The Horses of Middle Europe – A Kristull Chronicle

A recent trip to Prague, Budapest and Vienna provided these beautiful examples of horses of old and equine treasures today in what was the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the reigns of Emperor Charles VI, Empress Maria Theresea and the Emperor Franz Joseph I (and before).

Horses were the war machinery of the day, the agricultural beasts of burden and the status symbol of the elite.

4 thoughts on “The Horses of Middle Europe – A Kristull Chronicle

  1. I loved the ‘Bucephelus’ painting by Salvador Dali!. After being with horses for over 70 years, I have just found this site and think it is awesome. Hated the twisted wire tho, as folks do not stick to the ‘finished horseman’
    If you have excercises for developing certain areas of the horse, that would be nice.

    1. Thank you for being so engaged with the site. It is a labor of love more than anything.

      Twisted wire can be a very cruel way to handle a horse. I understand how it is used by expert horsemen, but I find that it is not useful for 99.99% of trainers. Given good ground training, it is the rare horse who would need a bit like that. As I am sure you are aware, I never use a bit with my horses. However, I do not do precision athletic exercises with them either. I notice that at our barn, more and more of the riders are changing from bits to side-pulls as they see other horses perform that way. They are watching as we train our horses, getting into the fun of it, and find that their horses are happier and easier to handle without their bits once their ground training is enhanced.

  2. Magyar Chieftans

    Are those antlers for protecting the horse? I know nothing, but looks like it took a lot of work to have horse tolerate them.

    1. Perhaps they could be used as protection if the horses were used the way that war horses were used in later ages. However, I’m not sure if they are for protection as much as for symbolizing the power and ferocity of the rider. Antlers were used for many horse products in history. Particularly useful as the sides of pack saddles for American Indians and Mountain men.

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