When were saddles and stirrups invented?

Han Dynasty.

The Han Dynasty was the first golden period in ancient Chinese history. It initially established the general territory of China for 2000 years. From then on, the concept of "unification of the world" penetrated deep into the hearts of the Han nation and played an important role in the economy. , politics, and culture had a huge impact on surrounding areas and even as far away as Central and Western Asia. For the first time, China entered the first-level competition stage in world history as a stable and powerful empire.

One of the reasons why the Han Dynasty was able to achieve such brilliant achievements was its powerful military power. The most important source of this power was its ability to recruit cavalry units that were good at fighting.

Extended information:

The saddle and stirrups are the most important inventions of the complete set of horse equipment after the bit and the reins. In the era without saddle stirrups, people needed to ride on the back of a naked horse, holding on to the reins or mane and clamping the horse's belly with their legs to prevent them from falling when the horse was galloping.

But this method is very unreliable. First of all, it is easy to get tired after riding for a long time. At the same time, it is difficult to use bow and arrow effectively on a running horse. In melee combat, the rider cannot use the sword as he wants. With spears, failed chops or assassinations, and collisions between the weapons of both sides can cause the rider to slip off his horse at any time. Therefore, the training is extremely difficult, the scale is difficult to shape, and the combat effectiveness is not as good as that of later generations.

The first innovation (this is just a general view, but the actual order of invention is not necessarily this) is the emergence of the high bridge saddle. The ends of the saddle changed from flat to high, which restricted the rider. The body's tendency to slide forward and backward provides longitudinal stability.

The second is the use of stirrups, which provide lateral stability by fixing the feet. At the same time, with the assistance of the saddle, the man and the horse are integrated into a whole, allowing the cavalry to use the speed of the horse for frontal impact. become possible.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Saddle