The Evolution of Tack (Horse Furniture) - Outline and Class Handout

I taught this class - The Evolution of Tack (Horse Furniture) Through the Middle Ages into Modern Times- at Æthelmearc War Practice in 2012, at the Pennsic War in 2012, and at the Æthelmearc Academy and MidRealm RUM Joint University in 2013.  The class material was taken from a research paper that I wrote by the same name, which I entered in the Ice Dragon Pentathlon.  The following is the outline and source handout from that class:                                                              

                                               

 INTRODUCTION

 



Benozzo Gozzoli's Procession of the Magi (1459)

---Provide definition of "tack" or "horse furniture."

---The object of this class is to ask: How similar are the saddles and bridles found in a modern tack store to what the consumer in 11^th or 12^th Century Europe would find at the local shop? How realistic is it to use modern tack as a representation of medieval tack?

---This class will cover the sources for information regarding medieval tack and construction.

---Emphasis is on the evolution in basic tack structure and construction; as well as bits, curry combs, spurs and horseshoes.

 

BIT AND BRIDLE DEVELOPMENT

 

BITS

---Why use a bit

---Early bit construction and evolution

---Examples from art

---Snaffle vs curb bit.

---The O-Ring snaffle, the full cheek snaffle, and combination bits- like the Pelham.

---Bit mouthpieces

 

Bridle from Gaston Phoebus' Hunting Book

BRIDLES

Headstall

Halter to bridle, and their use

Brow band

Throatlatch

Rondels or bosses.

Noseband or half-nosebands

Reins, including rein decoration, like rein chains

Construction materials and methods, including decoration

 

 


Henry V Saddle

THE SADDLE

Development

From bareback, to a saddle cloth, adding decoration and a girth

The development of the saddle tree and stirrup

 

SADDLE PARTS

Seat

Stirrups and the straps to attach them

Girth

Covering 

 

CURRY COMBS

Curry combs from the medieval period are remarkably similar to a type used in more modern days.  The photo to the left shows a collection of curry combs found in archeological digs outside London, as noted in Clark's The Medieval Horse and its Equipment, c. 1150‑c.1450.  Compare that to the curry combs advertised in a 1929 catalog shown below.  Some older horseman still have a few of these in their grooming boxes.





SPURS

Function and fashion

Rowels or Blunt

Gilded spurs

Items of fashion

Shape and design

Construction materials and decoration

Spur fastenings

 

HORSESHOES

 

SUMMARY

 

SOURCES:

 

Alexander, David. ed.  Furusiyya: The Horse in Art in the Near East.  Vol. I and II.  Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: King Abdulaziz Public Library, 2010.

Ayton,  Andrew. Knights and Warhorses: Military Service and the English Aristocracy under Edward III. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1994.

Barber , Richard & Juliet Barker.  Tournaments: Jousts, Chivalry and Pageants in the Middle Ages, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2000.

Clark,  John ed. The Medieval Horse and its Equipment, c. 1150‑c.1450. NY: Woodbridge: Museum of London, 1995.

Davis, R.H.C.  The Medieval Warhorse: Origin, Development and Redevelopment.  NY: Thames and Hudson,1989.

Dent,  Anthony Austen. The Horse Through Fifty Centuries of Civilization. NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1974.

DiMarco, Louis A.  War Horse, A History of the Military Horse and Rider.  Yardley: Westholme Publishing, LLC, 2008.

Hadfield, Marabel, ed.  The Manual of Horsemanship.  Woodbury, NY: Barron=s Educational Series, Inc., 1982.

Hyland, Ann.  The Medieval Warhorse: From Byzantium to the Crusades.   London: Grange Books, 1994.

Hyland, Ann.  The Warhorse: 1250-1600.  Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing Ltd, 1998.

Illuminated Manuscripts, Medieval Hunting Scenes (AThe Hunting Book@ by Gaston Phoebus), trans. J Peter Tallon. Barcelona: Printer Industria Grafica, 1978.

Kroll, Lois Ann.  Arabian Costumes.  Aurora, CO: International Arabian Horse Assoc., 1999.

Olsen, Sandra L and Cynthia Culbertson.  The Gift of the Desert: The Art, History and Culture of the Arabian Horse.  Lexington, Ky: International Museum of the Horse, 2010.

Olms,  W Georg, ed. Asil Arabians, The Noble Arabian Horses, Oiartzun, Spain: KSG‑DANONA, 2000.

Pyhrr, LaRocca, and Breiding.  The Armored Horse in Europe, 1480‑1620.  NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005.

Rud, Morgan.  The Bayeux Tapestry and the Battle of Hastings 1066. Copenhagen: Christian Eilers, 1992.

Wagner, Drobna, and Durdik.  Medieval Costume, Armor and Weapons. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc, 2000.

Walther, Ingo F and Norbert Wolf.  Codices Illustres: The World=s Most Famous Illuminated Manuscripts, 400 to 166.  Italy: Taschen, 2001.

Wilson, David A. The Bayeux Tapestry.  London: Thames & Hudson, 1985.

Website:  ACostume of the Military Horse,@ Viscountess Kassandra Tenebrosa,  1 Feb 2009,

http://www.havenonline.com/moas/northstar/vol1no1/HorseCostume.htm.
Website: AHorses in the Middle Ages@ article, 16 Feb 2009, http://www.tutorgig.com/ed/Horses_in_the_Middle_Ages

Website:  How to make bridles By Madonna Contessa Ilaria Veltri degli Ansari, 2005, Jan 2010, http://ilaria.veltri.tripod.com/bridle.html

Website: Maciejowski Bible, Jan 2010,  http://www.keesn.nl/mac/mac_en.htm

Website: 13^th Century Horse Equipment, Jan 2010,  <http://www.mountedknights.com/conroi/13thCenturyMilitaryHorseEquipment.pdf>