"In search of the great horse" 14.2hh max for medieval warhorses
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The thing I find puzzling is the images for the Celestial horses all seem to have quite high set on necks.. whereas all the horses / ponies I've seen from central asia seem to have quite different conformation .. also the tail appears to be much higher set on
The real-life counterparts of dragons being..? 
The Scythians had stirrups, and were closely related to the Samaritans. They were a nomadic martial civilisation, using mounted archery (men and women) in battle. They are thought to have spread from Siberia to Scandinavia, so I would suggest that was where the Vikings got their stirrups from.
The real-life counterparts of dragons being..?
If you're interested in horses in medieval times you might enjoy this book.
Ah Tim, he was our neighbour in West Cork in the 70's - 80's and I remember him setting off on that trip. The horse didn't last long, and he ended up on an arab, I think? There are better, more scholarly books if you're really interested, but Tim always writes a good adventure.
You are right Cortez, the Ardennes got as far as Istanbul (I think) and had to be sent back to cooler climes.
Was that the guy who tried to do it on an Ardennes? Then realised a horse built for pulling didn't make the best horse for riding.
Ah just cross posted - I remember the story on a heavy horse site
I wonder if he chose that breed because at the time it was assumed that the crusaders rode big, heavy horses into battle.
Another good "adventure" - I enjoyed The Byerly Turk by Jeremy James. Possible wanderings into the realms of fantasy but none the less fascinating reading about the archery and battle training, and of course, as it says in the intro, this horse lives on in his progeny.
Fascinating thread, thanks to those who have contributed and shared the info! I read a lot of fiction based in ancient times, Vikings, knights of old etc, which have a lot of horses in. I had no idea that they were so much smaller back then! I particularly enjoyed reading the article on Celestial Horses.
Thats a blast from the past, grew up reading his adventures!
I think the horse started to struggle quite early on from what I remember reading.
I'm very fond of mine but none of my joints would want to contemplate a long distance ride on him!
I'm very fond of mine but none of my joints would want to contemplate a long distance ride on him!
Thanks for posting that. I've managed to track down and order a copy of that book.
An additional treat for the history nerds, especially the hybrid-breeding history nerds: 4-and-a-half-thousand-year data on how handy a donkey-wild ass cross (kunga) might be in front of a chariot - https://www.sciencenews.org/article/kunga-donkey-wild-ass-hybrid-biology
The skeletons came from northern Syria. Horses got easier/more accessible to breed a few hundred years later, at the end of the third millennium (BC!).
The skeletons came from northern Syria. Horses got easier/more accessible to breed a few hundred years later, at the end of the third millennium (BC!).
