1. Did colonial settlers use horses more for farm work, for transportation, or for recreation? Why do you think so?
2. What did the style of carriages tell us about the social and economic position of its owner?
3. Why were the early horse races run over courses of only one-quarter mile?
4. Washington and Jefferson used horses differently. What does their use of the horse tell us about each man?
5. How did the 'Great Races' mirror the growing tensions between people in the North and those in the South?
6. How did technology change the use of the horse?
7. Why did more horses than men die in the Civil War?
8. Political cartoonists used horses in several different ways during the 19th century. What were some of those ways?
9. Why were the first great superstars of American sport predominately African-Americans?
10. How did the United States Olympic equestrian team acquire some of its mounts for the 1948 Olympics?
11. Why is the horse important to the Virginia economy?

Thought Questions

1. If you had lived on an isolated, remote farm during the 1930s and 1940s, why might you have been slow to replace your work horse with a tractor? Why do some farmers and others continue to favor horse powered vehicles to those powered by fossil fuels?
2. In what respects did the way the military used horses during the Civil War change by the time of World War II? Why?
3. How has increased urbanization over the last 100 years changed the way people use horses in Virginia?