The horse was an important symbol in Vedic religion because it was an important animal in the life of the people who practiced Vedic religion, the Aryans of the Steppes of Russia. They were herders of cattle and used horses for that purpose as well as for warfare.

The founders of Vedic religion were the Aryans who generally lived on the Steppes of Russia, a flat treeless plateau covered with grasses and other plants. They were indigenous to the region but spread out Westward into Europe, Southwest into Persia (Iran) and Southeast into the Indus Valley of India.

The VEDAS (books of knowledge) are Aryan religious books written or compiled from oral sources, between about 1500 & 900 BC. The VEDAS were written in Sanskrit. There are four VEDAS:

1. RIGVEDA: Liturgical hymns of praise.
2. SAMAVEDA: Scrificial songs.
3. YAJURVEDA: Short formulas, called YAJURS, muttered at a sacrifice that annonate & explain what is going on during the sacrifice.
4. ATHARVAVEDA: The portion of the Vedas used by family priests who were healers & herbalists, and who practiced magic & dealt with daily family affairs.