Horse's of the past

[7thhorsesoldier]

Hey, I was wondering if you guy's think there really is a 'modern horse' or if you think it's just better lifestyle. Less work, better medical, ECT. Feel free to throw out some idea's.

[RJSamp]

Absolutely......breeding; medical know how, medicine, and technology; training.....sports medicine for horses..... Our 'quarter horse' cuttin' horses out of the King Ranch in south Texas are superb worker's....and our Obero Paints in Montana are a sight to behold and a pleasure to ride up into the Beartooths.

[Tom Craig]

Breeds have changed and evolved over the past 150 years. That is certain. Entirely anecdotally, I believe that if you took the average weight of a CW horse and one today that you'd find the modern version weighs much more than it's period counterpart.
Our animals today do far less work than the average horse of the period, and like us, the modern horse gets way too much sugar in it's diet and has a very rich diet.

Other than that, the basic physiology of the horse hasn't changed, just its circumstances. I think the issue is, and why it comes up as a question is the notion that some folks use it as an excuse to make non-period alterations to period equipment. Many vendors offer saddle trees that have been "adapted for the modern horse." I actually don't have too much of a problem if all they did was widen the bars on the saddle to fit larger bodied horses...it's no different than when someone making sack coats makes a size 48 sack coat for a big guy...they didn't make issue coats that size, but there is a guy who reenacts who was a linebacker in college, and wants a coat.

What tends to happen though is that the adapting also takes the form of the wrong overall shape of the tree, the wrong materials used, and shoddy workmanship. The result is that many authenticity minded folks hear that a saddle has been adapted for a modern horse, and red flags go up.

Hope that makes sense.
Take care,
Tom Craig
1st Maine Cavalry

[Jim Dedman]

Horses are pretty much the same. They always came in various sizes. Too much is made of today's horses being "different."

[Shortround]

At reenactments it's not an uncommon thing to see a "ram" towing artillery. I'm just happy to see horses in numbers at all.