How the Mongols harnessed horses to forge an empire - William T. Taylor episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 18, 2026 · 7 MIN

How the Mongols harnessed horses to forge an empire - William T. Taylor

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Explore how the domestication of horses influenced the fate of entire civilizations and dramatically altered human history.--People have been captivated by horses for a long time. They appear more than any other animal in cave paintings dating back 30,000 years. But how did horses make the journey from wild animals to ones humans could hitch themselves to and even ride? William T. Taylor explores how the domestication of horses influenced the fate of entire civilizations and dramatically altered human history.Lesson by William T. Taylor, directed by Denys Spolitak.William T. Taylor's research for this project was supported by an award from the National Science Foundation (NSF Award number 1949305, "Horses and Human Societies in the American West").Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-horses-changed-history-william-t-taylorDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-horses-changed-history-william-t-taylor#digdeeperAnimator's website: https://instagram.com/ickysketch?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=Music: https://www.campstudio.co----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Heidi Stolt, Nicole Sund, Karlee Finch, Mario Mejia, Denise A Pitts, Doug Henry, Keven Webb, Mihai Sandu, Deepak Iyer, Javid Gozalov, Kyanta Yap, Rebecca Reineke, William Biersdorf, Patricia Alves Panagides, Yvette Mocete, Cyrus Garay, Samuel Barbas, LadyGeek, Marin Kovachev, Penelope Misquitta, Hans Peng, Gaurav Mathur, Erik Biemans, Tony, Michelle, Katie and Josh Pedretti, Hoai Nam Tran, Kack-Kyun Kim, Michael Braun-Boghos, zjweele13, Anna-Pitschna Kunz, Edla Paniguel, Thomas Mungavan, Jaron Blackburn, Venkat Venkatakrishnan, ReuniteKorea, Aaron Henson, Rohan Gupta, Begum Tutuncu, Brian Richards, Jørgen Østerpart, Tyron Jung, Carsten Tobehn, Katie Dean, Ezgi Yersu, Gerald Onyango, alessandra tasso, Doreen Reynolds-Consolati, Manognya Chakrapani, Ayala Ron, Eunsun Kim and Phyllis Dubrow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Explore how the domestication of horses influenced the fate of entire civilizations and dramatically altered human history.--People have been captivated by horses for a long time. They appear more than any other animal in cave paintings dating back 30,000 years. But how did horses make the journey from wild animals to ones humans could hitch themselves to and even ride? William T. Taylor explores how the domestication of horses influenced the fate of entire civilizations and dramatically altered human history.Lesson by William T. Taylor, directed by Denys Spolitak.William T. Taylor's research for this project was supported by an award from the National Science Foundation (NSF Award number 1949305, "Horses and Human Societies in the American West").Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-horses-changed-history-william-t-taylorDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-horses-changed-history-william-t-taylor#digdeeperAnimator's website: https://instagram.com/ickysketch?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=Music: https://www.campstudio.co----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Heidi Stolt, Nicole Sund, Karlee Finch, Mario Mejia, Denise A Pitts, Doug Henry, Keven Webb, Mihai Sandu, Deepak Iyer, Javid Gozalov, Kyanta Yap, Rebecca Reineke, William Biersdorf, Patricia Alves Panagides, Yvette Mocete, Cyrus Garay, Samuel Barbas, LadyGeek, Marin Kovachev, Penelope Misquitta, Hans Peng, Gaurav Mathur, Erik Biemans, Tony, Michelle, Katie and Josh Pedretti, Hoai Nam Tran, Kack-Kyun Kim, Michael Braun-Boghos, zjweele13, Anna-Pitschna Kunz, Edla Paniguel, Thomas Mungavan, Jaron Blackburn, Venkat Venkatakrishnan, ReuniteKorea, Aaron Henson, Rohan Gupta, Begum Tutuncu, Brian Richards, Jørgen Østerpart, Tyron Jung, Carsten Tobehn, Katie Dean, Ezgi Yersu, Gerald Onyango, alessandra tasso, Doreen Reynolds-Consolati, Manognya Chakrapani, Ayala Ron, Eunsun Kim and Phyllis Dubrow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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How the Mongols harnessed horses to forge an empire - William T. Taylor

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This episode was published on June 18, 2026.

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Explore how the domestication of horses influenced the fate of entire civilizations and dramatically altered human history.--People have been captivated by horses for a long time. They appear more than any other animal in cave paintings dating back...

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