A History of Horsemanship

Okay, lately I’ve been thinking a lot about horsemanship in Tamriel, and I thought r/teslore might be interested in some of my musings and conclusions. I will just say that the title is something of an exaggeration, I’m just a sucker for alliteration.

The first conclusion I have come to is that horsemanship (that is, the domestication and riding of horses) is an almost exclusively human tradition:

• Horses would be worse than useless in Black Marsh (few mammals can live there, and Argonians can move through the swamp far quicker than a four-legged ungulate), so Argonians probably don’t ride.
• Khajiit have no use for horses, since Senche and Senche-raht Khajiit are more intelligent (bypassing the need for training) and more suited to the desert or the jungle. So Khajiit don’t ride horses either.
• Much like Black Marsh, Valenwood is a province where horses would be of no use. The Bosmer do not build roads (see Provinces of Tamriel, and The P.G.E. 1^st Ed.), and, much like the Argonians, can move through their environment far more easily than any steed. So Bosmer probably don’t ride.
• Dunmer and Orsimer have no real environmental reason to shun horsemanship (though Morrowind seems to be a poor environment for animal husbandry), but are both known for eating horses. Many in Oblivion will tell you “Orcs don’t ride horses, they eat them” and others will appear confused as to whether it is the Orcs or the Dunmer who eat horses. Additionally, we can see from the game Morrowind that horses are far from widespread in Morrowind, with guar (more suited to the environment) filling most equine roles.
• As for most ancient civilizations of mer, it is difficult to say. The Dwemer probably did not use horses (they would be no use and hard to raise underground). For the Falmer we have no way of knowing, given that we do not even know how their communities functioned. Ayleids probably did not, as their Cyrodiil was jungle, a poor place for horses.

There is no firm evidence of the Altmeri use of horses or lack thereof. From what we know of Summerset Isle and Altmeri culture, there doesn’t appear to be anything to prevent them from using horses, but I would suggest that no elves ride. There would be no apparent reason for orcs (or, to a lesser extent, Dunmer) to abandon horses as they made their way into mainland Tamriel, which leads me to believe the Aldmer never rode. I believe that horses, when they appear in elven culture, appear as food, and that the only reason this is not believed of Altmer is that it does not fit the human view of them, as haughty and cultivated (on the contrary, Dunmer and Orsimer are seen as beastly and outlandish- eating horses fits perfectly with this). It is safe to assume that the Bosmer, if they had horses, would eat them, since they eat anything made of meat.

It is possible that Altmer now ride horses, due to their connection to High Rock (see below). It does seem like riding would appeal to the Altmeri taste for the grandiose. However, if the Altmer see horsemanship (like me) as a human tradition, it is safe to assume they would resist the advancement to four-legged transport.

Okay, so that’s why no one else rides. Now, on to why it is humans who do so. The second conclusion I have come to is that horses and horsemanship originate in High Rock, specifically the lands around the Bjoulsae river (perfect horse country- plains and a river). The 1^st Edition P.G.E. (my favourite lore source, you may notice) refers to “The Horse-People of the Bjoulsae River” (which, interestingly, “YR” complains are “scarcely mentioned in text”). This is the only suggestion I could find of a strong horse culture; the fact they can be called “Horse-People” clearly suggests horses play a major role in their culture, and it seems to me that they were the first civilization to domesticate horses. It is also worth noting that, among other things, Bretons are known for their “knightly orders”, implying that the wider Breton civilization now tends towards mounted combat.

Referring once again to the P.G.E, the First Empire “reached as far as the Bjoulsae” (presumably the river, but possibly the people), and therefore I would suggest that the Nords learned the domestication of horses from their new subjects, the Bjoulsae river tribes (the worth of such a practice would be immediately obvious to any conqueror). From there, horsemanship spread across Imperial territory and became ingrained in human cultures.

One more note before I finish: there are a handful of “wild” horses in Cyrodiil, but they are probably feral (that is, descended from domestic horses), not truly wild. There are three “wild” herds, each a different breed or colouration (one of chestnuts, one of bays and one of paint horses), which does not seem sufficient to constitute a true wild population, especially given their apparent isolation from one another. Additionally, remember that while modern Cyrodiil is a perfect place for horses, before Tiber Septim’s time, it was jungle, where horses could never have originated, so for Cyrodiil to be their home, horses would have to have come into being as late as the Third Era.

If you managed to read through that amount of rambling text on such a mundane subject, I applaud your persistence, determination or raw craving for a front row seat for the next stage in my descent to madness knowledge. There is no prize at the bottom of the box, however, I believe that’s it.