A Historical Perspective of Horse Jewelry

mike250 | Dec 7, 2009 |

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To always be good to other people. Give when you can, help when you can even at cost to you, love generously. Sooner or later good things will come back to you one hundredfold. However keep your common sense intact and try to avoid going into a jewelry store with you girlfriend or wife. This was a little bit of life advice given to a son by his wise father.

Just a little warning that generosity should always be tempered by wisdom and discernment, i.e. when getting a expensive item add a sense of occasion to the gift by making it a rare and special occasion. The item should be rare, like the occasion and should have a cultural or historical significance and the beautiful horse jewelry that is on the market nowadays fits these characteristics and more.

People really do not realize how far this style or specific art form goes back in history and into the mists of fable and legend. A nomadic tribe that came fro the steppe of Asia and even fought the Roman Empire were the Sarmatians. This horse culture was famous for its veneration of the horse. They were also great warriors and eventually integrated into the Roman Army as a mercenary force and served in Britain.

From around AD 175 to at least the third century and maybe beyond they were a specialized cavalry force in Britain and many speculate they are part of the inspiration for the 'King Arthur' legends. They certainly had the charisma and this is expressed in their beautiful horse jewelry and obviously made an impression wherever they went.

These people came from the area around Iran originally and migrated westward to the area around the Black Sea. There over time they assimilated with the local population with their genes and culture becoming a federation of tribes. Their time spent in Britain obviously added their genes to that population showing we are all quite distantly related no matter what the Nazis tried to preach and the belief of their modern day contemporaries.

We would have not known much about these magnificent people, also known as the Scythians if it were not for the artwork and especially the horse jewelry they left behind. We would only have some subjective Roman accounts. So you see the noble aspect of this art form, it gave us an idea of the consciousness of these people and how they thought and lived and most importantly, that they really existed.

In terms of horse jewelry that, maybe is why we are prepared to spend large sums of money to celebrate at least this aspect of our contemporary racehorse culture. This culture in turn celebrates the power of the magnificent Equine species and one great example is huge bronze statue of 'Aladar', the famous racehorse in Kentucky.

So looking for an unusual Christmas gift to give this year? Try giving a beautiful piece of equine jewelry. The originality as well as the beauty of the subject is sure to make an impression with the receiver.