Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

bending the bow
The age of the riding horses buried with the Pazyryk elite varied. There were usually
one or two young beasts of less than three and a half years, several in the middle
age range, and some older animals more than fifteen years old. The range suggests
that the deceased was being accompanied by his horses in daily use, young horses in
training, and veterans kept for sentimental reasons.
The actual horse remains from Pazyryk and the depiction of horses on metal
items from the Pontic kurgans show that it was customary to trim the manes short
on beasts in active use, presumably to remove any impediment to the rapid action
of the mounted archer. The distinction between horses with trimmed and flowing
manes on the Chertomlÿk amphora is intended to show animals in different stages
of training. The beasts being ridden, depicted on the gold neck ring from Kul’-Oba
and the gold comb from Solokha, all, appropriately, have well-cropped manes. The
horse remains from Pazyryk show that, here at least, the tails of the beasts were either
plaited or were knotted at half length. The carpet found in kurgan 5 at Pazyryk, probably
made in Persia, depicts a procession of riders mounted or leading their horses.
All have elaborately knotted tails and cropped manes but in this case they are self-evidently
stallions. The Chertomlÿk amphora shows a trainer apparently encouraging a
horse to kneel—an interesting detail which hints that horses were taught to do this to
facilitate mounting, much as camels are made to kneel by desert nomads today. This
would certainly make mounting a less testing and more elegant process, especially
for a heavily armed and overweight rider.
Although some of the depictions of riding scenes on Pontic metalwork (like the
Solokha comb) imply that some riders may have ridden bareback, there is ample evidence
for saddles, which seem to have been a seventh-century Scythian invention.
A simple and unadorned version, attached by girth strap and breast strap, is carried
by the horse shown being hobbled on the Chertomlÿk amphora. The horses on the
Pazyryk carpet are all saddled and are wearing elaborately decorated saddle cloths.
Even more spectacular are the actual saddles and saddle clothes recovered from the
Pazyryk tombs. Although there was much variety in the detail of saddle construction,
the basic forms were similar. They consisted of two felt cushions, stuffed with stag’s
hair, mounted on felt sweatbands. In some examples the cushions were attached to
wooden saddle frames placed back and front. The saddles were kept in place by a
girth strip, a breastband, and a tail strap. All elements of the saddle were richly decorated
with wool, appliqué leather, and felt, and with wooden carvings covered in gold
foil. They were highly coloured in red, yellow, dark blue, black, and white.
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