War horses

She always looks better than I do!


She's almost camouflaged this time of year!

Canadian Horses are directly descended from the royal stable of Louis XIV. Intended as riding mounts for the nobility, military and clergy of New France, these animals were of the very highest quality from the finest horses of their day.

Louis XIV did not keep a royal stable of show horses. These were war horses. The "armored division" of the time, they were bred and trained for use in battle. Contrary to popular belief soldiers in earlier times did not ride fire breathing nutbags into battle. Strong, fit, smart, steady and sensible horses were highly prized battlefield partners.

Here is an excellent online article with a historical description of the Canadian Horse.

Their ancestry of battlefield mounts comes to mind as I've been reading Xenophon. Every horseman should read Xenophon's On Horsemanship. Poetic and practical, On Horsemanship is as relevant today as the day it was written. Roughly 2400 years ago.

To a large extent what Xenophon has to say is written for the soldier. Regarding posture and balance, for example. About how to sit and being supple and flexible. It's about making it harder for your adversary to knock you off your horse!

Things like "...the brilliant horse must be the agent of his own graceful motion ...", "Beauty of motion depends upon the mover initiating the motion willingly ..." and "...be of little annoyance to the horse as possible..." are philosophical things riders should think about. Often. I've always thought handling a horse was a lot like dancing when you get it right. I'm an awful dancer.

Of course I always finish a good ride with a beer. Good rides only. I can't remember the last time I had a bad ride. Although I have had plenty. It's a personal tradition. I'll explain that one of these days. I have a story for almost everything.

I'll confess I was a little disappointed with this.


It seemed the thing to have this time of year. I don't know what I was expecting, it wasn't bad by any means but it just ... didn't work for me. Of course I have 5 more to ponder so I might change my mind too.