Ancient cowboys were world’s first horse-riders 5,000 years ago, study reveals
ANCIENT cowboys invented horse-riding more than 5,000 years ago, human bones reveal.
Damaged skeletons found in farming communities in eastern Europe are proof of history’s earliest horse riders.
It suggests the animals were kept for hundreds of years before anyone thought to mount one.
Scientists at the University of Helsinki in Finland say Bronze Age herders developed “horsemanship syndrome” because of the impacts of riding bareback.
Study author Professor Volker Heyd said: “Horseback-riding seems to have evolved not long after the domestication of horses.
“It was already common in members of the Yamnaya culture between 3,000 and 2,500BC.
“It enabled these people to keep large herds of cattle and sheep and, as we now know, to guide them on horseback.”
Study co-author Professor David Anthony added: “It made herding cattle and sheep three times more efficient.”
The Yamnaya people lived in what is now Romania and Bulgaria and farmed cows and sheep.
Previous research has found signs people kept, bred and milked horses in the region around the same time – but never proved they were ridden.
A study of 217 skeletons found at least nine people who were almost definitely riders.
Horsemanship syndrome meant strain on bones in their pelvises and thighs caused them to become thicker and more dense than normal.
Their hip sockets also warped to become ovals instead of circles, their spines were damaged from repeated impacts and some suffered injuries from falling off.
Early horses would have been dangerous because of a lack of riding gear and untamed breeds.
Prof Heyd added: “Depictions of Bronze Age riders usually show a position called ‘chair seat’, a style mainly used when riding without a padded saddle or stirrups.
“It is physically demanding, with the legs exerting constant pressure to cling to the mount’s back, and needs continual balancing.”
But getting to grips with the animals allowed people to farm and hunt over huge areas, and to migrate long distances.
Another author on the study, Martin Trautmann, added: “Hopping on a horse’s back may have been one small step for man 5,000 years ago, but a giant leap for mankind.”
The research was published in the journal Science Advances and revealed at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Washington DC.