Horse Breeds

[philsidnell]

Ugh.


The book I was reading last night mentioned both horses and ponies for the Celts. The ponies were usually mentioned in association with the chariots but never with the cavalry if I remember rightly. Still no mention of species or genus mind.

Sorry to be pedantic about terminology, but there is only one species of domesticated horse: Equus Caballus to which all horse and pony breeds belong. 'Pony' is just a term used for certain breeds of horse, and is to do with the relative proportions of leg and back length and general shape. The tiny Falabella for instance is a miniature horse, not a pony. All ponies are horses, not all horses are ponies. Falabella, Arabian, Throughbred, Akhal Teke etc are all just breeds of the same species, just as the wide variety of domestic dogs are just breeds of the single species Canis Familiaris.

Phil Sidnell

[Boom S]

it's an honour to have you here sir !

apologies for the stupid mix up of hands and feet.

a) probably variation across the area and peoples we lump together as Scythian

b) two types (or more) used alongside each other, with royalty and nobility using the finer type found in the graves (akin to the Akhal Teke) as their prized chargers and the ordinary tribesmen using the smaller, hardy pony type.

the second type being similar to what we know as the mongol pony ?

also, could you throw some light on this ?

not exactly about horse breeds, but does anyone know how javelin armed cavalrymen carried the spare javelins ? all in hand as depicted in RTW or hung them somewhere from the horse ?
are there any references in the old texts ?

[philsidnell]

In terms of what is practical, one or two could be carried in the left hand. I'd have to look back over the pictorial evidence for examples actually showing spares being carried. A quiver or sheath of some kind seems an obvious solution, but the only specific literary evidence I can think of immediately is Josephus' description of Vespasian's cavalry during the Jewish Revolt:

'The cavalryman carries a long sword on his right hip and an enormous pike [lance] in his hand, a shield slanted across his horse's flank, and in a quiver slung alongside three or more darts, broad-pointed and as big as spears'. [Josephus, The Jewish War, III.87 - p.196 of the Penguin Classics edition]

Phil

[Caligula Caesar]

Thank you for posting, Phil! An honour indeed.