弓骑兵是一种陆军兵种，以骑乘动物作为移动手段，使用的武器为弓箭。弓骑兵有可能是最早出现的骑兵兵种。

欧亚草原（Eurasian Steppe）位于北半球北部，约北纬40°-60°，在欧亚大陆内陆。欧亚草原由黑龙江省西北向西伸挺至匈牙利。欧亚草原东西约长8,000公里，南北约阔1,000公里。**的帕米尔高原将欧亚草原分为东西两部份。

欧亚草原气候为大陆性气候及半干旱。草原远离海洋，日温差及月温差很大。由于欧亚草原受北极气团影响，因此气温较低及冬季较长。冬季时草原非常寒冷，平均月气温可低过0℃。不过，夏季时气候温和，平均月气温约21℃。草原气候干旱，年雨量250-500毫米。

A horse archer, horsed archer, or mounted archer is a cavalryman armed with a bow, able to shoot while riding from horseback. Archery has occasionally been used from the backs of other riding animals. In large open areas, it was a highly successful technique for hunting, for protecting the herds, and for war. It was a defining characteristic of the Eurasian nomads during antiquity and the medieval period, including Iranian peoples (Scythians, Sarmatians, Sassanids) and Indians in antiquity, and by the Mongols and the Turkic peoples during the Middle Ages. By the expansion of these peoples, the practice also spread to Eastern Europe (via the Sarmatians and the Huns), to Mesopotamia, and to East Asia. In East Asia, horse archery came to be particularly honoured in the samurai tradition of Japan, where mounted archery is called Yabusame.