Sarmatian horses

[Michael Kerr]

In regard to Steppe breeding and geldings I was just wondering if someone with some knowledge of horse breeding might know. If a colt showed physical flaws in their conformation that they didn't want passed on to their herds or undesired personality traits, a Scythian/Sarmatian/Steppe herd owner could geld the horse who would still be able to work and hunt and still be used in warfare but cannot pass on defects but what about fillies or mares who might not conform to their ideal breed standards? Would they have been slaughtered for meat? If not I can only assume that they kept these mares with the herds and separated them when they were in season away from frisky stallions to avoid breeding.Although the bigger herd owners could probably dispose of them, the poorer people who probably owned one or two horses would not have this luxury. I know mares milk was important to Steppe people but to produce Mare's milk do they have to have foals which sort of defeats the purpose of separating them.

Regards
Michael Kerr