The New Murrey and Blue blog

Well, I had heard before that medieval horses were much smaller than we imagine, and now it seems  proof may may have been found.  

It’s a fact that for journeys medieval folk who could afford more than Shanks’ pony used small horses that could keep up a fast trot for a l-o-n-g time. They were ponies by our standards, but chosen for speed and endurance.

But when I look at the illustrations in, say, Froissart’s Chronicles, I have to admit that quite often the horses of fully armoured knights also look smaller than expected. And they certainly aren’t the heavy horse of the Percheron type.

Yet another thing that has to be admitted is that the artistic standard of many illustrators/artists left a lot to be desired. So is the proliferation of large knights on small mounts due more to the artist than fact? Let’s face it, some illustrations of horses are hilarious! Intentionally? I don’t know, but surely the picture on the right wasn’t meant seriously? Don’t tell me it is!

It will be interesting to learn the outcome of the work described in the link above, and I hope it will settle the question.

But I have to add that if there are any bones at Westminster in need of examination, they’re in a certain urn in the Abbey! Who knows, maybe they’ll turn out to be equine as well. They certainly won’t belong to the sons of Edward IV!