Explained in video
Slinging on Horseback
https://youtu.be/dS6NX_tVGP4

Jack F wrote on Dec 6^th, 2023 at 1:30pm:

Always enjoy your videos, Jack. I think you make some good points.

But I also think that Jaegoor makes some good points. One  certainly won't be as powerful on horseback, but a cheap weapon, is a cheap weapon. There are probably cases where a culture would easier access to horses than materials for bows. I would imagine areas like Mongolia would have more horses than trees. Making slings would be easier. I imagine folks would have learned how to use it to some degree of effectiveness out of necessity and lack of other resources, e.g. bows.

Good video!  I have a few thoughts.

I think the idea of class could be a factor.  I'm not sure about Eastern cultures, but for the most part in Western armies if you were riding a horse into battle it was your own horse that you paid for.  They were valuable and certainly not just given out.  So with the sling holding a stereotype of a lower class weapon, those who could afford horses for battle may have not used it.

You mentioned that you thought a bow and arrow has more stopping power than a sling.  It will definitely come down to the specifics of a situation, but in general I don't agree.  Arrows are amazing projectiles.  But they are a weapon that needs to penetrate, and so they need to hit in a much more specific location.  Some sling projectiles will penetrate.  There have been plenty of demonstrations of glandes breaking through boards, etc.  But a sling projectile also works very well as a blunt force weapon.  And so I think it's doesn't need to be quite as accurate to be effective against a target.

And last thing, I agree that a sling is more limited than a bow on horseback.  I think targets in front or to the left (for a right handed slinger) would be viable.  Targets on the right or behind, less so.  That analysis is based almost solely on my limited experience slinging from a lawn tractor, so grain of salt.  A horse is also very good for mobility to reduce the attack range and then retreat quickly (if possible).  Slings are such an effective distance weapon, I don't know how much the added effort of riding in close on horseback would actually gain.  Arrows are an effective range weapon too.  But if I was on the receiving end of a volley, I'd rather be facing arrows than stones or glandes.  More visible and won't hit as hard.  Not that either would be fun.  Actually, what am I saying??  Taking a falling stone on a shield is great fun. 

IronGoober wrote on Dec 6^th, 2023 at 11:06pm:

https://youtu.be/XSp7AtQKoiQ

A bow and arrow is certainly easier to use on horseback. But the pulling power is limited. If the bow has more power, it becomes difficult on horseback. Cortez describes his conquests in the new world that indigenous people could kill a horse with a sling. I'm sure this is possible. Even arrows don't kill immediately. There were arrowheads specifically for horses. They were called roßschinder. This tip got stuck. The horse's movement made her penetrate deeper. There is an indirect reference to the great Hungarian Battle of Lechfeld. Bishop Ulrich was canonized. He rode His knights advance in battle. Without armor and without weapons. He was not hit by any stone or arrow from the Hungarians.In the National Museum of Hungary they explained to me that in addition to the bow, another weapon was carried. Parytia. The sling.

Jaegoor wrote on Dec 8^th, 2023 at 3:48am:


I do  horseback archery and also shoot warbows over 150 pounds draw weight. You can deliver shots from a warbow on horseback with 120 joules and it will have more killing power than average sling. Let me know how you want to test it.
Even a light bow with 50 joules is lethal because it can penetrate vitals (look up hunting deer)

Bow penetrates while stones and lead does not. They do transfer more momentum but against a horse penetration is more important because the average horse is not armoured and the most surface area is the soft tissue at the flanks . The stones could hit the head of the horse and it would be debatable how much joules is needed to kill the horse head but the biggest target is the horse body so statistically it gets hit more

There’s a reason why the bow is a much more common hunting weapon. Even against flocks of animals where accuracy is irrelevant

Morphy wrote on Dec 14^th, 2023 at 5:19pm:


max on horseback is same as max on foot around 155lbs. This assume the horse is still. Shooting a bow while the horse is still can be in used in many situations such as skirmishing foot infantry
Mounted horse archers of the time would shoot around 70-130lbs on average I’d say but we have no  precise measurements of average. We have average feet infantry draw weights but that is in context of exams for officers and they are over 120lbs to pass the exam 

For horseback warfare I’m choosing bow for sure because I’m confident I can shoot 360 degree ambedextrously while have more reliable kills compared to slings due to accuracy and penetration against horse flesh