Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Small Horses in Warfare - a book by sir Walter Gilbey

 Salvete Omnes,



a small fine book - Small Horses in Warfare - by sir Walter Gilbey.



I strongly encourage you, fellow net traveler, to read it just for some thought on the subject of horses in war. This book was written. published in 1900AD, before the mechanization of war, when horses were still the land transportation 'vehicle' and its back the platform for combat.  Note that Horace Hayes' book on horses comes hand here, as he did a survey of the world's horses during the same time period.

Mention in this book Captain Burnaby's, long distance rider * British agent famously portrayed by James Tissot, ride to Khiva (you know, of the Great Game period that the British still practice against the Russians) is available in a book form on our trusted and completely free (libre) world library Archive..


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the book is naturally Anglocentric, written at the height of the British Empire, although breeding horses for war was not really what the British Isles were able to do in this pre-World War I period, they (the British remount services) actually were importing warm blood horses from Polish regions of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Importations stopped by the eruption of hostilities in the summer of 1914
enjoy your reading.
Nota bene British cavalry had to import thousands horses from Argentina (including baguales) and US (including mustangs) for their war in South Africa against the brave Boers. 

Lanceray's Bashkir horse and horseman


Valete

Monday, November 2, 2026

Roman Youth on Horseback - British Museum

Salvete Omnes,



in Polish Republic the end of the moth of October brought a 'constitutional coup,' against the constitutional tribunal in Warsaw, carried in general by the goverment of D. Tusk, supported by the European Commission & eurocrats vs President Nawrocki & patriots of various political parties and non-affiliated groups & movements. As the police forces, armed with shields, helmets, batons, & side weaponry(?), occupy the grounds around the building of the Constitutional Tribunal,  the multilayered protesters with national flags and media concentrate on the other side of the fence. We shall see who shall prevail in this legal controversy and political catastrophe... 
ad rem,



Ancient Roman youth on horseback - fantastic heroic  equestrian marble sculpture from the British Museum. Perhaps of the 1st century Ad, found in Rome and restored, 3 horse legs and youth's arm, by a sculptor and architect Giacomo della Porta. From Palazzo Farnese, where it had stood since 1652, it made its way to the British Museum.


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Valete