You may know the pommel horse as a gymnastic device used by men in the Olympics. But it has a much longer history than that. It started out as a practice device for the real-life horse, back in 315 B.C.

The history of the pommel horse goes as far back as Alexander The Great. He and his Macedonian soldiers used an early pommel horse to practice mounting the animals they would ride into battle.

The first pommel horses were not like modern-day versions, and offered no padding like we see today in men’s gymnastics competition. Instead, it was a simple wooden structure modeled after the animal’s back where the rider would sit.

To read more about the pommel horse’s history, check out wikipedia!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pommel_horse

Author: Una

Una moved to Colorado in 2007 and started the Colorado Horse Forum as a way to meet other equestrians in the area. Una now rides and competes in dressage. She operates a small dressage horse breeding program in Castle Rock.