“In the frigid north, before the domestication of dogs, men hunted and patrolled their territory in pairs or alone because the limited caloric resources couldn’t support large tribes. Women needed to stay put with the kids. The necessarily small squad size limited men’s travel. They couldn’t haul much. It restricted when and how they could fight. They were pressed deep into tougher land. If you’re the sort who believes in evolution, this would be maybe fourteen thousand years ago. And then the mystery arrives: these solo operators of the north all the sudden begin to domesticate wolves. Now they’re going out to face the unknown with a true gang who will kill or die for their master, their alpha. They can haul, they can fight, they’ve got warmth in the blizzard. Dogs are an early warning measure, so security improves. This allows the northerners to survive and eventually thrive. Western man owes his existence to dogs. In my particular worldview it’s neither contradiction nor exaggeration to say that dogs are a direct gift from God. That’s why we don’t kill dogs.” – From “King of Dogs”

I still think about this book from time to time, and this passage in particular. I agree wholeheartedly with the statement: “In my particular worldview, it’s neither contradiction nor exaggeration to say that dogs are a direct gift from God.”

But I’ll also add: horses.

Horses are a direct gift from God, too. Dogs and horses are man’s best friends and surely a sign from God that He loves us. Where would we be without them?

Both of these animals, dogs and horses, were first domesticated by ancient peoples of Eurasia, especially the vast and unforgiving lands of the Eurasian Steppe. From this rugged cradle of civilization, mankind gained not just survival, but partnership.

Dogs were first domesticated between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago during the Upper Paleolithic period, likely somewhere in Eurasia perhaps Siberia, Central Asia, or Eastern Europe by nomadic hunter-gatherers. These men lived before agriculture, often alone or in small bands, and found mutual benefit in bonding with tamer gray wolves. These early dogs helped with hunting, offered protection, and gave companionship in the harsh northern wilds.

Then, thousands of years later, another remarkable development occurred on the Eurasian Steppe: the domestication of the horse. Around 3500 to 3000 BC, the Botai people, a pastoralist culture living deep in the Steppe, became the first known humans to domesticate horses. They used them initially for milk and meat, but this marked the beginning of a revolutionary partnership that would eventually change warfare, travel, and human society forever.

Though separated by over 15,000 years and differing in lifestyle, hunter-gatherers for dogs, early herders for horses, these peoples of the Eurasian world gave humanity its most faithful animal allies. Both dogs and horses came from the wilds of Eurasia and the peoples who tamed those wilds.

We owe everything we are to God, to dogs, to horses, and to those first men of the Steppe, strong, resourceful, and blessed with insight. These animals are not merely beasts of burden or companions. They are proof that God did not intend for man to walk alone.