88 THE HORSE IN HISTORY 



thusiastic — unduly enthusiastic many even among 

 his disciples maintained him to be — in striving to 

 promote among his own people a fondness for 

 horses. Undoubtedly it was owing to this that 

 when at last Mahomet died some of the best- 

 bred steeds in existence were to be found among 

 the horses in the region of Nejd. 



In Mahomet's era it was that stirrups first 

 came to be used regularly by both cavalry and 

 what were termed " private horsemen" — the 

 latter we should to-day call civilians. True 

 stirrups most likely were invented and introduced 

 by the Teutonic people of the Lower Rhine and 

 the region adjoining, for we know there was no 

 Latin or Greek term for a stirrup, and as the 

 Teutonic tribes were large men of heavy build 

 they naturally would be much more likely to 

 feel the need of assistance when mounting than 

 would men of small stature, light and agile, who 

 must have been able to vault on to their horses 

 without difficulty. 



The English term " stirrup" probably is a 

 contraction of the early English u stige-rap," a 

 word that comes from "stigan," to mount, and 

 "rap," rope — in short, a mounting-rope. In the 

 eighth century a.d. the Angles were using saddle 

 horses in large numbers, according to the Vener- 

 able Bede, some of whose writings, however, are 

 said not to bear the impress of strict veracity. 

 Yet it is probable that he speaks of what he 



