Q re horses and armor

[javasaurus]

Do you think that horses learn that they are a couple steps closer to invulnerable when wearing armor? How does their behavior change when wearing it? -- do they become more aggressive when wearing it, or do they mostly just want it off?

Comments

[blueeowyn.livejournal.com]

I think they learn it a little bit in as much that if they do hit something it is buffered. A lot of show-jumpers were open front boots so that if they rub the jump going over, they feel it (and hopefully jump that extra 1/4 inch higher the next time). A lot of dressage horses wear the wraps so that when they are learning to cross their legs (half pass, side pass, etc.) they don't learn that it is 'bad' by getting hurt when they whack themselves (which can happen in the learning process).

That said, suspect you are asking about the joust horses. In an ideal world, the face plate would never be a factor but it looks GOOD and it does act as a nice safety margin in case of a BadThing going wrong. Some of the horses just accept it as part of what they wear to joust, I think there is one (retired now I believe) who just plain didn't like it and would tell the squires that.

The breastplate is a different thing. It does help prevent a rope-burn if the horse hits the end of the list (and helps guide the sides of the list away from the shoulders if the horse charges to close to the edges. A lance would have to be REALLY low to hit the chest plate on the opposing horse. It is possible that having the force of the rope displaced over the entire breast plate can encourage a horse to not avoid hitting the rope (or more clearly the presence of the plate muffles the negative feedback of plowing into the rope).

I would not be at all surprised to find that the horses know the difference between a Joust and a trail ride based on their tack. Heck the really smart and experienced ones may be able to tell the difference between the knight in full armor and partial armor and react accordingly. The 3-Day Eventers (Combined Training) are sometimes described as knowing the Cross Country day by tack (bit, saddle, boots) compared to dressage or show jumping. I know that a lot of breeding stallions have 2 or even 3 bridles. One for breeding, one for showing in-hand and one for riding (the showing/riding bridle could be the same). They can learn that X equipment means that talking to the mares is permitted and Y equipment means that talking is NOT permitted.

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

Actually, the joust horses were not the impetus behind the question, but rather my current computer "wallpaper." It features a knight on horseback, taken from the game Medieval: Total War. The horse's armor is bloodstained, but the armor is intact, so it's somebody else's blood, eh?

But now that you mention the joust horses... a couple of times recently, I've seen them remove a horse's breastplate during a joust (presumedly it had become damaged/dislodged). In such a case, does the horse think "uh-oh, I'm naked!" and shy away from the impact rather than charging into it?

[anjabeth.livejournal.com]

I can't speak to the "Ha Hah! I am invulnerable!" mindset, but I do know that one of the horses a few years ago realized that he had a point on the front of his faceplate (unicorn-like), and would use it to poke unsuspecting squires.
Horse humor, I guess. :)

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

*snort* I can see some of our knights doing that, if they had a point.