Horses in History

Martin Clunes explores horses in history, from ancient cave paintings in France to the newest racecourse in Dubai.

Martin travels high into the Pyrenees mountains, where there is a record of the horse drawn on the walls of the Niaux Cave from 14,000 years ago; a hundred years ago fishermen used horses to trawl the sea for shrimps and Martin spends a day fishing with these last European horse fishermen (now protected by UNESCO). To understand better how Medieval soldiers and their horses fought battles, Martin and horse Magic don a suit of armour in Warwickshire. In London, Martin is privileged to take part in a nighttime rehearsal for the Royal Parade that few people know takes place, and meets some of the Queen's horses that are handpicked and trained for whatever might be thrown at them. Finally, Martin heads to Dubai and the Meydan racecourse, the one place that still connects us with our equine past, and meets top racehorse trainer Luca Camani to learn what it is that drives horses to race.