The Scythians, the first to domesticate the horse and possibly the first to make their living through the practice of archery on horseback, are one of the most mysterious of ancient peoples, and their stories are fascinating ones. It is among these enigmatic peoples that we find the first examples of our Turanian horse, both the Turkoman-type war horse and another horse nearly indistinguishable from the present day Yabou.

Where the Scythians come from, and which racial stock they were, are hotly debated--sometimes in the international courts--even to this day. They were most likely from the Altai region, or perhaps from an area slightly west of it. Buried and subsequently frozen Scythians found in places such as the Pazyryk kurgans show some people with strong Mongolian features, and others who were blond and had quite European-looking faces. "Genes from ancient tissue are compared with genes from modern-day groups. Research with tissue from a number of burials suggests that the Pazyryks were ethnically diverse" (Nova).

We do know, however, that in one important respect, they were very different from the mounted archers who came after them: many of their best and most celebrated warriors--or at least given the most elaborate funerals--were women. It was almost certainly these Scythian warrioresses who inspired the Greek depictions of the Amazons. Herodotus wrote that "No Scythian woman may marry until she has killed a man of the enemy." These reports, and the evidence of Scythian and Saurmatian (a Scythian subgroup) art and craft were routinely dismissed until the latter part of the 20^th century, when Scythian women were found buried in their riding clothing--identical to that of men--together with their bows, swords, and horses.

The most elaborate Scythian mound-graves or kurgans contained many horses. There may be only one or two or up to over a dozen Yabou-type horses, but in every instance so far discovered, there was only one thoroughbred horse. The fact that there was, in fact, only one in the grave, and that so far all these horses have been either old or lame, whereas the more "common" horses have been of all ages and states of health, is taken to show the great value, and possibly the rarity, of the thoroughbred. Honor or not, in great numbers, this horse could not be spared. The horses were either strangled or killed with one--or in at least one case several--blows to the head.

The kurgans are typically found in the foothills of the Altai Mountains, evidently considered a holy place by the Scythians as they were said by Herodotis to travel "for several weeks" to hold funerals there.

The Pazyryk/Altai Mountain area is a sacred burial ground to the people living there even today. "It is a sacrilege to shout here, for it might offend the spirits of the dead. ... The people of the Altai identify themselves with the ancient Pazyryk. They are bound together by a homeland and a common culture." Because of the politics of the locality and the people's feeling that those who have been buried should stay that way, the Pazyryk and Altai burial grounds are now off limits to archeologists.