( ART HORSES. 213 



of place, but on level ground it must, I think, be of 

 assistance. 1 



There is an affinity between the lighter kinds of 

 cart horse — many of whom, such as the Percheron, 

 are very active — and the war horse. The famous Jus- 

 tin Morgan, of whom I have spoken in previous chap- 

 ters, founder of the great road horse family, was not 

 only the best weight-puller of his time, besides being 

 a fast runner, but, though a small animal, was also 

 much in request for musters and other military oc- 

 casions, on account of his superb carriage and com- 

 manding appearance. A horse of this kind, but 

 weighing two or three hundred pounds more, would 

 have made an ideal charger for a knight of the Middle 

 Ages. The knight himself, his armor, and the armor 

 worn by the horse, were estimated at nearly or quite 

 four hundred pounds. In fact, so heavy and cumber- 

 some were the horseman's accoutrements that two 

 squires were often needed to exalt him to the saddle, 

 and, once overthrown, it was difficult for him to rise 

 without assistance. The suffocation of some hapless 

 contestant who had the ill luck to fall upon his 

 stomach was a not uncommon incident of a passage 

 at arms. To carry a knight in full armor required a 

 beast of great size and strength, and doubtless, like 

 the modern fire-engine horse, he was most usefully 

 employed at one of two gaits, a walk or a hand-gallop. 

 The knight did not ride him, as a rule, except when 

 some martial business was on hand. At other times, 

 his squire bestrode the war horse, the knight himself 



1 Such, I find, is the opinion of an English Vet, R. S. Rey- 

 nolds, M. R. C. V. S. of Liverpool, who has puhlished a little book 

 called " An Essay on the Breeding and Management of Draught 

 Horses." 



