Everything Horse

    My 10-year-old daughter had been eagerly anticipating the opening of The Horse at the American Museum of Natural History.  So, apparently, was the entire population of the city.  On the second day of the exhibit, even with our timed tickets, we had to wait on a long line to enter, and then we were hustled through the introductory section, with a horse galloping in high-def.

Photo credit: AMNH

   Nora was somewhat disappointed by the exhibit, maybe because she'd rather ride a horse than look at a skeleton of one.  But she nonetheless read about every different type of horse and correctly identified all the 'mystery' objects (a bit, riding crop, stirrup; all 'gimmies' for an equine enthusiast).

   The Horse, which runs through January 4, 2009, uses the relationship between horses and humans as its jumping off point, exploring equine influence on warfare (there's an armored horse), transportation, sports (polo and horse racing) and more.  We examined a recreated archeological dig that explored the domestication of horses and other animals.  There's a huge diorama of the Great Plains from 10 million years ago, with extinct horse species.

   Kids can spin a zoetrope with photos by Eadweard Muybridge and watch as the horses seem to trot, gallop and canter though the photos are a series of stills.  They can also compare their arm power to horsepower, pulling on a lever with all their might.  And they can touch casts of horse teeth and measure how many hands they are.