Maester Steven, relating to the recent question about iron, why did the first men of the Vale never adopt iron/steel weapons? Isn’t it possible they could have captured some of the andal invaders and learned the secrets of iron and steel smithing from them? Also, I read the first men in the Vale didn’t have horses to use against the invaders. Couldn’t they have captured and bred enemy horses?

Well, a lot of them did – the “Redforts, the Hunters, the Coldwaters, the Belmores, and the Royces” are all First Men Houses and gained access to Andal technology when they bent the knee. 

But if you’re asking why before: blacksmiths aren’t usually that numerous among raiding expeditions. Learning how to use iron isn’t as simple as just knowing there’s a thing called iron – iron is actually rather difficult to forge, and there’s a whole bunch of interlocking technologies all the way from mining to quenching, that you need to get right. 

But no, the First Men absolutely had horses – Robar used his mounted forces to launch his counter-charge against the Andal lines which almost won him the battle. The Andals had more horses, that’s all.