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| Originally posted by Cypress That looks familiar! |
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| Originally posted by Pompano Okay, horse show is over. (Thank God, eh?) |
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Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
No, I liked your expose on horses and appreciate your contributions and efforts here. About a year ago I saw a program on PBS titled "The Art of War" or some such thing. They made the point that horses defined war for about 2000 years of man's history. Up until WWI they claimed that horses were the main instrument of war (I don't believe the Romans used them). That's pretty impressive for a barnyard animal. PS if Custer had seen Mongolia he would have better understood who the best horsemen were (and still are) on this planet. |
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| Originally posted by Pompano Glad to see some further interest in horses. After all, haven’t nomads been using them for centuries?
Indeed, the American natives (Indians) did not learn horsemanship until after the Spanish had left horses behind in the 15th & 16th Centuries. Early in the exploration of the Americas (beginning with Columbus' voyage in 1493), Iberian horses arrived on Spanish galleons. Horse warfare in early colonization of the Americas was formidable. In 1532, 168 Spanish soldiers—including 62 on horseback—won the battle against 80,000 Inca foot soldiers by attacking the crowd on horseback and slicing through their quilted armor with steel weapons. Some of these horses escaped or were abandoned and became feral. Today's relatives of these escapees are the mustangs found in the western United States. Wild Mustangs I photographed in Teddy Roosevelt Natl Park in ND. This park contains one of the largest concentrations of mustangs left running wild. More typical mustangs.. So much has been written & sterotyped about the Spanish invasion, cowboys, & Indians that it is often forgotten that the Americas are the home of the modern, single-hoofed horse, ‘Equus’. Having evolved from the tiny, one-foot-tall and three-toed Hyracotherium some two million years ago, the modern horse migrated from North America to Asia over the Bering Strait land bridge. When the first humans crossed the strait in the opposite direction after about 20,000 B.C., they found the Great Plains teeming with horses, which for several millennia were among the many species of megafauna hunted by the first Plains peoples. Then, some 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, the horse followed the mammoth, camel, and other large American mammals into extinction, apparently as the victim of overhunting and a changing climate. The horse that the Spanish brought to the Americas was the famed barb horse, a mix of Arab and Spanish stock. Bred to survive in the North African deserts, these small but sturdy animals found a fitting ecological niche in the dry, grass-covered Southern Plains. Barb Horse The impact of the horse was most dramatic on the Southern Plains, where a true equestrian culture emerged. Comanches, Kiowas, Arapahos, and Cheyennes, who became specialized horse raiders and herders, maintained large herds of surplus animals for trade with other Native groups and European Americans. So attractive was this new horse culture that many groups–most notably Comanches, Lakotas, and Cheyennes–abandoned their traditional homelands for an equestrian existence in the Plains. In doing so, they became some of the most refined and celebrated equestrian societies in history, matched only by the great horse cultures of Asia. It is also possible that horses triggered a decline in women's status because the bison hunt became more the domain of the mounted male hunter rather than of the society at large. Little did these gals know that Women’s Lib was just around the corner… The beginning of the reservation period after 1850 marked the end of the Plains horse cultures, but it did not end the association between Indians and horses. Rodeo has offered another important way to maintain the connection with horses and break some bones while having fun. On a more abstract level, most people still link Plains Indians and horses almost automatically, and the Hollywood film industry has sold the visual image of the mounted Plains warrior as the stereotype for all North American Indians. To many Indians the horse continues to symbolize their traditional cultures and lifeways as they existed before the European American takeover. From celebration parades and art to actual herds on reservation fields, horses are still integral to Plains Indians. As said, the American natives adapted quickly to this new horse lifestyle and it changed their whole culture dramatically. Since travel is one of the defining features of human development, so the history of the horse is the history of civilization itself. Imagine riding versus walking the long distances of the Great Plains. They also became more nomadic because of the need for grazing areas.
You are certainly correct, Igor. For at least 6000 years the horse has been an ever-present ally in war and peace. Civilizations have risen and fallen on their backs and evidence of the horse’s use is everywhere to be seen. Unverified by other experts, archaeologists in Saudi Arabia reported finding traces of a civilization that had domesticated horses nearly 9,000 years ago. Then again, other research places the first domestication of wild horses as happening in Mongol territory, namely on the ‘western Eurasian steppe’ - an area now shared by Kazhakstan, southwest Russia and Ukraine. This species, the so called “Mongolian wild horse” is thought to be the ancestor of all domesticated horses. Known today as “Przewalski’s Horse” (see photo below) the breed was named after the Russian explorer who discovered them. The horse quickly spread to the west and became domesticated there also. A stone drawing was unearthed showing horse drawn chariots around 2500 BC in what is now Iran. Presently, the oldest undisputed evidence of horse domestication date back to 2,000 B.C., when horses were buried with parts of harnesses and chariots. A report published March 2009 suggested the Botai culture of Kazakhstan had domesticated horses as beasts of burden and to use their milk as a food source around 3500 B.C. The Mongols & Horses On warfare and conquest, I would think that many things helped to make Genghis Khan’s armies so successful. First, he had a huge army, some historians figuring to over 250,000 standing deployment with that many in reserve back home. Second, they were highly mobile and excellent horsemen. Their tough little horses could gallop at speed for 6 hours. Third, their weapons were superior…named the short composite bow, a remarkable powerful weapon for both long and short range, using armor-piercing arrows. The riders could hit a target while at a full gallop. Truly invincible and conquered most the Far East and Eastern Europe. The design of that bow to use with horse warfare put his army as the most dangerous among all combatants. They were the ‘tanks’ of the day. Here’s what they looked like mounted and the design of the re-curve bows. The pull on most of these bows was about 165lbs…strong even for today. Each archer carried 60 arrows and could easily draw and fire them rapidly with accuracy. Add to that the long swords and spears and it’s easy to see how they decimated their opponents. There is a traditional saying in Mongolian: "A Mongol without a horse is like a Bird without the wings". Said by some to have been the best horsemen ever were the Jurchens or Jurcheds, a Tungusic people who inhabited the region of Manchuria (present-day Northeast China) until the 17th century, when they adopted the name Manchu. Other great horse cultures of ancient times were: Scythians, Huns, Turks, and Parthians But from all the verifiable evidence so far, we know that humans have hunted horses across the Eurasian steppe for at least 100,000 years. Analysis of bones found at two sites near Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, suggests that 6,000 years ago, the Botai people were the first to turn their prey into a means of transport. In case you’re interested, here is a timeline showing domestication of other animals. Tamed Kingdom Humans have domesticated numerous animal species over the past 12 millennia, beginning with man's best friend, the dog. Here is a sampling of roughly when and where the taming of some familiar critters occurred. 10,000 B.C. • Dog: Israel/Iraq 7000 B.C. • Goat: Iran • Sheep: northeast Syria/southeast Turkey • Pig: northeast Syria/southeast Turkey 6000 B.C. • Cat: northeast Africa • Cattle: Turkey • Chicken: southeast Asia 4000 B.C. • Horse: Eurasian steppe 3500 B.C. • Donkey: North Africa • Dromedary camel: southern Arabia • Bactrian camel: south Asia 3000 B.C. • Duck: southeast Asia 2500 B.C. • Guinea pig: Andes A.D. 100 • Turkey: Mexico A.D. 500 • Honeybee: Europe A.D. 1000 • Goldfish: China A.D. 1500 • Rabbit: Europe A.D. 2014 • POMPANO: rambling but housebroken. Now here’s some gossip about The Golden-Haired One….Custer. Here’s a great mouth-to-mouth legend about Custer’s Last Stand and the remains of the General….During the 1920s, two elderly Cheyenne women spoke briefly with oral historians about their having recognized Custer's body on the battlefield, and had stopped a Sioux warrior from desecrating the body. The women were relatives of Mo-nah-se-tah, who was alleged to have been Custer's one-time lover. In the Cheyenne culture of the time, such a relationship was considered a marriage. (Which is much like holding hands and jumping over a log together like I did once in the Cree country of Far North Canada.) The women allegedly told the warrior to "Stop, he is a relative of ours," and then shooed him away. The two women then shoved their sewing awls into his ears, to permit Custer's corpse to 'hear better in the afterlife' because he had broken his promise to Chief Stone Forehead never to fight against Native Americans again. So it appears he was never scalped, a hideous mutilation first started by the white man. When the main column under General Terry arrived two days later, the army found most of the soldiers' corpses stripped, scalped, and mutilated. Custer's body had two bullet holes, one in the left temple and one just above the heart. Capt. Benteen, who inspected the body, stated that in his opinion the fatal injuries had not been the result of .45 caliber ammunition, which implies the bullet holes had been caused by ranged rifle fire. And that’s history for you…..as told by the survivors. |
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| Originally posted by Pompano Ta-sunko-witko - Sioux chief of the Oglala tribe who was an able tactician and determined warrior in the Sioux resistance to the white man’s invasion of the northern Great Plains. This is an impressive monument to a brave Oglala Souix warrior chief. It is an ongoing project and is located in the same area as the Mt. Rushmore statues. |
