Question:Was there any warhorse breed suitable for South China?

A major problem plaguing southern Chinese regimes like the Southern Song Dynasty was that south China is unsuitable for breeding warhorse,but was there a warhorse breed in the world that's suitable for breeding in south China and could be imported?
 
Probably not. Horses need a lot of space for exercise if you want to use them as warhorses. South China doesn't really have that.
 

Driftless

Donor
Horses need plenty of regular exercise and calcium rich nutrition to develop strong leg bones. That's particularly true for animals that are larger to begin with, and are expected to carry the weight of an armored warrior and his kit.
 
Probably not. Horses need a lot of space for exercise if you want to use them as warhorses. South China doesn't really have that.

Not even in stud farms that are specifically designed with a lot of space?Wasn't a major problem the local climate instead?I was wondering whether there's a breed that can grow well in the climate of Southern China.
 
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A major problem plaguing southern Chinese regimes like the Southern Song Dynasty was that south China is unsuitable for breeding warhorse,but was there a warhorse breed in the world that's suitable for breeding in south China and could be imported?

Maybe an Arabian breed of horse or that of a Northern Indian breed? It'd be a lot easier to get the Arab horse though.
 
Didn't Tibet have horses, too?

But they could never quite supply enough with the tea for horse trade apparently.Hence Southern Chinese regimes could never build strong cavalry forces.I am looking for a horse breed where the South Chinese could potentially build large cavalry forces with by breeding it themselves.The Arabian breed seems to be the answer.I'd imagine this breed would also work well against horses from the steppe nomads.
 
I suspect the problem is not so much biological as economic. Southern China is not ideal horse country by a long shot, but neither is Kentucky, and they do OK. Rather, the landscape and population density would mean that horse breeding operations competed with farming for rare available land.
 
I suspect the problem is not so much biological as economic. Southern China is not ideal horse country by a long shot, but neither is Kentucky, and they do OK. Rather, the landscape and population density would mean that horse breeding operations competed with farming for rare available land.

But wasn't south China for a lot time considered somewhere backwards(at least before the Tang dynasty)and overall had a smaller population density compared to the North?My impression of the problem was that most Chinese warhorses were central Asian breeds that don't breed well in warm climate.From what I've gathered,warhorses bred in the south are quite 'bad' compared to those bred in the north for some reason.I don't know much about horses,but I'd imagine this has a lot to do with environmental conditions.After all,environment and genetics play hand in hand in how well an organism develops and some breeds only reach their full potential while raised in certain conditions.
 
But wasn't south China for a lot time considered somewhere backwards(at least before the Tang dynasty)and overall had a smaller population density compared to the North?My impression of the problem was that most Chinese warhorses were central Asian breeds that don't breed well in warm climate.From what I've gathered,warhorses bred in the south are quite 'bad' compared to those bred in the north for some reason.I don't know much about horses,but I'd imagine this has a lot to do with environmental conditions.After all,environment and genetics play hand in hand in how well an organism develops and some breeds only reach their full potential while raised in certain conditions.

IIRC the Chinesae South changed hugely with the spread of wet rice farming and the complete Sinicisation under the Liang. By the Song, it was the richer and more productive part of the country.

However, the horses of Central Asia would have done badly there. No Chinese dynasty with access to the prime pastures and established horse culture of those parts would have considered breeding cavalry mounts down south. THe results don't compare. The problem is, of course, that once they lose that access, it's probably too late to start.
 
IIRC the Chinesae South changed hugely with the spread of wet rice farming and the complete Sinicisation under the Liang. By the Song, it was the richer and more productive part of the country.

However, the horses of Central Asia would have done badly there. No Chinese dynasty with access to the prime pastures and established horse culture of those parts would have considered breeding cavalry mounts down south. THe results don't compare. The problem is, of course, that once they lose that access, it's probably too late to start.

The southern Song dynasty was stuck in the south for over one hundred years.The southern dynasties during the north-south dynasty period was stuck even longer.Even before the Song Dynasty,there were also multiple southern regimes in the period between Tang and Song.So there's plenty of time to try something new for these southern regimes.These regimes were sitting ducks most of the time because they don't have good cavalry.
 
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Potentially importing horses overseas through Quanzhou or any of the other Arab entrepots? Getting them from India?

A question for the knowledgeable: where did the nobles of Malay states/Java/Tai states/Champa/Vietnam etc. get their own horses?

I know it wasn't a major component of their warfare, but they did exist. Would someone know where they arrived from and who brought them?
 
Potentially importing horses overseas through Quanzhou or any of the other Arab entrepots? Getting them from India?

A question for the knowledgeable: where did the nobles of Malay states/Java/Tai states/Champa/Vietnam etc. get their own horses?

I know it wasn't a major component of their warfare, but they did exist. Would someone know where they arrived from and who brought them?
That's what I am thinking,but question is how well would these horses have worked out in Southern China?i know the horses can grow well under warm temperature,but can they do well in a much wetter environment?I have a feeling that the North Indian ones will do exceptionally well.From what I have read of Zhenge He's voyage,they had large horse carrying ships.With some motivation,perhaps these ships could have been developed earlier to transport horses purchased from the Arab world and India in large quantities?
 
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