The horse was probably first domesticated about 4,000 to 5,000 years ago in the region of the Black Sea of Asia. Once man learned to tame them, horses served a variety of purposes. For centuries man traveled no faster than a horse could run. Horses carried the conquering armies of entire civilizations across the old world. (The entire Mongol Empire of Ghengis and Kubla Khan was made possible only by the horse.) In Europe the horse was soon hitched to the plow to expand society’s agricultural capabilities.