One of history’s biggest drivers is not what you might think

There was nearly a world without horses. At the end of the last ice age warming temperatures turned the grasslands where horses roamed into swamps and forests. Humans hunted them heavily for meat. Wild horses did, in fact, go extinct in North America around 7,600-12,000 years ago. You could say that by stopping hunting and starting to domesticate and harness them, humans saved horses. Or you could say that horses decided to bet on people.