Horses in Iran

[2] Herodotus and Ctesias attest to the practice of hippomancy (divination by horse), which continued into the Sasanian era.

[3] According to Herodotus' Histories, the Nisean horse was considered sacred in the 5th century BC.

[5] It is possible that Darius used this ruse or propagated the story to appease his people, who strongly believed in hippomancy.

[10] The DAD-IS database lists 21 breeds of horse currently or formerly bred in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Bakhtiari, Basseri, Caspian, Dareshuri, Ebian, Haddian, Hamdani, Iranian Arabian horse, Jaf, Kahilan, Kurdish horse, Persian Arabian, Qarabagh, Qashqai, Saklawi, Shirazi, Sistani, Taleshi, Taropud, Turkemin and Yabu.

[11] The CAB International study (2016) distinguishes three main types or breeds of horse in Iran: the Persian Arabian, the Persian Plateau horse and the Turkoman, divided into numerous subtypes, whose characterizations remain unclear.

Darius's horse neighs in the sunlight. This drawing by Gustave Moreau depicts a famous Persian hippomancy scene.
A Persian pony in 1906