Summary This paper examines the horse carvings to be found on Class I and Class II Pictish sculptured stones and considers their reliability as evidence of the sort of horses and ponies that would have existed in the Early Historic Period. An attempt is made to show that the availability in Britain of good sized, high quality riding horses during that period is not inconsistent with what is known of the development and distribution of different types of horses in pre-hislory. The importance of horses and ponies in Early Historic societies is stressed and inferences drawn about the agricultural economy that could support horses and the skilled specialists required to look after them.