I found Brian Canada's thread on Basotho ponies interesting. It got me thinking about the mountain ponies I rode in the Tien Shan Mountains in Kyrgystan on a Marco Polo hunt a few years ago, I'm not a horseman, wouldn't make a pimple on Ray's butt, but do appreciate the critters. Those little Kyrgyz ponies were tougher than wang leather. I estimate that on the first day of the hunt we rode 25-30 miles, at elevations of 10,000 and up. Even though I hadn't ridden in a year or two, I did not suffer. Man, those little guys were a pleasure to ride. The saddles used were a little different. They looked like the old US Army pack saddles, with the steel rings. Whelens I think they were called. On top of that they tied a huge pillow. For comfort they beat an American roping type saddle seven ways to breakfast.

Maybe someone knows how these horses developed and where they originated. They seemed to be ideally suited to the conditions and purpose.

McClellan saddles. He designed them during the Civil War. Comfort for the rider was very low on the priority list. My first saddle was a McClellan. $5 in 1964 dollars.

The ponies have a funny scientific name, Prejvaleysky's Horse or something similar. Bred my the Mongols about 1500 years or so to run all day and live on very short rations.

ISS... you are thinking of the wild Mongolian horse called Przewalski's horse. They were actually extinct in the wild 50 or 60 years ago and only recently re-introduced.

The horses used in the Asian steppes and mountains are horses that have been raised for thousands of years and, although there is undoubtedly some crossbreeding with Przewalski's in the distant past....... they do not look anything like them for the most part.

They are usually called Kyrgyz horse and they have been crossed a fair amount with Arabs and various Russian breeds over the last couple of centuries.

The Przewalski's wild horse is genetically, slightly different to the modern horse but they can cross breed and have fertile offspring.

Anyways the history of man and horse on the Asian steppes is really interesting and something that makes for some great reading......... takes you way back and all through the dawn of civilization and the use of horses during the incredible events that took place during the time of Alexander, the Mongols, etc.

Good stuff!!

Yes, McClellan, not Whelen. Thanks for the correction. (Giddyup, brain!)

I miss PS and all of the writers who made it so good.

Skyline, That's interesting stuff. Thanks for the info. Brian

The narrowness of the horse/mule/riding critter very much influences the comfort of the "sometimes" rider. That fitting of your body around a wide horse/mule/riding critter, is what cause folks to say "muscles I did not know existed."
Riding a McClellan on a skinny mountain pony is about like standing up, or sitting down as determined by how much pressure you put in the Stirrups.
Best regards,

An interesting article on Mongol Steppe horses:


http://thediplomat.com/2013/08...preme-on-the-steppe/

Tough little buggers..