Horses in East Asian warfare

Horses in East Asian warfare are inextricably linked with the strategic and tactical evolution of armed conflict throughout the course of East Asian military history. A warrior on horseback or horse-drawn chariot changed the balance of power between the warring civilizations throughout the arc of East Asian military history.

When warring East Asian civilizations were at odds, as the civilization with horses clashed with those without, horses provided a huge advantage to overcome, prevail, and subdue their adversaries. When both contending sides had horses, the decisive outcomes from battles hinged on the strength and strategy of their mounted horsemen. Throughout the arc of East Asian military history, strategies, and tactics were refined in terms of the use of horses.^[1]

As in most cultures around the globe, a war horse in East Asia was trained to be controlled with limited use of reins, responding primarily to the rider's legs and weight.^[2] Horses were significant factors in the Han-Hun Wars and Wuhu incursions against past kingdoms of China,^[3] and the Mongol conquest of much of Eurasia and into Europe;^[4] and they played a part in military conflicts on a smaller, more localized scale.