http://yle.fi/uutiset/hevosen_kantokyky_puhuttaa__saako_ylipainoinen_ratsastaa/7159847 In an article from finnish news site, people are discussing the proper weight limit for a horseback rider. In the article it is stated that most finnish stables have settled for around 80-100kg... OMFG what [idiots]! Back in the day, like, last 2000 years horses have merrily pranced around with fully armored big wrestler-like knights on their backs with heavy weaponry and often the horses too were armored. And now these finnish halfwits are saying that me, a 183cm 92kg guy in good shape am too heavy to ride a horse... I want to stab myself in the eye, this is so stupid. In the article they interviewed a horse tour guide, a 190cm man-mountain who rides icelandic horses. The guide said he'd heard of the weight limits but never felt the tiny icelandics to be too small for him and that he has laughed at the concept of weight limits with his icelandic buddies as in Iceland everyone who wants to simply rides.
Wait a second.... I thought at first you were talking about weight limits for jockey's, like for horse racing (which makes sense, smaller guy, less weight, faster horse), but this is for setting weight limits on just normal riders? I might be a touch confused.
What the fuck. Well, I guess I'm sorta shit outta luck if I want to ever ride a horse at a place outside my own farm. I'm 6'4" and 240 .lbs, so even though I weigh the same as a knight might've, I can't ride a horse.
You're probably okay if you come to the States, I think the common weight I have seen is 300. Interestingly enough, you'd be fucking huge for a knight of the period in question. Even for the nobility, nutrition wasn't nearly what it is these days
Eh, I think Canada is around the same. Just seems silly, because of what Sheep said. I mean, sure, they were war horses, but still, they easily had 500 bls loaded on them during combat.
Errrrr, no. Full kit of armor (plate) ~60 lbs. Dude in kit ~180 lbs. (let's go fairly robust) Barding wasn't all that common, especially not plate. Is that where all your extra weight is coming in?
I'm on my phone, so Wikipedia is what's you get https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horses_in_the_Middle_Ages
Yea, but, 80-100kg weight restriction? Come on! I weighed 80kg when I was 18, I was skinny as hell and people called me 'pitchfork'. I ain't even nearly as well toned as I could be, just a bit more flesh around the chest and legs after carrying kids around and so, imo I'm still quite the weakling. If I had serious training to build up my strength I'd get closer to 100kg or more. Then add some padding, armor and medieval weapons.. We're talking about 130-190kg depending on my weight and how much gear I'd bring. And not all knights were that short and even if many were they were still in a lot better shape than I am for the most part, at least anyone who took their duty half-seriously. And look at all the fat governors and the likes who rode horses all the time and not some cheap ones either. "Studies show that horses muscles get tired from carrying weight over 20% of their own weight" - da? wtf.. Did someone really get a grant to study shit like that? Suggestion for next study: Do horses spend more energy when they carry bigger loads or do they break the laws of thermodynamics somehow? 180lb's with a guy in full plate mail? You mean a schoolkid with his backpack filled with maths books? I'm 200lb's without any gear and I'm not fat. If I put on 30-50kg of gear (very reasonable) I'd weigh a minimum of 260lb and that's not counting anything on the horse yet. Sheesh. Now you've done it. You've made me feel big, which is weird because I'm average size in Ostrobothnia, I see a lot of people way bigger than me, I mean not fat or so but just *big*, like these telephone box-sized chaps walking around making me feel short and thin. In any case, the point being that if we just threw weight out the window, anyone who wants to ride can ride a horse and I don't see a typical well bred horse being any worse off from carrying a person. Sure, they get tired, obviously. Back in the day you could have several backup horses depending on situation because obviously creatures get tired over time. We're still talking about creatures that were bred over thousands of years to carry humans around.
You've just inadvertently described my body type. 196 cm, 109 kg, and barrel shaped chest. I know I'm a big dude.
If a horse is 1200 lbs it should be able to carry 360, using that 30% figure. So yes. It is a bit of bullshit. Also, I way saying the person alone was 180 above, then add on armor, weaponry, kit for the horse. I wasn't disagreeing with you
I believe the warhorses in Medieval times were pretty large. Considerably larger than most modern riding horses. I'm also not sure how much I believe that the knights were little guys. That's at least partly a myth started by the armor that we have from the time period; which is display armor, and a lot of it was made 3/4 size to show off the smiths talent.
I was thinking more like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destrier Not necessarily taller (why would you need a tall horse, it would just be less agile), just a beefier more powerful horse. It's not so much the weight of the knight, any normal horse could carry an armored knight. The problem is in battle when you have horses shoving against each other and you're stuck on the same horse for hours on end. You need a horse with power and stamina for that. Back to the OP, a mandated weight limit is stupid. Every horse is different, and, if I remember my horse facts correctly, the age of the horse makes a difference too. You just have to use some intelligence and pay attention to what the animal is telling you.
Eh, I'm not going to argue over semantics. My point is if you took a modern riding horse back to Medieval times and tried to give it to a knight to ride into battle, he'd be like "very funny, now bring me my real horse. Peasant"
I'm arguing against people who think knights were huge supermench and had huge horses, cause it is a huge pet peeve and has no basis in fact. Looks like a standard horse
