HORSES OF LONG AGO

This short and visual history of horses benefits from an international approach. Starting with eohippus in pre-historic times, the information offered covers the types of horses found in the Near East, the Orient and in Western civilizations and the uses to which they were put. Since these often depended on available equipment, details of the harnessing developed in various countries is part of the running record with labeled drawings. The author/illustrator's note states that the flat clear lines employed by the artists of antiquity were deliberately used because they suggest more vividly the speed of the horse in motion. There are a number of double spread pages which are full and active representations of how horses have been ridden in battle and in hunting with much for the reader to discover about riding techniques and fighting strategies. Some of these suffer from a heavy use of color, but altogether, it is concise information at a gallop.