Book excerpt: Horses have been at the right hand of man for thousands of years. They have helped build empires and helped bring them down. Horses have carried the doctor swiftly to the door of a dying mother and galloped across the vast distances of the American West, bringing news to the settlers. Horses today are our companions in sport, dashing to the finish line or leaping impossibly high fences for the sheer glory of the win. Horses also lurk in the mists of myth and legend. Here are the most exciting horse stories compiled from human history, both fact and fiction.