CART HORSES. 213 
of place, but on level ground it must, I think, be of 
assistance.} 
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 Murgan, 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 published a little book 
called “ An Essay on the Breeding and Management of Draught 
Horses.” 
