Horse Husbandry

Horses were the main modes of transport before motor vehicles reached Bhutan. Most Bhutanese households owned horses and people had an intimate knowledge of the types of horses, how to breed and look after them, and a intricate system of house saddles, trappings and pony bags and baskets. Bhutanese myths about the origin of horses, their analysis and typology of horses and rituals pertaining to horses are generally based on Tibetan traditions. Until the introduction of Haflinger horses from Austria in the twentieth, the best horses are said to have come from eastern Tibet.