MORE THAN ANY OTHER ANIMAL (except perhaps the dog), the horse is beloved for its strength, intelligence, speed, loyalty and beauty. Although a horse can eat grass (men generally cannot,) horses put out to pasture must spend much of the day grazing and digesting. Working horses require a high-quality diet of grain, and in the ancient world this made them costly to maintain. Only the wealthy could afford to keep horses, so they became symbols of aristocratic status and power. It is not surprising that horses appeared on a wide variety of ancient coins. Horses may appear on coins alone, with a rider, or harnessed to a chariot. Published on CoinWeek.com. This version replaces an earlier version that contained unrelated advertising content.