The true story of how "Horse in Motion" came to exist is one that almost sounds like bet made in a bar.

According to Britannica, British American photographer Eadweard Muybride, who developed a means in which to take a series of photographs, was tapped by California Governor Leland Stanford, an enthusiastic horse breeder. At the time, there was great speculation regarding the question if, at any point when a horse is running, all of its hooves leave the ground simultaneously a subtlety too fast for the human eye to detect, hence the debate. Ingeniously, in 1877, Muybridge set up a series of cameras along a racetrack with wires stretched across and connected to the individual shutters. As the horse and jockey raced the span, their advance would trigger the cameras at different points, and the accumulated and staggered photographs created what was, essentially, the first motion picture.

As reported by Smithsonian Magazine, the question as to whether horses ever completely leave the ground was known as the "unsupported transit theory," but Muybridge's efforts with photography helped prove that horses do completely leave the ground. Professor Marta Braun of Ryerson University told the publication, "We have to remember that the horse was the source of all locomotion of importance. You went to war on horses, and any kind of large-scale movement was done on horses. To understand it was really very critical."

Yet, what do we know about the rider in "Horse in Motion," as opposed to the technology and the horse?

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