horse

Hay is for Horses: Making and Using a Traditional-Style Irish Straw Harness

Author(s)
Rena Maguire 1 ✉,
Robert Johnston 2
Publication Date
The lack of metal lorinery in the archaeological record of early medieval Ireland is addressed through a hypothesis that post-Iron Age bridles were made of straw and rushes, which did not survive deposition. Reconstruction and testing of a straw bridle show the material to be strong and quite suitable for vernacular use.

Evaluation of Mail Horse-Armour

Author(s)
David Jones 1 ✉,
Emma Herbert-Davies 2
Publication Date
This study was undertaken to gain an understanding of the effectiveness of mail armour in protecting horses against arrow shot, and to assess the circumstances in which such armour might play a useful role. Since the protection given by mail is largely dependent on the thickness of the underlying padding, a preliminary step was to estimate the maximum thickness of padding that could be worn by the horse...

Alternative Reconstruction of a First Century AD Roman Cavalry Saddle

Author(s)
Moira Watson 1
Publication Date

Background

The design and the construction of the Roman saddle has not received much academic attention since the work done by Peter Connolly in 1986 (Connolly, 1986, p. 353) and Connolly with Carol von Driel in 1991 (Connolly, P, van Driel-Murray, C, 1991, pp. 33-50) .

Let’s Do the Tine Warp Again: Reconstructing a Late Bronze Age Bridle from Moynagh Lough, County Meath, Ireland

Author(s)
Rena Maguire 1
Publication Date

Under Starters Orders: An introduction to the experiment

Horses and equitation are often associated with Ireland; coins of the pre-Euro modern period displayed Irish hunters, and florid Victorian art imagined the heroes of the Táin (the early medieval Irish saga of gods, bulls and heroes) in chariots drawn by fiery steeds. That image has persisted despite archaeological evidence, or lack thereof. There is a considerable lack of understanding of the prehistoric use of the horse, and even the types of animals present.

Horse

Large animal with hooves, long legs and a mane of hair, used for riding or to pull a cart et cetera.