“The Horse: A Galloping History of Humanity” by Timothy C. Winegard, c.2024, Dutton, $35, 519 pages

The front seat is going to need a lot of work.

Yeah, it’s roomy but the seat belt is completely missing. Still, four on the floor, zero-to-25 in three seconds, it runs on cheap fuel, she’s got a lot of kick, it’s workable. This is the ride you’ve wanted since you were fourteen years old. As in the new book “The Horse” by Timothy C. Winegard, what’ll you do with that one horsepower?

Imagine the bravery of the very first person who jumped on the back of a horse.

That person may’ve been “some kid” on a dare, which makes sense. After all, when you’re standing near a thousand-pound animal with sharp hooves and a willingness to bite, it’d take youthful bravado to leap up and on – but someone did, roughly 5,500 years ago, somewhere near Russia.

Long before that, though, the animal that would evolve into the horse was tiny, a funny-looking creature with three toes. A few million years later, and it “would be easily recognized... as a miniature horse” – the fossils over which early American paleontologists had a literal Bone War, so fascinated were they. 

Equally “captivated,” apparently, were people long before them who realized that horses were multi-use creatures in industry, field, farm, and trail. They ran on grass, which was freely found almost everywhere. Horse waste was voluminous, and could be used on crops or as fuel or “home insulation.” Horse milk is nourishing. And while it’s abhorrent to most modern North Americans, in a pinch, a horse was a meal on four feet.

Most of all, the ubiquitous use of the horse in ancient history changed nearly every aspect of human culture. Very early “domestic horses hastened the ability to get the word out,” says Winegard. Later, they offered “lightning transmission of ideas, materials, innovation, trade goods, human migrations, and conquering armies.” 

And yet, after thousands of years of labor and friendship, with the invention of a single mechanical device, “the demand for horses dried up.”

But obviously not completely: author Timothy C. Winegard says that the number of horses in the U.S. now, as compared to a century ago, has gone down by two-thirds. Still, you likely don’t have to go far to find a horse these days, and “The Horse” is equally easy to get.

From Greece and Rome and early science to the modern attitudes, therapeutic uses, politics, and pleasure of equines in general, Winegard speaks directly to the heart of horse lovers, even when the discussion isn’t entirely pleasant. 

Indeed, there are some hard truths about how humans treated horses over time, and they’re accompanied by photos so beware. Readers may also note an overabundance of ancient history, which is sometimes difficult to tackle. Stick with it, though; think of it like a trail ride, heavy with brush. The fun part’s always just a hoofbeat away.

Horse lovers should absolutely find this book, but historians and lovers of culture will like it, too. For sure, “The Horse” is perfect for someone with a need for steed.