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

[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?