The Field Museum is home to some big animals: Sue, the city’s most famous dino, and a pair of five-ton elephants greet visitors when they enter the museum’s main hall. But just a few yards away, a new exhibit highlights an animal that’s much smaller and much more closely entwined with our own history.

The Field Museum’s newest exhibit, “The Horse,” running Feb. 16 through Aug. 14, explores the bond between humans and horses over some 10 million years. The exhibit features artifacts from around the world, some pretty cool 3-D animation and no fewer than nine (we counted ’em) life-sized horses.

“For most people living in a city like Chicago, their experience with horses is cowboys and racetracks,” says Tom Skweski, the exhibit’s project manager. “There’s so much more to this story of horses and humans than just ponies.”

For paleontology buffs, the Field Museum borrowed from its own collection of archaeological horse bones — the largest in North America — to put together a diorama of horse evolution and early hunting. A steam-powered fire engine, on loan from the Museum of Science and Industry, highlights horses in Chicago history. And kids will love the pair of saddles in the rear of the exhibit that they can sit on.

The exhibit opens with an archaeology space, featuring recreations of horse-centric ancient cave drawings. But it really gets going around the corner, where a 15-foot-wide screen displays an interactive peek inside a moving, life-sized horse. Visitors can control the display with two touch screens. The room is rounded out by a horse skeleton and a small lesson on horse anatomy where you can see how you measure up.

The next room is all about horses in warfare, complete with medieval knights, a horse in samurai armor and a bit on the cavalry.

Be sure to check out the horse-drawn fire engine, a terra cotta horse from India and a stunning set of Native American ceremonial horse gear before moving on to some of the more modern exhibits, which include toy horses from around the world, trophies from the Kentucky Derby, and a fascinating little bit on the Pony Express.

Oh, yes. The last horse, which you’ll catch on the way out, stands alone: a horse-shaped sculpture made of Hawaiian Ohio wood branches cast in bronze. Can you find them all? Giddy up!

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By Thanasis Veggos from Athens
Posted: 05/31/2011 8:42 AM

I've always wanted to visit Chicago and its museums. I've read an article in a greek site (www.naro.gr) regarding the Field museum, and most specifically regarding the new exhibit "The Horse". I wuld really like to have a chance to visit the museum sometime soon. I love horses! Great article!