the best war horses
May 18th, 2007 by Melanie“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” -Winston Churchill
I think everyone has heard that quote before, but it so true. I am to the point of feeling an emptiness without the regular visits to my horse. She may not like me–H***, she heads the other way when she sees me coming or sees anyone coming for that matter. She has no reason to dislike me, but she’s the kind of horse who doesn’t want to be bothered. I still care for her, but we don’t share any special bond. It’s more of an amicable relationship where she goes along for the sake of avoiding an argument. Some horses are like that, mares in particular.
Geldings are my favorite. The boys will give all they have to their human, but geldings usually have a level head. They don’t get excited by other horses the way stallions do and they don’t get hormonal like mares. They want to be your buddy. For that, they make the best war horses, or did when horses were used for warfare.
According to Wikipedia–
“The Scythians are thought to have been the first people to geld their horses. Geldings were once prized by classical steppe warriors for their silence; without mating urges, they were less prone to call out or whinny to other horses, easier to keep in groups, and less likely to fight with one another…
“However, some cultures would not geld male horses, most notably the Arabs. These people usually used mares for everyday work or war, and culled stallions were usually sold away to those in other cultures, who lacked the cultural taboos against gelding them.”
In my fantasy stories, my fighters ride mares and geldings for the logical reasons stated in the Wiki article. When I read a story where it seems like all the knights or warriors are riding stallions, I cringe at the misrepresentation. People have this false notion that warriors would ride stallions when they are the worst mount a warrior could have. Ask any horseperson who has kept a stallion–I have briefly, before they were gelded–and they will tell you that it’s a rare stallion who isn’t difficult to keep.
I warned you I was nitpicky when I read something about horses in fiction stories!
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