Research and the general practitioner.

Riding horses used to be a difficult skill.Saddles had been in use for about 400 years, but they were simple, there were no stirrups, and to stay on you depended on the strength of your thighs.If you were really expert you could use a bow.You could use a light lance, held with a bent arm, but any attempt to impale an opponent would pitch you over the tail of your own horse.Somewhere, probably in China, a foot board was attached to the saddle that made riding easier, and the barefooted riders ofhot countries used a simple loop into which they could stick their big toe.During the seventh century wooden stirrups appeared, and in 694 the Islamic general al-Muhallab noted that these broke easily and ordered that they be made of iron.This is the first reliable date in the whole sequence.