REVIVAL OF EQUESTRIANISM. . i6i 



The ' Chroniques de Saint-Denis' recite some won- 

 derful stories of Charlemagne's strength, such as his 

 cleaving a warrior in two with a blow of his sword, and 

 carrying a heavily-armed man by one hand. Shoeing 

 must have been practised in his day, for tradition says of 

 him that he bent, and even broke, with his hands alone, 

 a shoe that had been made by a smith for his horse. He 

 was, however, outdone by the farrier, who, to show his 

 strength, broke in like manner the piece of gold paid him 

 by the Em])eror for his shoeing. 



The revival of Celtic legends and traditions may have 

 operated largely in infusing into Charlemagne and his 

 successors a love of the horse and equestrian exercises — a 

 revival due, perhaps, to the arrival of St Columbanus and 

 his followers from Ireland.' The historian Nitard is par- 

 ticularly careful in informing us how the two kings, 

 Charles and Ludewig, arranged troops of cavalry, con- 

 sisting of Saxons, Wascons, Austrasians, and Bretons, and 

 manoeuvred them against each other, causing them to 

 gallop their horses fiercely, and brandish their arms. 



Shoeing would therefore appear to have been prac- 

 tised, though perhaps only occasionally ; indeed, there is 

 some ground for believing that the Celts, Gauls, and 

 Franks (when the latter began to avail themselves of 

 this defence for their horses' feet), only resorted to 

 iron plates for the hoofs of their steeds when the horn 

 had been considerably worn way. No implements have 

 been discovered which one might infer were employed 

 to remove the superfluous growth consequent on the 

 wearing of shoes, and it is not at all unlikely that the 



' Martin. Hist, de France, vol. ii. p. i 14. 

 11 



