Horses were domesticated for meat and milk long after cattle and sheep, about 5,000 years ago. Central Asian horse herders understood the inheritance of traits that Gregor Mendel explained thousands of years later- that you breed the horses that have the qualities you want, and you eat the ones that don't. These early horse herders sped up natural selection by breeding horses for their tameness and obedience to humans. That was the first step.
Then around 4,500 years ago, a horse showed a genetic mutation in its spine that made it much stronger. This was immediately bred to other horse generations. Suddenly, a horse became the most useful animal humans had. Horses could then plow fields, pull cargo, and most importantly, they could be ridden by humans, which revolutionized long distance travel and warfare. Read about the genetic journey that enabled humans to ride horses at 3 Quarks Daily. -via Nag on the Lake
(Image credit: long10000)
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