Horse archer

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Image:Parthian Shot.jpg

A horse archer (or horsed archer, mounted archer) is a cavalryman armed with a bow. Because using a bow requires a horseman to let go of the reins with both hands, horse archers need superb equestrian skills. Horse archery is typically associated with equestrian nomads of the Eurasian steppe. Peoples known to have employed horse archers include the Scythians, Sarmatians, Parthians, Huns, Mongols, Turks, Armenians and Bulgars. In Japan mounted archery is called Yabusame.

Horse archery is the earliest form of cavalry altogether. The Iron Age horse was not strong enough to bear an armoured rider, little larger than modern ponies. Horse archers replace the Bronze Age chariot which allowed mobile attacks even with horses too small to bear a man. Other light cavalry saw only limited use in Classical Antiquity (the Roman Equites), and heavy cavalry was introduced only in Sassanid times (3rd or 4th century).

A famous tactic was the Parthian shot, turning away from an enemy while continuing to shoot (for this reason, the term parthian arrow can also apply to a particularly nasty parting remark).

The weapon of choice for horse archers was the recurve bow, because it was compact enough to shoot from a horse and retained sufficient range and penetrating power. The only threat to horse archers were arrows and they could wheel away out of bowshot after every attack.

A drawback of horse archers was that the movements of a running horse disturbed the accuracy of the shot. The horse archer needs to time his shots between the strides of the horse. After the invention of the stirrup, horse archers would stand up in their stirrups to absorb the motion of the horse.

Horse archers played a pivotal role in the Battle of Carrhae, and again in the medieval Battle of Legnica. In both cases horse archers won the day because their opponents depended on direct contact. Horse archers were eventually rendered obsolete by the development of modern firearmsTemplate:Fact. The 16th century Cuirassiers were heavly cavalry equipped with firearms.

See also

• Archery
• Composite bow
• Hun bow
• Hungarian bow
• Horseback migration
• Mongol bow
• Yabusamede:Bogenschütze auf Pferd

es:Arquero a caballo fr:Archer à cheval id:Pemanah berkuda it:Arciere a cavallo ms:Pemanah berkuda