Hello there, fellow equines! It's Emma here, writing to you from the beautiful hills of Hayfield, near Aberdeen in Scotland. As you all know, I'm a bit of a history buff - and this week, I wanted to share my thoughts on the year 1393! What a year! It was truly a time of significant events for our equine brethren all around the world, and I was lucky enough to live through it all. So, gather round, my fellow friends, as I tell you about the exciting things that were happening 629 years ago. Let’s take a gallop back through time!
In My Own Hayfield
The year 1393 began just like any other – with the sunrise painting the sky a stunning orange and pink as I grazed peacefully in the lush fields surrounding my home. It’s funny looking back now – that year was filled with little moments of simple joy that I took for granted. The feel of the dew on my coat in the morning, the camaraderie of sharing a patch of clover with the other drafters, the thrill of a quick canter through the fields – these small delights meant so much back then! We were, as they say, happy as clams.
We had been doing the same things as our equine ancestors have always done – working the fields, hauling supplies, carrying riders – the very foundation of a strong, sustainable, and joyful existence. And you know what, despite the hardships, that was really the core of how life was lived for many horses.
But I also sensed that things were shifting. I could see, hear and smell change coming our way, like a change in the wind.
War and Horsemanship in England
News travelled slower in those days, but you could bet your last mouthful of oats that anything happening on the continent or in England would reach us eventually! You see, our Scottish human friends had a complicated relationship with the English, and things were still fairly fraught.
The king of England at the time, Richard II, was facing serious trouble. He was dealing with a rebellion led by one of his nobles, the Duke of Lancaster – which means that more English horses were going to be needed for the fighting!
The story was that Richard II, or “King Dick” as the common folk would call him, wasn’t as strong a king as some hoped. There was a lot of discontent with his policies, with nobles saying he’d been influenced too strongly by a handful of court favourites. Even the English parliament had gotten involved! It was all pretty dramatic, as things often were with kings and courts and nobles back then!
What we horses were concerned with were the huge armies of English knights and foot soldiers, and their trusty steeds who had to be fed and stabled and trained for the rigours of battle.
Just a side note about this King Dick - a fascinating bit of trivia is that in a time when English monarchs preferred the finer things in life - silk clothing, elaborate banquets and jewels - he actually encouraged plain clothes, modest dinners and simpler jewellery. But he still did really enjoy having plenty of hunting dogs and horses at court. Some might say he was one of our “good kings”, you could say!
We always knew that if you were a powerful, strong horse who was a capable charger - well, you’d have been well-sought after during a conflict like this. The need for battle-hardened steeds is what made us drafters particularly important. I mean, it wasn't about flashy coats, delicate hooves or gentle temperaments - this was about strength, stamina, and the willingness to put yourself on the line for a good human friend.
But even then, we didn't like to think about what being part of an army actually meant - we wanted to believe in a peaceful world! And for me, life was already full of amazing moments that I didn't want to disrupt.
News from the East - the Mongolian Connection
You may know that I am partial to tales from the far East! News came to Scotland through seafarers - it's an age-old route, right? - and a truly fascinating story was circulating about this faraway place, a land ruled by an incredibly powerful emperor named Timur - also known as Tamerlane.
The story had it that Timur's powerful empire spanned vast swathes of Central Asia. This powerful ruler had a standing army of around 100,000 cavalry troops - can you imagine!
They say he used strategies on the battlefield that no other military force was using - he had scouts, an incredible network of informants, and his army, it’s said, was incredibly disciplined, a bit like the famous Spartan army of ancient Greece. And, importantly, they had horses trained to charge and attack - to create havoc on the field. They had perfected using horses on horseback! Not to mention they were able to maintain incredible supply lines! They must have needed to breed horses constantly - the population alone would have been unbelievable.
We heard, too, that Timur had amassed incredible treasures - he plundered towns and even kingdoms - and he supposedly had many, many horses, some of them said to be so valuable they were virtually priceless! Talk about being lucky, huh?
Now I wasn't going to try and understand the intricate details of Timur's ambitions. But the mere fact of this powerhouse figure taking over vast territories in the world gave me pause for thought! If he was this strong, how long would it be until these lands started coming into contact with each other and how long until all this knowledge from the East started spilling into Europe, like milk into a pail?
As we horses are part of this fabric, part of the tapestry of global life, how would we be impacted by this massive shift in global politics? The story of Timour sent chills down my mane – not because of any threat of war, mind you – but rather because it painted such a vast picture of the world outside our Scottish meadows, a picture that made even me, a sturdy workhorse from a remote countryside, realize how intricately we were connected.
The Year 1393 – In the “Real World"
Life continued much as it always had, for me. I woke, ate, worked in the fields, slept. That was our rhythm.
But for some horses in 1393, life took a much different turn, especially the powerful warhorses - and there were many, for sure. It seemed that every monarch in Europe wanted to be ready for war, especially in 1393.
I had no way of knowing that in just a few years’ time, things would become even more chaotic and frightening. There would be large scale conflicts that impacted entire regions, changing our way of life forever! And for those of us that were sent into war, there were losses and sorrows - a reminder that our peaceful world could change in the blink of an eye.
So while I may have just been an ordinary draft horse living a quiet life, I was definitely a horse of my times, keeping my hooves firmly on the ground - yet constantly curious about the big world outside our village. And that was perhaps the biggest lesson 1393 taught me - life goes on, with a gentle, reassuring cadence, until that day it doesn't! And then, it changes – and everything changes.
Stay tuned for my next post about 1394! I’ve been doing my reading, and things got really interesting then – but that’s a story for another day!
Your friend, Emma.
