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This is a thing.

AnneBeecheAnneBeeche
edited 2011-11-03 14:30:48 in Wonderful posts
I stand on Grendel's shoulders
image

Comments

  • nohaynicklibrenohaynicklibre
    Kichigai birthday!!
    Why are those horses so small? Unless...

    >First bronycon ever
  • AnneBeecheAnneBeeche
    edited 2011-11-03 14:40:38
    I stand on Grendel's shoulders
    >First bronycon ever

    YES. :D

    Also, horses have been heavily bred over the many hundreds of years to be taller and faster. As this is a depiction from the 2nd century, it would make sense that their horses are smaller than they are today. It should also be noted that in the ancient Germanic battles, horseback fighters were very uncommon. Havamál (the wisdom of Odin) suggests that if someone is lame, they can still fight from the back of a horse, so I guess if you did see a horseback fighter, he was probably just handicapped. Sea travel was also heavily favored over land travel due to its speed and safety.

    Icelandic horses are also well-known for being small, almost pony-sized.
  • captainbrasscaptainbrass

    Most of the large horses you see used in racing etc. now are thoroughbreds, meaning they're all descended from three Arabian horses brought over from the Middle East in the 17th/18th centuries. Before that, most horses were indeed smaller.


    Ancient Germany, IIRC, was heavily-forested and swampy - not the sort of place you'd really want a large horse even if most of the inhabitants could have spared the fodder to keep one going. I assume having a horse was probably a mark of status/wealth for that reason.

  • MadassAlexMadassAlex
    edited 2011-11-03 23:20:47
    One foot in front of the other, every day.
    Furthermore, the lack of riding technology meant that cavalry wasn't a reliable answer to infantry formations, and certainly not to Roman phalanxes. While Germanic cavalry proved devastating against lighter infantry such as the Huns, they proved unable to move sturdier equivalents. I believe this changed some time late in the Migration Period or early in the Middle Ages, when riding technology provided enough support to mounted warriors for heavier charge tactics rather than skirmishing and harrying.

    Close combat cavalry as we tend to think of them weren't "perfected" until about the 14th or 15th century, with well-bred warhorses, plate armour and specifically designed spears for mounted combat. Note that the distinction between a spear and a lance is one of context until late in the Middle Ages.
  • GelzoGelzo
    Pony Sleuth
    My historical pony, my historical pony...

    Aaaaaaaaaa...
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