graphite and colored pencil on Bristol
Charme
This is a Haflinger mare who lives with Gail at
http://gailatthefarm.blogspot.com/
Since she is a much loved pet who receives a lot of attention, and a horse I've never seen, I hope this drawing isn't too far off.

There are many horse stories from around the world telling when and where a certain group of people first saw these animals, and one of my favorites is about Egypt and the Hyksos.
Hyksos is just a name given these Asiatic people who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. They swarmed over the hills and descended down on the quiet peaceful people living along the Nile. And the startling thing was they drove horses pulling chariots.
The Egyptians had never seen a chariot, a horse, nor the composite bow used to kill them. While ducking the arrows from this modern war bow, the survivors fell in love with the horses..... who wouldn't? .....(well, my husband wouldn't) and they eventually learned to handle both horse and chariot better than the Hyksos.
So, although the Hyksos stayed to rule the land for awhile, I think the Egyptians came out ahead.
I wish someone would write an historical novel about this period of time. The wonder and amazement of seeing their first horse ever...plus chariots, probably fastened the Egyptians to the sand, their mouths open in awe and wonder, making the invasion a slam dunk.
I'm guessing now....(I know more about the Hyksos than the historians do...haha.)