Roman bits and other horsemanship equipment

[Lepidina]

When I was young, a good many decades ago, there were still a lot of men and women who knew how to ride but not how to drive, my grandfather being one. He grew up with horses and never made the transition from horse to automobile.

That was true for some part of the population involved with agriculture or the wealthy landowners. People in cities or lower-class or lower middle-class people didn't own horses or necessarily know how to ride. I need to find a source, but one quotation I hear a lot is that there are more horses in the US now than there were 100 years ago.

Certainly in Victorian England, more horses were used for transport than for riding as a riding horse was a luxury, esp. in the cities.

So the average cavalry man might be greatly endeared to his horses but not necessarily the average farmer. Plus the average cav guy would be able to read and write and thus record his feelings as opposed to the farmer.

As for starting domestic horses at 2, that was probably more for driving and plowing as it is safe to drive a horse at 2 because it doesn't stress their joints as much. Riding a horse that early is harmful because it stresses a horse's still developing joints. I can't stand the fascination with the racing industry here in the US because the horses are ridden far too young and break down. Barbaro is a prime example of that. I'd go on but that's a whole other tirade.

Need to get the Hyland books. I meant to borrow them from a friend last night and forgot to ask before I left. Heck, I just need to steal his whole library. It would make research a lot easier. [/quote]