IN THE minds of most people, both laymen and scholars, riding and horses are inseparable. Riding means horseback riding with such consistency that, when travelers or ethnographers describe peoples using other beasts as mounts, we are apt to consider it a field expedient forced on unfortunate people who cannot obtain horses. This thinking has led to a common assumption that riding was developed by man when and where the horse was first domesticated, probably in Central Asia in the 2nd millennium B.C. There is, however, a certain amount of evidence which suggests that the horse was not the first animal to be ridden regularly. The natural characteristics of the horse make it unlikely that this animal was tamed and ridden by people who had not ridden before. In addition, there is archeological evidence which indicates that other animals were ridden before the horse was domesticated. The evidence now available suggests a new theory of the origin of horseback riding. It appears likely that riding, like driving, began in or near Mesopotamia, with the ox being the first animal used for both of these techniques and the onager the second. Because the onager, wild ass, and wild horse are naturally small animals, their use as mounts was limited and riding was for a long period a secondary or occasional activity. As the techniques of domestication and agriculture spread into the less fertile areas of Central Asia, it seems likely that the horse, found there in a state of nature, was used to replace the onager. The superiority of the horse as a chariot puller led to its introduction into the Near East. Horseback riding as a regular and important technique was developed when the size of domestic horses was increased through selective breeding. Before exploring the archeological evidence, the significant points of size, temperament, and control should be clarified.2 Of all of the common domestic animals the horse is probably the most temperamental and nervous. An animal of flight rather than fight, the horse has relatively keen eyesight, good hearing, and an exceptional sense of smell.3 Its reaction to even a suggestion of danger is flight, and it accepts as a suggestion anything strange or unusual. When trapped by man or attacked by carnivores the horse can become extremely dangerous-kicking, bucking, striking with its forefeet, and biting. Even thoroughly domestic breeds raised in near-human luxury on modern stud farms present a dangerous situation when trainers first attempt to mount yearlings or two year olds.4 Compared to the phlegmatic and stubborn donkey, the horse is incomparably more difficult