The Mamluk's best friend: the mounts of the military elite of Egypt and Syria in the late Middle-Ages

It should not come as a surprise that the Mamluks took their horses very seriously. The mainstay of their military might was a large mobile field army that was mostly made up of mounted archers. In this they were similar to the armies of the Eurasian Steppe. However, unlike the Mongols and the Turkmens, the Mamluk horses were not primarily fed by grazing, but rather by fodder. Like the Mamluk soldiers themselves, their mounts were “city dwellers,” although they may have also spent some time during every year out in the country. This, in turn, presented all kinds of logistical challenges, some of which will be discussed in this chapter. In addition, we will review some of the evidence for the types of horses that the Mamluks used and compare it to the mounts employed their Mongol enemies.