ABSTRACT
In the western area of West Africa, there is little detailed evidence on the distribution of horses before the nineteenth century. In very few of the southern horse-keeping societies discussed by Humphrey J. Fisher is there any direct evidence for the existence of horses before the nineteenth century, and in at least some instances there is traditional evidence which can be plausibly interpreted as suggesting relatively recent introduction from the areas further north. In some areas, the introduction of the first horses and of effective techniques of cavalry warfare may have been simultaneous, but in others there may have been a considerable time gap between the two. It seems probable that the traditions suggesting recent introduction reflect primarily the southward diffusion of the new techniques of cavalry warfare, associated with larger horse breeds and new equipment, rather than the arrival of the first horses ever seen in the south.
