05-23-2014, 05:28 AM
Not much I can add to what Alanus said as he covered it pretty well.
Although the Han fought a war for the Ferghana horses it seems that they only left with 30 horses of the famed breed, and some of them died on the trip back to the capital, as the locals threatened to destroy their entire herd if the Han persisted in their attack of the Ferghana Valley. So even though claimed as a great victory it was more than likely an honourable draw. These would have been the personal property of Wu-ti , the emperor for his burial so more than likely the Han probably restocked their cavalry forces with the more numerous and hardy horses of the Wusun who may have been of similar stock to the Ferghana breed. Horses for brides and silks. The Han needed better quality horses for their cavalry to try and match it with the Xiong-nu horsemen who were a constant threat to the east.
Link below to a google book site of Frozen Tombs of Siberia: The Pazyryk Burials of Iron Age Horsemen. This book seems out of print and extremely rare but pages 55-57 on the link pretty well cover how the Scythians coveted their horses. So most of their horses were probably small but they did breed bigger ones 150cm to !60Cm to the withers. So between 14 and 15 hands. Book below states that the bigger horses were probably bought from other tribes who bred them in a more suitable climate to that of the Altai ranges, so the people of the Altai must have been traders as well as herders, and going by the riches found in their tombs they must have been successful traders at that. So Wusun and Ferghana or whoever inhabitated 5th-3rd Century BC Kazakhstan are good candidates for sources of quality horses for Pazyryk traders as they had suitably climates for horse breeding.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ZByd...es&f=false
Some of the Pazyryk horses were extremely well preserved when discovered as water seeped in and froze the corpses and have yielded considerable information including stomach contents, skin, coat and musculature. Most of the horses were smaller breeds, for the common herders but there were a few which were much bigger and probably of a breed similar to the Achal-Tekke type and obviously owned by the richest of the inhabitants. The larger horses found, were mostly geldings aged between 18-22 years although there was one mare found in the burial site. So although religious, it seems the Scythians were practical in that they sacrificed their older horses, who were either past or near the end of their working lives. Image below.
[attachment=9992]Pazyrykhorses2.jpg[/attachment]
Regards
Michael Kerr
Although the Han fought a war for the Ferghana horses it seems that they only left with 30 horses of the famed breed, and some of them died on the trip back to the capital, as the locals threatened to destroy their entire herd if the Han persisted in their attack of the Ferghana Valley. So even though claimed as a great victory it was more than likely an honourable draw. These would have been the personal property of Wu-ti , the emperor for his burial so more than likely the Han probably restocked their cavalry forces with the more numerous and hardy horses of the Wusun who may have been of similar stock to the Ferghana breed. Horses for brides and silks. The Han needed better quality horses for their cavalry to try and match it with the Xiong-nu horsemen who were a constant threat to the east.
Link below to a google book site of Frozen Tombs of Siberia: The Pazyryk Burials of Iron Age Horsemen. This book seems out of print and extremely rare but pages 55-57 on the link pretty well cover how the Scythians coveted their horses. So most of their horses were probably small but they did breed bigger ones 150cm to !60Cm to the withers. So between 14 and 15 hands. Book below states that the bigger horses were probably bought from other tribes who bred them in a more suitable climate to that of the Altai ranges, so the people of the Altai must have been traders as well as herders, and going by the riches found in their tombs they must have been successful traders at that. So Wusun and Ferghana or whoever inhabitated 5th-3rd Century BC Kazakhstan are good candidates for sources of quality horses for Pazyryk traders as they had suitably climates for horse breeding.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ZByd...es&f=false
Some of the Pazyryk horses were extremely well preserved when discovered as water seeped in and froze the corpses and have yielded considerable information including stomach contents, skin, coat and musculature. Most of the horses were smaller breeds, for the common herders but there were a few which were much bigger and probably of a breed similar to the Achal-Tekke type and obviously owned by the richest of the inhabitants. The larger horses found, were mostly geldings aged between 18-22 years although there was one mare found in the burial site. So although religious, it seems the Scythians were practical in that they sacrificed their older horses, who were either past or near the end of their working lives. Image below.
[attachment=9992]Pazyrykhorses2.jpg[/attachment]
Regards
Michael Kerr
Michael Kerr
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
"You can conquer an empire from the back of a horse but you can't rule it from one"
