Wild horses couldn't drag us from the track

The betting shop on the main street in Malahide, where I live, does a roaring trade.

Coming up to a big race meeting, the place is a hive of activity. Gambling, a sort of tax on stupidity, is as old as mankind but there is a positive side to this vice; racing celebrates an animal whose ancient story is inextricably linked with our own. Horses helped to shape human history.

Our love of the nags goes back a long way: the Vogelherd Horse, 6 cm long from nose to tail and carved from a piece of ivory, was probably carried as a good luck charm by its Cro-Magnon owner; its surface is worn smooth from handling. One of the oldest sculptures known, this little figurine was carved about 30,000 years ago. Horses also feature among the beasts lovingly painted on the walls of the caves at Lascaux and Altamira.