Warrior Ancient and Medieval Rules

[scott holder]

Here's something:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barefoot_horses


According to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia:
"...The earliest extant shoe dates from the 6th cent. B.C. A horseshoe used by
the Romans was a leather boot with a metal plate at the bottom...."

And something else:
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blhorseshoe.htm

None of these are terribly definitive. There is a legend that the Dragon
Pavilion at Kaifeng, one of China's many former capitals and in our case,
capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, has some vague horseshoe prints on a
slanting stone halfway up the seventy-two steps which lead to a raised platform
in front of the building. So the legend goes, the horseshoe prints were left by
Emperor Tai Zu, Zhao Kuangyin (727-976), of the Song Dynasty when he rode up the
steps on horseback.

Another indirect connection is a reference to "horseshoes breaking on icy
boulders" in a military poem from....drum roll please, the Tang Dynasty. If
poets were referencing horseshoes and an army during that time frame, I think
it's safe to say they were being used. Others might not think this is enough
evidence.

I also have an email in to Dr Graff at K State. He's the only western historian
who specializes in Tang military history and helped with some of the Oriental
Warrior lists.

scott

[scott holder]

God I hate yahoogroups. You can't search worth a crap, you can't
sort by a person's posts, you can't do much of anything other than
post. Heh heh, I know, it's FHE's job to find something better.
It's on the list.

But, I finally have an answer from Dr Graff, and I quote:

"My understanding is that horseshoes were not used in North China
(and adjacent steppe regions) because they were not needed -- the dry
climate kept the hoof hard (unlike in Northwest Europe, where the
dampness softened the hoof and made horseshoes pretty much required).
Something horseshoe-like was used in South China, but (if I remember
correctly) it was made of wood not metal, and not fastened to the
hoof with nails."

scott
--- In WarriorRules@yahoogroups.com, "Holder, Scott"
<Scott.Holder@...> wrote:
>
> Here's something:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barefoot_horses
>
>
> According to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia:
> "...The earliest extant shoe dates from the 6th cent. B.C. A
horseshoe used by the Romans was a leather boot with a metal plate
at the bottom...."
>
> And something else:
> http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blhorseshoe.htm
>
> None of these are terribly definitive. There is a legend that the
Dragon Pavilion at Kaifeng, one of China's many former capitals and
in our case, capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, has some vague
horseshoe prints on a slanting stone halfway up the seventy-two
steps which lead to a raised platform in front of the building. So
the legend goes, the horseshoe prints were left by Emperor Tai Zu,
Zhao Kuangyin (727-976), of the Song Dynasty when he rode up the
steps on horseback.
>
> Another indirect connection is a reference to "horseshoes breaking
on icy boulders" in a military poem from....drum roll please, the
Tang Dynasty. If poets were referencing horseshoes and an army
during that time frame, I think it's safe to say they were being
used. Others might not think this is enough evidence.
>
> I also have an email in to Dr Graff at K State. He's the only
western historian who specializes in Tang military history and
helped with some of the Oriental Warrior lists.
>
> scott
>