Chinese statuary and paintings

Chinese statuary and paintings, as well as the Bactrian coin shown above, indicate that these horses had legs that were proportionally short, powerful crests, and round barrels. The forelegs of the Chinese depictions are very straight, resembling the Guoxia (果下,under the fruit [trees] pinyin gǔo xìa or Wade-Giles kuo3 hsia4) horse of present-day China. According to tradition, these horses sweat blood, hence the Chinese name: 汗血馬 (hàn xǐe mǎ, "sweats blood horse"). Modern authorities believe that blood-sucking parasites caused sweat to get mixed with blood when the horses were worked.

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