Comment by motohagiography | Hacker News Reader

Comment by motohagiography | Hacker News Reader

motohagiography

> In very short order, horses went from being a steppe curiosity to the foundation of authority for one of the largest civilizations of East Asia.

I've got a pet theory about some western mythological tropes where horses are the economic and technological development that ties them together. the essential idea is that the young heroes mentored by centaurs (achillies and chiron, etc.) and "wisdom originating in the east," come from horse tribes from the steppes influencing proto-greek civilization, where centaurs came to represent those plainspeople in their mythology. as in central and east asia, by the result of being given empires, horsemanship was a channel for both evolutionary and divine assent, where if these other beings in nature favoured the people with the qualitites to ride them, then they were chosen to lead. horses became a force of evolutionary selection for us.

it's basically an "ancient aliens" quality theory about horses, which I'm sure archeologists will love as much as they do the tv one, but horses are more than just a thread in our history, they are a force of it. relating to other beings in a complete cultural symbiosis like that seems like a key evolutionary achievement to unlock on the way to becoming starfaring, and if you have any background working with them, they are rare companion beings to us in the real of nature we inhabit. lunacy? perhaps, but experiencing the world with horses isn't just pony rides, it's an encompassing philosophical pursuit.

> relating to other beings in a complete cultural symbiosis like that

Well, your theory is interesting. But let's not forget that dogs also exist.

Also, most mammals seem to empathize with other mammal species. We are not that different on this.

subordinating a predator is very different from getting the trust and willingness of a prey animal though. the other difference is that a horse is taught to overcome its instincts, particularly its flight instinct when we ride them into danger, and effectively we educate them, where a predator takes less finesse to manage.

Have you ever played Avalon Hill's Squad Leader?

Various units have varied propensity to rout under pressure, and various officers have better or worse mods for the rolls to either (a) keep the unit from routing, or (b) reestablish its cohesion after they have.

I sometimes[0] think of those rolls when dealing with a spook.

(and, really, it won't take much to convince me that the amount of "presence attack" needed to convince a horse [or other four-legged[1] creature] that no, we are not going to die, we just need to do what we've already practiced, by the numbers is probably very closely related to the amount for convincing two-legged enlisted creatures that no, we are not going to die, we just need to do what we've already practiced, by the numbers...)

Lagniappe: https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/tale/her-majestys-servants....

[0] it can also be useful during human childbirth (before the senior non-coms —the nurses— take over, anyway), but that's a much rarer event in my world than the "invisible squirrel" or "suspicious agricultural implement which was not there just yesterday".

[1] the Carter was usually the 2nd highest paid farm employee (as a specialist, more than the general manager) in the pre-mechanisation days here.

EDIT: you might also appreciate the argie variation on Buzkashi? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxkcfxsFqSU#t=108s

Horses get used to things surprisingly easily. (Kinda like people.)

If you train them close to people firing guns, they won't flee from guns.

Some horses want to "overthrown" you even in normal circumstances, and almost all of them have a light instinct of getting you out from their backs. But I imagine a large part of forming a cavalry is picking (and breeding and training) the best horses for the role.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com