On a typically sunny spring day in Ganthia, Ganthian soldiers from the chariot division of the national army were practicing their chariot-riding technique at the national barracks. The tall grass of the Ganthian prairie (where the national barracks were found), sprawling to the east of the city of Harvis, caused some charioteering complications, as the blades of grass posed some resistance to being treaded by the wheel of a chariot. Then one Ganthian chariot-rider named Paul had an epiphany - what if we could ride our domesticated horses without having to tie them to a chariot? Discipline was the name of the day on that occasion, however, and the private found no time to make good on his thoughts for the remainder of that day.

The next day, however, Colonel Elliott (the commander of the Ganthian army's chariot-riding division) allowed Paul and the other soldiers of the chariot-riding division to practice their charioteering techniques individually and free of supervision. This proved to be the perfect opportunity for Paul to put his ideas into practice. The private rode off on his chariot, controlling his horse Stark, five miles east from the Ganthian barracks. There, amidst the tall grass of the unpopulated Ganthian prairie, Paul untied Stark from the bounds of his chariot. Stark was a well-disciplined horse, so he stayed by Paul's side, rather than running off into the grass. Paul then proceeded to ride Stark bare-back, without being tied by his chariot, into the tall grass. Finally, Paul had achieved something remarkable, finding bare-back riding to be faster, more maneuverable, and more comfortable for Stark than chariot-riding. Paul then rode like this for five miles on his horse's back before returning to his chariot. As the sun started to set, Paul and Stark returned by chariot to the Ganthian barracks. That night, as Paul laid in his bed, he resolved to show his bare-back riding technique to Colonel Elliott the next day.

The next morning, Paul woke up at the crack of dawn, giddy with anticipation. After an early breakfast at the barrack's mess hall, Paul explained his discovery to Colonel Elliott, along with his desire to show his technique. A weary-sounding Elliott reluctantly agreed to see Paul's new riding technique, not expecting anything after the last few 'innovations' by Ganthian charioteers had failed to pan out. But lo and behold, Paul's bare-back riding technique turned out to allow for substantially greater mobility, while still preserving the ability to control Stark's movement. With this successful proof of concept, Colonel Elliott's skepticism faded, and he arranged for the other soldiers of the Ganthian army's chariot-riding division to start practicing bare-back horse-riding. After all, the Ganthian king Thomas Sormania was set to arrive in three days to overnight at the barracks, then to oversee the army's training exercises the next day.

The seventh day after Paul and Stark's breakthrough, Ganthia's chariot corps demonstrated their new riding technique to Thomas Sormania. The king was so impressed that he instructed Colonel Elliott to do whatever was necessary to get the whole corps riding directly on their horses, which would greatly increase their mobility and versatility. In the weeks to follow, the new Ganthian cavalry corps first invented the saddle and the stirrup. Both of these combined enabled much greater levels of control for Ganthia's horse-riding soldiers without sacrificing mobility. With these events, the national tradition of Ganthia's cavalry corps was born, starting with a simple innovation by the soldier Paul and his horse Stark.

(OOC: researching stirrups).

Transaction:

civ=The Ganthian States

trans:

name=Researched Stirrups

beakers=-12

link=https://www.reddit.com/r/CivNations/comments/6qs6gu/a_week_in_the_life_of_ganthia_the_horseriding/