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Michael Bronstein @mmbronstein.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Back in Vienna, Paripa stands as a subtle reminder: the most refined virtues, whether in horsemanship or in science, are not always about raw speed and power, but about balance, endurance, and the elegance of the journey. 🐎✨

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Michael Bronstein @mmbronstein.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

To feel true medieval luxury today, look across the Atlantic to ancient Iberian bloodlines. During @iclr-conf.bsky.social in Rio de Janeiro, I hopped onto the bare back of a Mangalarga Marchador. Its signature marcha feels less like riding a horse and more like gliding on a cloud.

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Michael Bronstein @mmbronstein.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Nowadays, ambling horses are vanishingly rare in Europe. When paved roads and carriages took over travel, and the 18th-century craze for Thoroughbred racing gripped the continent, breeders optimized relentlessly for the gallop, phasing the amble out of European stables.

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Michael Bronstein @mmbronstein.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

The statue of Lady Godiva in Coventry depicts her famous nude ride while seated completely sideways and bareback atop her palfrey. Anyone who has ridden a horse knows: good luck trying that at a trot without unceremoniously tumbling onto the cobblestones within three strides.

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Michael Bronstein @mmbronstein.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Unlike massive warhorses (destriers) that trotted into battle carrying armour-clad knights, the palfrey was bred for gentle dignity. It moved with a natural amble—a smooth four-beat lateral gait. In Chaucer’s day, travelling scholars could ride it for hours while reading a book.

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Michael Bronstein @mmbronstein.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

A similar twist of history birthed the medieval palfrey. Tracing back to Late Latin paraveredus (same Greek παρά + Gaulish veredus, "courier horse"), a mundane reserve horse for postal byways evolved into one of the most coveted, high-status luxury mounts of the Middle Ages.

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Michael Bronstein @mmbronstein.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Paripa descends from the Ancient Greek παρά + ἵππος (“side horse”), an auxiliary mount tethered alongside a more valuable prime warhorse. Over centuries of linguistic migration through Pannonia, this humble spare became an emblem of nobility.

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Michael Bronstein @mmbronstein.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Those who have been in the @aithyra.bsky.social conference room in Vienna have met our pony-sized wooden horse Paripa. In Hungarian🇭🇺, "paripa" means a noble steed, the kind of mount fit for heroic folklore. Yet its lineage tells a humbler tale. 🧵👇

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