05-24-2013, 02:15 PM
Amerindians (some of whom were among my ancestors) were a Stone Age culture for the most part before the 1500s when Europeans arrived to settle North America. They, especially the Plains tribes, knew how to breed horses. That they didn't breed the larger ones has to do with function.
They wanted a tough horse for riding down bison, chasing enemies, a horse that didn't need so much feed and was more disease resistant possessing stamina for the long ride. The Spanish high-bred horses were allowed to revert to some of the smaller sizes, though once in a while, a big horse would be born, and would be a status symbol, probably.
At least that's the ideas presented by some historians I read back in school. Who knows, really? We pretty thoroughly eliminated that culture with little study. But the point here is, if a Stone Age horse culture knew about breeding, how much more would the Mongols, Huns, et al., have understood how to pick characteristics desired? They knew how to make the most of what was there, and big horses weren't really needed until the Age of Knights, much later.
They wanted a tough horse for riding down bison, chasing enemies, a horse that didn't need so much feed and was more disease resistant possessing stamina for the long ride. The Spanish high-bred horses were allowed to revert to some of the smaller sizes, though once in a while, a big horse would be born, and would be a status symbol, probably.
At least that's the ideas presented by some historians I read back in school. Who knows, really? We pretty thoroughly eliminated that culture with little study. But the point here is, if a Stone Age horse culture knew about breeding, how much more would the Mongols, Huns, et al., have understood how to pick characteristics desired? They knew how to make the most of what was there, and big horses weren't really needed until the Age of Knights, much later.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
