Intro
The Nambu Horse comes from Iwate, Japan and is bred by the local people there. These animals are traditionally important to the community and were used for ceremonies, agricultural work and as war mounts for Samurai warriors.
Origins
This area became particularly well known for breeding fine horses from early 17th through the 20th century. The quiet town of Tono being the horse epicenter of the area and this culture is reminiscent of the Bedouins and their Arabian mares. They lived in traditional L-shaped houses that housed people on one side and horses on the other.
According to the DAD-IS this breed is officially extinct, but lives on in today’s Hokkaido horse.
Oshirasama and the Horse
According to legend there was a poor farmer with no wife, but he did have a beautiful daughter and a horse. As girls do, the daughter loved the horse and spent a lot of her time with him, even sleeping in the animal section of their home. Time wore on and the daughter and horse fell in love, so they were married. The farmer was understandably upset when he discovered their union and he killed the horse.
What happens next is fuzzy, but in the end the daughter flys into the sky (clinging to some butchered part of the horse) to become the deity of silk worms, agriculture and horses.
Do with that what you will, it does support a deep equestrian culture found in the area, even today.
