[Sca-cooks] FRIESIANS was Horse Breeding OT

Anne-Marie Rousseau dailleurs at liripipe.com
Tue Dec 22 07:18:00 PST 2009


And I would question the assumption that because Rutger Hauer rode one in
Ladyhawke that makes it a medieval type of horse...the modern Friesian was
bred as a pretty pretty carriage horse (and IMO they have the gaits to prove
it. Ouch!)

As someone mentioned "breeds" as a concept was more of a 18th-19th c. idea.
You would have traits passed down from a line based on geography (the horses
in THIS area tended to be the same size, color, etc, and so that area would
get to be known for breeding good work horses riding horses or war horses)
even the trait of "gaiting" is a medieval one...the wife of bath rode a
gaited horse....

That said, if you look at the medieval illos you quickly see the type of
horses that were prized for what activities. And if you look at the length
of leg compared to the size of the rider, you can very quickly see how big
they were (not to mention the size of bits, saddles, etc that we have in
museums, and even medieval and renaissance horsemanship manuals that talk
about what characteristics you want for what kind of work)

BTW, these horsemanship manuals? Sometimes have recipes in them (for feeds,
medicines, etc). 

Hows that for getting back on topic? ;)

-Anne-Marie




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