it is as though we are now linked body, mind and spirit. They have joined with us in time, not least because they derive apparently great power from grazing on grass, and thus are a multi-purpose resource available to humans virtually on-demand.

Their brains, and maybe their spirit, provide the motivation and understanding to obey even subtle commands.

It is remarkable to reflect and evaluate on the effect horses have had on human civilisation and history. Without them, where would we be? How would our play be as playful, our trade and work as successful and effective, our travel as fun and useful? Perhaps most striking is the thought about how our world and countries would now be shaped politically if the horse had not been trained for war.

Remarkable indeed how humans have been transformed by the horse, and also, we must consider, how we have (virtually genetically) engineered the horse for human gain, achievement and pleasure. We are both changed by our close relationship with these fine animals.

So, next time you check your horse tack and equestrian equipment, pull on your long riding boots, slip on those riding gloves, don that riding helmet, reach for that English saddle and then thunder off on a great gallop, hooves gouging the ground, tearing you along with the wind in your hair and drum of the ground beneath… remember, that fine equestrian beast is closer to you, assuredly, than you first think.

This guide is a relatively short interpretation of an in-depth and fascinating exploration about horses and their relationship with humans that is displaying in New York's American Museum of Natural History.