Global Horse Culture

Horses of the world, 1934 version

It's interesting to see which breeds of horses were widely known in past times. Looking at show programs or books about horse breeds from past decades (or centuries) reveals which breeds were popular or recognized then, and it's often quite different from today.

The map pictured was issued in 1934.

The breeds described are (from bottom center, moving clockwise):

Fantastic Horse Mosaics

This depiction of a charioteer is a Roman-era mosaic from the 3rd or 4th century. The snapshot is from Sebastiá Giralt's flickr photostream.

If you like ancient mosaics, I've just discovered a wonderful blog called the Mosaic Art Source Blog! The post on horses in mosaics is not to be missed! They have collected a wonderful set of photos of both modern and ancient mosaics from a variety of sources, all featuring horses. 

Browse the blog for posts on other subjects, too. I loved this post featuring lions.

Spurs

Equine Ink has an interesting recent post about the different styles of spurs and their history. Take a look!

Massive teams of draft horses

The Pony Expression has a recent post about draft animals that includes an impressive picture of an enormous team of horses, plus info about draft horses and oxen. Go take a look!

Ancient Korean Horsemen

This site features a detailed description (and photo) of a 5th or 6th century statue of horse and rider found in an old tomb in South Korea. Take a look at the detailed tack and clothing on the statue pictured there. The statue is considered a national treasure.

Extremely Cool Beadwork

Dario over at Dario's Caballeros pointed me to Angela Swedberg's blog. Wow! Angela's profession and hobby is restoring and re-creating Plain's Indian beadwork, horse trappings and other ornamented clothing and gear. She does an astonishing job. Her work is stunning. Her blog is full of beautiful photos showing original items and her reproductions. Keep up the amazing work, Angela!

Horses in Russian Art

Horses in Russian Art is a fantastic book - one of my favorite horse art books. It is pretty much nothing but pictures. The wide variety of paintings, sculptures, and even old photos include scenes from battle, horses in harness, rural and farm horses, and even a whole set of illustrations of the finest horses at the old stud farms. The art includes a lot from the 19th century, but also some more modern paintings.

It's really neat to see the Russian breeds, traditional tack, and old riding costumes. I'd highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the Russian or old Soviet breeds, historic tack and costumes, or horse art in general.

More great old saddles!

Riding Aside has some great new posts featuring historic saddles and riding habits. I love old tack and riding gear.

Horses in History

Enlightened Horsemanship has a recent post about a forthcoming book on horses in human history. It looks detailed and interesting! Take a look!

That'll Cure Ya!

I was recently listening to an audiobook entitled "The Arabian Art of Taming and Training Wild and Vicious Horses" by P.R. Kincaid (originally printed in 1856). There is a very brief bit about Arabian horses at the beginning, and then it moves on to general horse training (of the old fashioned sort!). But what caught my ear was this bit about colic:

Take 1 gill of turpentine, 1 gill of opium dissolved in whisky; 1 quart of water, milk warm. Drench the horse and move him about slowly. If there is no relief in fifteen minutes, take a piece of chalk, about the size of an egg, powder it, and put it into a pint of cider vinegar, which should be blood warm, give that, and then move him as before.

ANOTHER.—Take 1 ounce laudanum, 1 ounce of ether, 1 ounce of tincture of assafoetida, 2 ounces tincture of peppermint, half pint of whisky; put all in a quart bottle, shake it well and drench the horse. (from the e-book, available via Project Gutenberg).

In case you wonder, like I did, about the details of the recipes, I have linked some of the ingredients and methods with sites that have more information.

I find this recipe both wacky and thought-provoking. Some of the ingredients have strong relaxing or stimulating effects. Heck, if I have a sore belly, I often turn to peppermint tea for relief. Turpentine? Not so much.  Asafoetida is a common ingredient in Indian food, and is said to be good for the digestion. It is, however, possibly the worst smelling spice in the world. In cooking, it is used in very tiny quantities.

(And of course, as with anything you see on the internet, don't try this at home!)