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Roman Cavalry


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How big were the Roman Cavalryman's horse in height and weight? as in how many hands high etc...

 

Roman cavalry has cropped up in discussions on the site a few times although usually only in general terms. We did have a discussion a few years back here on 'Horse size in the Roman cavalry' you may find interesting.

 

Although I don't think anyone put forward evidence regarding the presumed weight of horses one site mentioned indicated the average size of British horses increased from around 12 to 13 hands during the Roman occupation. Larger horses in the period apparently came in around 15 hands however I am uncertain that any 'cavalry' horses as such have been identified or if they have that any statistics have been created showing how large they were.

 

From memory there is also some useful information in a book called Feeding the Roman Army by Stallybrass and Thomas. This contains a series of essays providing archaeological evidence of changes in agricultural practices on the Roman frontier. At least one article talks about changes in horse breeding on the Rhine frontier with a strong suggestion that they were probably being bred for use by the army.

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