Sarmatian horses

[Michael Kerr]

Thanks for answers, so I assume Steppe dwellers would be pretty ruthless with low quality stock.
In regards to plains Indians and smaller horses. A bloke I used to work with who was a keen horse racing fan always used to say "A good little horse will always beat a good big horse" and he never explained why. Anyway I have veered off topic. About the 20,000 mares mentioned earlier in this thread that Philip II imported from Scythia. Philip defeated the Scythians led by 90 year old king Altheas who died in the battle, who lived south of the Danube in 339 BC and received these horses as tribute and on the return journey through the Balkans territory of the Triballi (Thracians) who demanded a share of the booty for passing through their lands. Philip refused and a battle took place and the Macedonians were defeated, Philip got badly wounded in the leg and they lost nearly all their Scythian mares, not a good day for Philip. One of Alexander's earliest campaigns when he became king was to wreak revenge on the Triballi for the harm inflicted on his father and the Macedonian army.
Regards
Michael Kerr