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Horses may have become rideable with the help of a genetic mutation

One mutation may have been critical to the stability and strength needed in ridden horses

Two people riding horses by an alpine pond are shown from behind.

Humans as early as the Bronze Age may have been intentionally cultivating genes in horses that made them easier to tame and more able to bear the weight of riders.

juanma hache/Getty Images

By Jake Buehler

Two key gene variants may have made early domesticated horses more tame and more physically resilient to bearing a rider, researchers report August 28 in Science.