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This 15th-century battle scene shows the powerfully built horses used in warfare. From The Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello.. During the Decline of the Roman Empire and the Early Middle Ages, much of the quality breeding stock developed during the classical period was lost due to uncontrolled breeding and had to be built up again over the following centuries. [1]
These horses were usually stallions, bred and raised from foalhood specifically for the needs of war. The destrier was specifically for use in battle or tournament ; for everyday riding, a knight would use a palfrey , and his baggage would be carried on a sumpter horse (or packhorse ), or possibly in wagons.
The medieval war horse was of moderate size, rarely exceeding 15.2 hands (62 inches, 157 cm). Heavy horses were logistically difficult to maintain and less adaptable to varied terrains. [ 128 ] The destrier of the early Middle Ages was moderately larger than the courser or rouncey, in part to accommodate heavier armoured knights . [ 129 ]
A museum display of a sixteenth-century knight with an armoured horse Chinese Song dynasty lamellar horse barding as illustrated on Wujing Zongyao. Barding (also spelled bard or barb) is body armour for war horses. The practice of armoring horses was first extensively developed in antiquity in the eastern kingdoms of Parthia and Pahlava.
While the destrier is the most well-known warhorse of the Medieval era, it was the least common, and coursers were often preferred for battle.Both were expensive, highly trained horses prized by knights and nobles, while a poorer knight, squire or man-at-arms would use a rouncey for fighting.
The horse was an essential part of a man-at-arm's equipment. The type of horse, however, varied according to wealth and status. Andrew Ayton in an in-depth study of English warhorses of the 13th and 14th centuries has shown that three types predominate: the destrier , the courser and an animal simply known as a "horse" ( L:equus Med Fr : chival ).
The Organisation of War under Edward III. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1-84415-231-6. Hyland, Ann (1994) The Medieval Warhorse: From Byzantium to the Crusades, London: Grange Books, ISBN 1-85627-990-1; Nicolle, David (1999) Medieval Warfare Source Book: Warfare in Western Christendom, UK: Brockhampton Press. ISBN 1-86019-889-9
The native Irish horse, the Irish hobby, represented today by the Connemara pony, [citation needed] was a horse measuring twelve to fourteen hands high. Their name derives from the word 'hobin', a French word thought to be derived from the Gaelic term 'obann', meaning 'swift.' Though small, the hobby was not necessarily a horse of poor quality.