ABSTRACT
During the ethnographical research campaigns organized in Vaslui county during the last years, in the vineyard of Husi there could be identified old reminiscences of the cult of the horse, in its hypostasis of a vineyard defender. Another hypostasis of the horse, the one of a protector of the house, is identified in written testimonies and elements of the old popular, lay and religious architecture, and indicates the extent of this custom, spread over most Romanian territories, except for Transylvania. The origin of this cult is to be found in ancient local roots, but also in a late and solid oriental inheritance, brought in by populations from Central Asia (Cumans, Pechenegs, Tatars), that occupied the territories to the south and east of the Carpathians for several centuries and, as nomads, showed special consideration of the horse.