Even more Assyrian horses
Now look at these Assyrian wall panels, from a palace in Nineveh, in Northern Iraq today. Note the short back, rounded croup and arched neck. And the slightly dished profile and inflated nostrils of the one on the left. We should go back to breeding horses like these.
They are “stepping under” pretty well, too! Might have done well in dressage. Three-circle conformation for sure.
For sure it would be interesting to breed horses like the Assyrian horses on the wall panels , but , we have to think carefully before taking such a big strategic design , should we try to breed horses with shorter nicks than we have now ? smaller in size ( as they really look small and short ? do we breed horses for the same reasons they used to breed for ? and we have to answer the big question , why would we do so , I think it is interesting and after a serious talk I could be part of ” getting the Assyrian horses back ”
Kindest regards
Omar ANBARGI
I agree; I don’t think they are the same as the Bedouin horse we love, but it is fascinating to see that there are some characteristics in common showing in this ancient artwork. If these horses were recreated, they would probably be more worthwhile than many breeds we have today.
Just not at the expense of our Bedouin Arabians!
Well ya know if you look at the famous picture of Hamra as a two year old that Davenport took, you see an asil stallion with hindquarters to rival these two. Also Haleb was of similarly stout build. So its not as if there aren’t lines in the Asils which have substance at least similar to these guys.
But Edouard your point is very well taken. If you go to a show you’ll see a lot of ,’elegant weeds,’ and a few sturdy strong horses.
Best wishes
Bruce Peek
If it is permitted to put in an addendum- These assyrian wall panel horses look like shagyas to me…Especially an American shagya stallion named Budapest, whose dam Biala- the last shagya bred by the Poles- has a coupling exactly like that of the Craver Bred Kuhaylan stallion Mandarin CF..As to their necks being short- well maybe, however they are set on rather high. And also keep in mind that these fairly life like panels are of horses in the era of about 800 BC- 350 horse generations ago. Most horse breeders in most cultures have tried to breed longer necks, set on higher because such a neck helps the horse to balance under a rider better. And so by now 3300 years later the usual run of horses have significantly longer necks than these Assyrians do. This has been taken to extremes here in the U.S. with some breeds whose necks sometimes are overly long to the point that they are no longer functional.
Best wishes
Bruce Peek
Bruce, Liked your comment about the similarity to these freizes with Shagyas. Since I’ve seen a number of them at Babolna, must admit there is something in what you say. Fascinating observation.
With best wishes,
Tzviah
Oh oh oh oh! I just got a copy of Henry Wynmalen’s “Equitation” from 1938, and here’s a quote from the first page:
You need only to look at the Caspian Horse to find the Assyrian. Some have finer features like the Arab and some are stouter more like the Assyrian. I believe that both these breeds were started with stock from the Caspian Horse. I think that the Assyrians had raised the size and stoutness over the original stock but not necessarily by cross breeding but just by breeding the larger, stouter individuals together.
i was taught when to judge horses to look first at the legs. All the characters of these assyrian horses are important but most important are the legs.Good bone and flat bone, good for heavy work. Their phenotype is very close to asil of the present days, unfortunately too many breed for a high tail and a concave profile of useless horses. In Usa many arabians are used only as pets today.
I came back to look at this picture again forgetting that I have been here before and had commented. I would like to point out something that I didn’t notice the last time I was here. These horses are moving at at least a medium speed because two feet are off the ground. Precisely two on the same side are off the ground meaning that these horses are performing a lateral gait like the pace! I have spotted a few other example where a clear example of what appears to be a pace gate is evident in the Assyrian artwork. Given their attention to details and their apparent penchant for realism (not that it is achieved at modern photo realism but most other cultures didn’t attain these levels until the Renaissance), I believe they are accurately depicting the gait.