a metal horse sculpture on a white background

The Heavenly Horse. Ceremonial bronze finial with standing horse, 4th-1st century BCE. Ferghana "heavenly" horses belong to one of the world's earliest known cultural breeds of racehorses, a fast and light Eastern type, perfectly suited for cavalry. They are the ancestors of all the best Asian horse breeds: Arabian, Turkmen (Akhal-Teke), and Kyrgyz.