I just finished reading a 1996 essay by the Somali scholar Said Sheikh Samatar called “Somalia’s Horse That Feeds Its Master”. It has much to say about Somali history and character, but I thought I’d glean the stories of the horses for you, because after all, why else are we on this blog? Until the …
Tag Archives: cavalry
Wild Hares and Horse History
One of the things I’m most neurotic about in researching horse history is new angles and fresh material. A huge amount has been written about horses over the millennia, and while I try to dig deep into that knowledge to explain the history, I’m also obsessed with finding something that will make more seasoned readers …
Steppes Daughters
Thank you to Andrew Curry for passing on this photo–audio essay about a boarding school for cossack girls in Russia by Anastasia Taylor-Lind. Please click through to watch – it’s absolutely stunning. More details and photographs on Anastasia’s website (linked above).
Here Comes the Cavalry
And heaven knows, Mubarak needs it, though I think it’s all a little bit too late. Footage of Mubarak supporters attacking protestors in Cairo on horseback, via the Daily Telegraph.
Post-Christmas Trivia
On the 30th at 2pm, BBC Radio 7 broadcasts “Cinderella’s Ponies”, a documentary about 100 Shetland ponies who live in a field off the M4 and perform in pantos around the country every Christmas. Jilly Cooper in the Guardian on Sefton, the Blues and Royals’ horse gravely injured in the 1982 IRA bombing at Hyde …
Flashwoman*
In my ignorance I thought tent-pegging had gone the way of the Quagga – how glad I was to see a piece in Horse & Hound congratulating British maths teacher Sarah King on winning the British Tent Pegging Association Championships on the 23rd August. The British Tent Pegging Association have an excellent website (see this …
War Horses in Paradise
The Pakistani Army’s 10,000 acre stud farm at Mona produces donkeys, mules, Arabs and Thoroughbreds for use in the forces. They also keep Suffolk Punches both for their own sake and as parents of particularly sturdy mules – thus maintaining a pocket of the rare breed. I love the mule training at the end of …