Gaited horses in Fiore’s manuals?

11 Comments

1. 

   Jürg Gassmann on September 5, 2014 at 20:44

   Tuuli, great work, clearly a lot of thought and research went into this. I’m sure this won’t be the last word on the subject, thank you for your effort to work this up.
   [Full disclosure: My sole and limited contribution was to encourage Tuuli to post this on HROARR, after she’d posted an initial finding on Facebook. The post started a lively discussion on the “Horsy HEMA” group, but Facebook is the epitome of ephemeral, whereas HROARR creates a record.]

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   • 

     Tuuli Salmi on September 7, 2014 at 07:36

     Thanks Jürg! I’ve updated the article to address the feedback I was given in the FB discussion. I would not have posted this here (not even think about it) without your encouragement so I think thanks are in order! 😀

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2. 

   Jürg Gassmann on September 5, 2014 at 20:59

   As a thought / speculation on why Fiore shows gaited horses while other manuscripts don’t – I’d posit that Fiore shows actions while travelling: not battlefield or tournament actions, but threats on the road. The iconography for battles and tournaments shows different movements (as does the Paris Manuscript picture). So correctly reading the gait depicted helps us understand the context of the action, not vice versa.

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3. 

   Xavier on September 7, 2014 at 02:30

   Personally, I think we must be cautious in interpreting these images. I am going to respond to quite some length to indicate my concerns in seeing too much ambling in these pictures. I have some images to strengthen my arguments, but, sadly, I have found no way to share them here. I will hope in a short while to post a blog on my own site with the proper documentation.

   Firstly, I want to state that my concerns are far from absolute. Indeed, some images (particularly those represented in the Pissani dossi manuscript) seem to indicate an amble, since as well fore as hind leg are in suspension at the same time. However, it should be noted that, contrary to popular perception, also walk can have distinct moments where two legs are kept in suspension: the front or hind leg on the same side, or the front leg one side and hind leg other side. In the classical art of dressage, the latter form was even advanced in training, leading to the so-called school walk, which is very recognizable in the works of William Cavendish and Fraçois Robichon de la Guerinière. To substantiate this claim, I would like to invite you to look at the following snap shots of the walk. You will observe that in some of the frames two legs are distinctively held in suspension, as described above (). Alois Podhajsky, the former director of the Spanish Riding School therefore noted on the walk: “Two or three feet are always on the ground at the same time; the horse stps from one leg to the other and there is no moment of suspension.” (Alois Podhajsky, Horse and Rider. In the Principles of Classical Horsemanship).

   Therefore, we must pose the question in what way the amble differs from the walk. Sadly enough, a natural amble can show some variation in the precise timing when each of the legs are being moved (the cited movies in the post indicate this very well). In its natural form, most ambling horses have a four beat gait without moment of suspension, which biodynamically differs little from an ordinary walk. The main difference is the rhythm; ambling horses are able to sustain a much higher rhythm, which results, because of the impulsion during this gait, in a longer period when two legs are simultaneously raised (in a sense, one could speak about a more cadenced walk, even though there is no moment of true suspension).

   However, the amble, often considered in its most perfect form, can become a two beat gait (then often called a ‘pace’ in modern terminology), when the legs on each side are moving simultanously. Classical authors considered this the true amble. I refer to William Cavendish first in this matter: In his first work written in 1658, La methode et invention nouvelle de dresser les chevaux par les tres-noble, haut, et tres-puissant prince Guillaume marquis et comte de Newcastle, he makes the following remark on the amble:

   “L’Amble: le cheval en cette action remue les deux jambes du mesme côté; par example, il remue les deux jambes de dehors le montoir; celle de devant, et celle de derriere, en mesme temps, cependant que les deux jambes de devers le motoir sont aretées; e quand les deux jambes qu’il removoit sont à terre, et qu’elle la touchent, il remue l’autre côté; la jambe de devant et celle de derriere de devers le montoir; et les deux jambes de dehors le montoir sont aretées. Ainsy la Haquenhée remue ses deux jambes d’un côté, et change de côté en mesme temps; qui est l’amble parfait.”

   In his second work, written in 1667, he makes an exact English translation of the aforementioned fragment. However, in the posthumous translation of that work in 1677, a considerable addition was made for the amble:

   “si en marchant il plie les hanches, autrement il n’amblera point commodement ny bien. Il est à notter qu’on connoit qu’un cheval va sur les hances à son amble lorsqu’il pose les pieds de derriere plus avant de beaucoup qu’il n’a posé ceux de devant à terre du mesme costé ; c’est-à-dire que le cheval allant l’amble, leve les deux pieds de mesme costé en l’air, et remettant à terre ces deux mesmes pieds d’un costé, il faut qui pose celuy de derriere un quart de toise plus avant qu’il n’a posé celuy de devant à terre du mesme costé, s’il va comme cela, il ira bien l’amble car il pliera les hanches, et s’il ne les plioit, le pied de derriere ne pourroit estre posé plus avant que celuy de devant à terre du mesme costé, s’il va comme cela, il ira bien l’amble car il pliera les hanches, et s’il ne les plioit ; le pied de derriere ne pourroit estre posé plus avant queceluy de devant à terre car prenez garde que quoique les deux pieds d’un mesme costé foient en l’air en mesme temps pour aller l’amble, celuy de devant se est levé ; et il faut qu’il se pose bien plus avant sur la terre que celuy de devant ne s’est posé, s’il va de la forte il ira sur les hanches, tour cheval d’amble qui va sur les hanches va bien, cela soit dit en passant comme je n’auray pas lieu de parler de l’amble, je vous ay voulu donner cette remarque comme tres bonne.”

   It is noticeable that the perfect ambled gait is considered to move at two beats rather than four. A remark also made by François-Robichon de la Guerinère in his Ecole de la Cavalerie (1733). De la Guerinière even offers a plate which resembles the ambled gait of the image of the wife of Bath out of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury tales, as provided in the main post.
   Secondly, Cavendish (if he made the additions by the end of his life) gives further understanding as how the ambled gait is perfected. It is in fact by the same way the other gaits are further perfected, increasing the carrying capacity of the hind quarters and increasing the movability of the forehand, namely by collection. Much to the contrary as stated in the main post, also the amble requires collected work to amount to advanced states. In this regard, it is rather surprising to see that none of the assumed ambled gaits in Fiori’s work seem to even come close to such a degree of collection or rhythmic unity as depicted on the image of Geoffrey Chaucer or as depicted in the work of De la Guerinière.

   We must ask whether or not these are indeed ambled gaits. The main mean of identification lies with the fore and hind leg on one side being risen at the same time and doing so in a rythm which is tighter than to be expected from a walk. In other words, when the hind leg is lifted, the front should be leaving the ground as well. Or when the hind leg is placed down, the foreleg should be in a downwards motion.

   When we analyze Fiori’s images, this is almost an impossible task, since he offers no background imagery to give us any perspective of the relation of the feet to the ground. The only exception is the Latin manuscript, where the hind legs are all steady on the ground and where the front leg are in an utmost lifted position (which is unmistakably a walking gait).
   For the other images we might find an indication in the flexion of the fetlocks. Since the flexion of the fetlocks depends on the extensor and flexor muscles of the hind legs (assisted by the quadriceps fascia), a horse which bends his hind legs (when off ground) needs to bend his fetlocks as well due to the work of the tendons of aforesaid muscles (people familiar with hoof care will know this to be true). Only when the foot is put on the ground, this flexion can be prevented and the foot remains extended. If we take this guideline to further analyze the images, only the Pissani Dossi manuscript remains a valid candidate showing ambling horses, since the fetlocks of their hind legs appear to be flexed and could be assumed to have lifted off the ground. In this case only, we could assume an ambled gait (although walk is still not fully excluded). In the other cases, the position of the hind and fore legs are too distinguished from one another to assume a true ambled gait.

   Furthermore, the main post’s author is mistakenly attributing some characteristics to the ambled gait: “Notice that the front leg moving forward is very high, and already past the other front leg and breast. The horse’s head is high and its weight is over its back legs.” What he – in fact very correctly – is describing, has nothing to do with an ambled gait per se. He gives a good description of collection. During collection the haunches are lowered and hind legs are more bend, whereby they can carry more weight, resulting in an ‘uphill’ posture of the horse. This causes a lift of the forequarters and frees up the forelegs, significantly increasing the agility of the horse. It is a common misconception that walk cannot be collected. It is, in fact, a requirement of modern Grand Prix riding, although it is rarely ridden with great perfection nowadays (some attribute this to the different breeds of horses). Nonetheless, walk can be ridden with a great degree of collection and resulting even in the famous Spanish walk (somewhat a trademark of the Royal Andalusian Riding School, see ).

   In the Middle Ages, horse trainers took a particular care of having good lifting motions in their horses limbs, as Jordanus Rufus, a knight in the service of the marshalcy of emperor Frederick II, explains in his work (ca. mid 13th century):

   “Troctare dixi saepius per arata, quam alia plana loca, eo guod propter valliculos et monticulos, qui sunt in magissis et in campis aratis, more solito assuescit equus et instruitur quotidie crura et pedes altius et levius in suro egressu decenter levare; et hoc similiter fieri potest per loca satis arenosa consimili ratione.”

   “I tell you to trot more often in tilted soil, than on straight places, who go past valleys and hills, who lay in the meadows and plowed fields. By constant practice, the horse gets used and is instructed to properly lift his legs and feet highly and lightly when moving out. You can do this also with the same logic in places with sufficient sand.”

   To go even further, I dare to presume that some images might resemble the so-called school halt. A collected way of stopping the horse, allowing for a stationary agility afterwards. The school halt seemed to be particularly popular in the Middle Ages, even fulfilling representational purposes as for instance demonstrated in the fifteenth century illustration of the privilege book of Ghent. In this image duke Philip the Good of Burgundy performs a school halt, while accepting the humiliating surrender of the citizens of Ghent after the battle of Gavere in 1453 (see ). Another marvelous example is the etching of Jacob de Gheyn of 1599 where a knight is performing the same halt ).

   Returning to the Fiori images, some might be representing this prestigious school halt. The second image of the Morgan manuscript displayed in the main post is even quite likely to be a school halt, since the standing left foreleg seems to be leaning backwards (of course, this might also be the beginning moment of protraction).

   Whether an ambling gait has advantages for mounted combat, I sincerely dare to doubt. First, I disagree with the statement of the main post’s author: “This would make ambling more efficient, practical, and easier regarding speed, tempo, balance and timing.” The words practical and efficient are off course related to the specific purpose, and thus somewhat vague in this context. Speed and tempo, however, are not. It could be true that ambling produces more speed than trotting, but cantering and galloping produces far more speed. One cannot forget that the transition to warmblood breeds, an evolution which took place during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, was specifically made to make horses more rapid so the light cavalry could retain its uses in a time where gunpowder weapons were rapidly advancing. I have not seen the documentary the main author is talking about, but I hope he can substantiate his argument regarding speed and endurance with some academic publications (since the effects of the documentary could be attributable to the physical qualities of the different horses or, as I presume, the fact that different breeds were used). In this regard, I want to offer a pragmatic counter example (although again not academically, but with a significant sample size I assume): in endurance racing (heavily depending on the trotting capacities, or amble capacities if you like, of the horse), Arabian horses are still the most successful by a long shot (let me simply refer to the latest World Equestrian Games). Regarding tempo, I assume the author has used a wrong term here, since tempo is defined as the length of a stride and is not specific to any gait. Collected gaits (whether walk, trot, canter or ambling) are shorter, extended gaits on the other hand are longer.
   Concerning timing, I assume the author refers to the absence of a moment of suspension when ambling. In that perspective, I agree with the author. It is true that for mounted archery or even spear throwing, the moment of suspension is the most opportune moment during canter to shoot. At other times, the beats will disturb the shooting action and often result in missing the target. The amble, on the other hand, is indeed a smooth gait as the author indicated and does not require a likewise timing as during cantering. Shooting accurately while trotting will even be near to impossible because of the rapid interchange of the diagonal beats with the moment of suspension. I concur with the author that for mounted archery, often used during hunting, the ambling horses could be a favourable choice.
   Elaborating further on that insight, we come to the main advantage of the amble when compared to the trot. The ambling gait is a smooth gait offering a far greater comfort to the rider. Furthermore, ambling horses are endurance horses (although, as I stated before, I doubt whether they are the fastest endurance horses), able to cover great distances in a gait comparable to the speed of a trot. As the author already indicated, ambling horses where often ‘palfreys’ in the Middle Ages. This term is a vernacularization of the Latin word ‘paraveredus’, with ‘para’ meaning one sided and ‘veredus’ meaning swift horse or hunting horse. In other words, this horse was particularly kept to travel swiftly, across great distances, but still comfortably. It was often used for light hunting, making use of archery and birds of prey, and also popular as horse for ladies. The great use lies thus in the great distances this horse can travel.
   However, a smooth gait does not mean that it is an ideal fighting horse. Although William Cavendish did not make any negative comments on the subject of ambling, François Robichon de la Guèrinière listed the gait under “des allures défectueuses” in the aforementioned Ecole de la Cavalerie. He argues:

   “Les chevaux d’amble ne sont bons, que dans un terrain doux et uni, car dans la boue et dans un terrain raboteux, un cheval ne peut pas soutenir long-tems cette allure. L’on voit à cause de cela, plus de chevaux de cette espéce en Angleterre qu’en France, parce que le terrain y est plus doux et plus uni, mais génzralement parlant, un cheval d’amble ne peut pas durer long-tems, et c’est un signe de foiblesse dans la plûpart de ceux qui amblent. Les jeunes poulains même prennent cette allure dans la prairie, jusqu’à ce qu’ils ayent assez de force pour troter et galoper. Il y a beaucoup de braves chevaux, qui apreès avoir rendu de longs services, commencent à ambler ; parce que leurs ressors venant à s’user, ils ne peuvent plus soutenir les autres allures qui leur étoient auparavant ordinaires et naturelles. »

   Personally, I do not fully agree with de la Guerinière’s statement, but he rightfully indicates that ambling contains less impulsion than trotting and therefore is less able to render force during the collisions. However, troubles with the ambled gait in fighting go further than that. Firstly, from most manuscripts it is apparent that canter and walk (or even halt) are the most used gaits. Trot and amble are but rarely observed in the manuscripts. When observing dynamic situation, which we could indicate as situations of the ‘angreiffase’ and ‘abzugfase’, are mostly performed at canter. This relates to the force that is being produced during this gait. Especially for the collision (the moment of impact), force will be paramount. This is expressively explained by king Duardo of Portugal in his Livro da ensinança de bem cavalgar toda sela written at the beginning of the fifteenth century:

   “The first two [that is the horizontal and oblique strike with the sword] are – in my opinion – the best wys to wound another rider; and to cause great wounds with a horizontal rotation of the arm that holds the sword, you should use the combined forces of the horse’s gallop, of your upper body and of your arm, all together. This was the solution I have found more efficient in tournaments; if the horse was not at gallop and I used only the force of my arm, the stroke was much weaker than if I could use the three forces simultaneously.”

   Concerning the collision with the spear (applied in jousting) Duardo states:

   “As far as jousts are concerned it is most important to use the spurs correctly, which is not as easy as it looks. Some riders are using the spurs continuously – from the starting of the final run until the moment of collision. This is not only ugly but it also makes the rider weaker; actually, in these situations we should use the spurs as few times as possible, strongly or lightly in accordance with the beast’s temper. And the appropriate moments to use the spurs are only two: to start the final run (to get from the beast proper galloping pace) and just a moment before the collision (when we have the spear already aiming at the other jouster). From that moment onwards we should keep our feet and legs very quiet and firm until the collision happens; this assumes the beast bhaves as it should; if it gets wild and changes direction, the rider must use all the appropriate means to correct the situation, including the use of spurs.”

   What Duardo applies here is more than preventing his horse to stop during a collision (which the king forwards as his reason to spur the horse a second time just before the collision takes place). In fact, it entails an extra engagement of the hind quarters, resulting in a short acceleration. Since the force of impact depends on the deceleration of the spear with the opponent, such an extra acceleration adds a significant amount of force, especially when launched out of a canter. The iconographic material from the fighting manuals combined with the description rendered by king Duardo clearly indicate the importance canter during the ‘angreiffase’ of a duel. In relation to ambling horses, this is quite significant, because ambling horses are known to have more difficulties in making the transition to canter.
   Secondly, an ambled gait certainly has not more balance than a trot, or even a canter for that matter (certainly not a collected canter). The main reason is that the absence of a diagonal leg position, which runs through the horse’s – and when ridden through the rider’s – body. In an ambled gait, the horse’s and rider’s weight needs to be carried from side to side in an alternating fashion. This poses some significant troubles in terms of agility and balance. Especially during collision this might pose severe problems. Let me illustrate this by an example. Let us consider a joust with an ambled horse. The rider badly times the collision (so timing does play a role when using ambling gaits) and the horse is standing on his right side legs on the moment of collision. If the impact is relatively forcefull, this will push the horse’s balance even further to the right. Since the horse has no more right legs to amend for this left side impact (and he certainly cannot put his weight to the left, since that is where the impact took place), he is effectively pushed over to the right side, resulting in a fall (which means an unhorsing at best circumstances and death at worst). In other words, ambling can hardly be considered a well-balanced gait.
   Thirdly, (although I am not certain about this, since I have not been able to train any ambling horses) I believe ambling horses to have lesser capacity to be agile. This is particularly noticeable when we consider lateral movements of the horse, motions which are pivotal to mounted fencing in my opinion. First of all, trotting seems to be the central gait to learn horses to balance themselves and to learn the lateral bending exercises (shoulder-in and travers). Gustav Steinbrecht noted in Das Gymnasium des Pferdes:

   “Considering the choice of gaits, one focusses on the physical and temperamental disposition of the horse, and one should train mostly in trot.”
   “the walk is because of his quiet and separate movements of the four legs of the horse not adequate for the development of impulsion.”

   In my opinion, this is not only because of the increased impulsion in the form of Schwung, but also because of the placement of the legs. Even when we perform half passes or side passes at walk, provided we have a decent rhythm, the walk acquires a distinct diagonal character. I believe it is because of this reason that the classical dressage masters such as Cavendish or De la Guerinière represented the walk as a diagonal movement, rather than a sided one (stressing the foreleg one side – hind leg other side transition more than the hind leg one side – fore leg one side transition).
   That such lateral movements are not without their purposes, appears clearly again from the work of Duardo, when he is talking how to hunt an animal (bull, bear or boar) which attacks horse and rider frontally:

   “If the alymaria comes from straight ahead of us, we should do as follows: when we are just a few moments away from the engagement we use the reins (and the spurs, if required) to turn aside our horse’s head to its left and force it to abruptly change its direction (avoiding the collision) but in such a way that we still get very close to the shoulders of the alymaria to wound it with our spear.”

   The editor of the translation, Antonio Fanco Preto,remarks:

   “This same technique is still used today by the riders in the Portugues bullfights, using bandarilhas instead of spears. Because the horse changes direction and runs faster than the bull, the rider, doing as it was just described, is able to stick the bandarilha on the bull’s shoulder/back and to run away from it (and from danger).”

   I fully agree with this statement and when we observe these fights, it is clear that either a half-pass is involved (often requiring a lead change), or, when heavily collected, the horse seems to perform a ‘terre a terre’ for a few strides.

   Such a technique is not only applicable to the aforementioned hunting situations, but also to fighting conditions. We must remember that hunting played an important part in the training of squires and knights for their martial duties. Skills in horsemanship were particularly trained in this fashion. A nice application of this very movement – although it would lead me too far to elaborate on this interpretation – is the ‘durchwechsel’ technique which Licthenauer (and subsequent authors) describes after he introduced the guards.

   In conclusion, I may agree with the fact that ambling horses are certainly easier, and especially more comfortable, to ride. Their more intensive use during the Middle Ages stems from this very characteristic according to me. It was a prestigious and luxurious thing to have and to prance with (not unimportant in a context where ‘vivre noblement’ required great care for representing one’s noble identity). This kind of prestige could certainly be demonstrated during hunting parties and were particularly popular with the ladies. As a fighting horse, however, I rather doubt its uses. Not only are ambling horses more difficult to put to canter, a gait pivotal to fighting, they were in my opinion by no means more balanced or more agile. If I may be allowed an allegory here: they certainly could be considered the Rolls Royce or the Jag of their time, but you would not drive a Royce or Jag into the battlefield.

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   • 

     Tuuli Salmi on September 7, 2014 at 07:57

     Hi Xavier, thank you for your comment! I will address it when I have more time on my hands, but prior to that, please, who am I talking to? 🙂 I have found online discussion is more fruitful and equal when everyone knows each other.

     Tuuli

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     • 

       Xavier on September 7, 2014 at 09:51

       Hey Tuuli,

       Of course, proper introduction is required. I am Xavier Baecke, living in Belgium and working as a medievalist on the department of history of Ghent University. My personal research concerns the sacralization of knighthood in the Low Countries during the High Middle Ages. Fulminated by a profound interest in knighthood, I am strongly interested in the reconstruction of the martial arts of knights and because of that I am an instructor in Historical European Martial Arts in SwArta (www.swarta.be). Consequently, I have a keen eye for all manuscripts derived from this medieval tradition with somewhat of a specialization in the so-called Lichtenauer tradition. With the other instructors of SwArta, we regularly reanalyze our current interpretation of these fighting manuals in order to further advance the technique and training of our members.

       Although I have done most work on the subject of Blossfechten, dagger and wrestling, I always kept an eye out for the Rossfechten, since it is the culmination of the knightly arts in my opinion. However, this art can only be reanimated provided good skills in fencing and wrestling on the ground and provided good horsemanship. I was convinced that a decent preparation in the general traditional western martial arts and proper education of the horses to undertake such a burden is paramount to perform any form of Rossfechten at an appropriate level. In that respect, I am training two young horses (an Arabian purebred and a Belgian warmblood horse) to meet the requirements for the art (I am currently training my horses for quite some time: the arabian is trained for four years and recently started under the saddle; the warmblood I am training for one year and a half, since I had a Friesian foal before which sadly died because of bloodworms, in a couple of months I will start training a very young Ibero-Friesian foal as well).

       In order to provide such decent training, I have schooled myself (On the one hand, by researching medieval horsemanship and the two main strands of horsemanship derived from medieval horsemanship: the classical dressage and the vaquero tradition. On the other hand, by taking private lessons in horsemanship) as to design a practical program to recreate this kind of horsemanship. Because, in a ‘previous life’, I was also a biologist, I try to incorporate insights concerning the horse behaviour and equine physiology and biodynamics in my research and practical training.

       I hope this will suffice as a short introduction on my personal activities relating to the subject of Rossfechten.

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4. 

   Tuuli Salmi on September 9, 2014 at 12:21

   OK, Xavier (and the rest), sorry for the late reply, it took me a while to think about your well put comment and the things you accurately bring forward. Thank you for giving this a thought!

   Firstly, please Xavier (and anyone else reading this), my intention is not to place a “solid” interpretation, I was merely presenting an observation, asking opinions and thoughts from others. Trying to kick the status quo. Honestly, I don’t think I even have enough knowledge of any of the things involved (art of riding, fencing, interpreting old illustrations, etc) to make assumptions or interpret works of historical significance. I’m very much a scientist by heart thus I believe theories are made for testing.

   Regarding school walk etc. If you can access illustrations of walk or school walk in the phase similar to Fiore’s , I’d love to see them. The illustrations in my edition of Cavendish lack any such pictures (I hear this edition indeed is not a perfect copy!). I couldn’t find any pictures attached to your text though? Also, can you or anyone else give me information, if there are illustrations that show mounted fencing? And by fencing I mean actions on horseback in true context, not just having a sword in one hand (as I think there is a difference!).

   I already addressed amble versus pace issue in some extent, but most notably, pace is not a true amble by definition. Pure pace is two beat lateral gait and very bouncy in slow speeds. I would love to know what Cavendish said in the works you cited but I don’t speak French so your argument here doesn’t really convey anything to me. 🙂 In most modern gaited horses pace is not desirable, exception being the flying pace in Icelanders. I would also note that the context of later masters of riding is not the same as it was in Fiore’s time. Firstly, the time of writing is different, i.e. the weapon is different. Secondly, the reason to write books about the art of riding is different than writing books about fencing. Thirdly, although I’m not an expert on historical manuals, it seems to me Fiore almost always shows (and sometimes also tells in the text) the action HOW to get in to the situation depicted in the illustrations, as riding art illustrations depict the perfect moment in time. Fiore’s artist(s?) go to lengths to show correct foot placing and correct posture. If the horses are not in amble, I would like to someone to show exactly what it is. And this is not a challenge, I’m just very curious about this matter! 🙂

   Regarding collection. I know nothing about riding collection. But I have ridden Icelanders. I would like to hear your reasoning for this: “The amble requires collected work to amount to advanced states”. Yes, in some cases, but not all. Classic Fino is very collected, but they are also capable of less collected forms of the gait. Tölt is quite possible without reins, and without any work from the rider. The degree of collection depends on the speed of the gait, the conformation of the horse, the power and the training of the horse and also the substrate one is riding on. To me, Fiore is showing training situations for fencing. It is not meant to be dressage manual. The context here is the key. What Fiore shows us, are exercises in fencing. Not exercises in riding, or art of riding. Also the illustrations (to me at least) most of all depict a manual for understanding the basic ideas in the art of fencing. Fiore tells us about the strength, balance and smoothness of footwork, i.e. the elephant that carries the tower. No jumping and no crossing footwork, body balance low and weight moving between both feet in balance and smoothness, correct? Basic stance and basic footwork, with accrescere fora di strada, passo alla traversa, you all know this. Now, if you think fencing as an action on horseback, what would you need to do to make the lack of possible footwork to enable you to concentrate on the art of fencing? My guess is, a smooth moving, stable horse with some level of turning and lateral motion. This gives you back your balanced footwork, and timing is similar to fencing on foot. I don’t know, but I would guess timing in passade/canter is different, due to the movement of the horse. This is more difficult, as the rider/fencer needs to pinpoint his actions for both fencing AND riding. Ambling horse makes this a lot easier, one needs to time fencing only, which makes is possible to actually practice the timing and different tempos of fencing on horseback.

   Regarding the identification of gait in the images. Yes, they are different, as I have already pointed out. Why? Different gait, or different phase of gait, or different speed of gait? I edited my text to show ambling can actually be similar to what Paris manual shows (the example is from Morgan, but the phase is same). Notice the high fore leg. Same screen shots perhaps show that fetlock flexion is also similar. If indeed the illustrations show collected walk, please show pictures where you compare Fiore to what you think is the correct collected walk/school walk. I haven’t been able to find videos or pictures that show the fore leg lifted as high as it is in Fiore’s illustrations. Same goes for school halt. Again, if you have attached images, I can’t access them on your comment! If you are talking about this miniatyr:

   http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/15th-century_painters_-_Surrender_of_the_Burghers_of_Ghent_in_1453_-_WGA15789.jpg ,

   the posture may be a school halt or not , but it is clearly not amble as the legs are not correct for the phase. If the horse was to execute the school halt in the position of one hind leg in front of the other, perhaps the posture is nearly the same. But how then is the hind leg in Fiore’s works depicted in the air in the same time as the lateral fore leg? This posture is very difficult without motion, as the stopped horse would have its weight in one side only. One might also think about the reasoning behind stopping when fending on horseback. It would be the same as halting footwork mid-technique, or as it would be in the case of the second picture from Morgan, before meeting up with your opponent? After all, the picture is (as I’m sure you know) a half of this, where Fiore shows Posta di Donna against lance:

   http://ica.princeton.edu/images/morgan/m383.004v.jpg .

   He also shows in other illustrations the same posture advancing with a lance in attack position, so I’m quite confident Fiore is not trying to depict a school halt. But again, I’m open to this theory, but I would like to get more detailed information of the halt and its use in fencing context.

   Regarding the advantages of ambling. I was talking about speed and tempo in fencing context. I.e. precise (the speed the fencer wants to proceed) speed and timing, and tempo in mounted fencing. I should have explained myself in more detail, this misunderstanding was of my fault. Apologies. Also, I don’t think I hinted that amblers were warhorses in particular. What Fiore shows us, is not war. He may just be showing how to do things with the horse material he, or his patrons have (as was suggested by Mike Loades and others discussing the article on his FB page). Or horses that were in the use of his patron’s men-at-arms, who were possible the ones the information was most helpful to. Again, I don’t understand French, so sadly I cannot say much about Guèrinière’s negative comments about ambling.

   Now, regarding ambling in fighting. You are correct that in armored mounted combat there would be a problem with less propulsion. Dom Duarte speaks of tournaments (melee?), and it is clear the tactics are different (as would be in jousting too). He has to have propulsion to hit his opponent in armor. At the same time, “true” fencing on a galloping horses would be quite difficult, and is armor even more so, and thus most techniques show clearly a tactic of either dismounting the opponent (by force on him or the horse), or disarming him. In Fiore we have plays that show a parry followed a thrust to the face or a hit to the head (when opponent is not wearing armor on his head as Fiore tells us). This would be impossible in canter, unless it was VERY slow canter. We have done these plays so far in stop, in stop/walk and in walk, and there is plenty of time for actions. I am guessing these are possible in tölt. At the moment we are training to do them in tölt. I will tell you how it goes, when we get these on video etc. But to the question that is most curious to me: WHAT is the context of these techniques, as it is not war. Is this melee in Italian way, or duel or what is this. And even more puzzling; why would anyone fence in full armor on horseback? Unless there is absolute need for the horse, i.e. an injury or such. Xavier, please also note that what Dom Duarte tells you here about not stopping during collision, contradicts what you propose for school halt, as Fiore clearly shows opponents facing and advancing towards each other.

   As you speak about more/less balance in amble, there in fact is a diagonal phase in amble. Most ambling gaits have at least one common trait and that is that only one foot is completely off the ground at any one time, this moment may be very fast or almost non-existent in fast gait, but in theory it is always there. Stating there isn’t a diagonal phase is thus incorrect. Perhaps I’m a better rider than I give credit to myself, as I have very seldom had problems getting an Icelander to trot if that was what I wanted to do. Yes, some horses are very strong amblers, but that does not mean they cannot or will not trot, canter or gallop as any other horse would. Also, ambling horse can be agile. Here are a few videos to demonstrate this:

   http://youtu.be/-3-SzOTagm0 A Paso Fino doing a Garrocha.
   http://youtu.be/yqHK48y87OQ Lusitano and Paso Fino in Garrocha, notice size of circles and smoothness of movement.
   http://youtu.be/a6grjsU3Lic Lateral exercises by a Kentucky Mountain Horse

   To make a clear point: I wasn’t implying that ambling is always the best option, or that the illustrations show ambling as a gait to use everywhere and always. Indeed, there are places for terre-a-terre, and collected canter/passade, as shows the first of the videos of the Paso Fino in Garrocha. He is clearly more agile in turning in canter. What I am on the other hand saying, is that some of the illustrations in Fiore’s manuals look like the horse is ambling, and I have tried to show why this would be logical, is one wants to find reasons and meanings for this observation. I’m very grateful to all of you who have taken part in this discussion and hope this will perhaps result in more people trying mounted Fiore in different gaits, AND sharing their experiments with others. 🙂

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   • 

     Xavier on September 10, 2014 at 17:48

     Hey Tuuli,

     thank you for the reply. I know my references have not been included in my post, but I haven’t got quite the hang of how html tags work. Nonetheless, since I was already working on the application of gaits in different phases of fighting, I have taken this opportunity to address the use of ambled gaits during the Middle Ages. I hope to finish the article soon, so I can offer a more substantiated version of my criticisms. This being said, I certainly want to applaud you for your research and for bringing up the topic. However, as you also stated, I think more profound research is required to advance our insights in the matter. Your initial article has stimulated me to conduct such an investigation in the upcoming article.

     In anticipation of my article, I will already present you with some interesting findings of my research and comment of the remarks you presented in your latest post. I hope it may be clear that these remarks are intended to further advance the debate concerning the use of gaited horses. With respect to the research I have been conducting, I have quantitatively analyzed the gaits used by Fiori, and subsequently qualitatively compared the different manuscripts for the plays where an ambled gait seems to be used most clearly. I must admit, you have chosen your examples well, as the Pisani Dossi version demonstrating a posta with the lance is the strongest indication of an ambled gait I could find throughout the entire corpus (the third image you compared to a contemporary gaited horse). However if you would compare this image with the same techniques in the other manuscripts (Morgan, f. 31r.; Getty, 43r and Latin, 2v), the bend of the fetlock seems to be corrected, indicating (quite clearly actually) that the leg is firmly grounded.
     Concerning the other comparisons you offer: the first case of the Morgan Manuscript is in fact absolutely no match. Although the right hind leg gives the impression of being slightly bend at the fetlock, the left hindleg is actually more bended. It is the left hind leg which is leaving, or at the very least prepared to leave, the ground. This does not relate to the snapshot you provided showing an ambled horse, where the right hind leg is far more bend at the fetlocks and the left hind leg is still firmly grounded without the fetlock being bended at all. I might appear splitting hairs here, but I hope you agree that attention for such details are paramount for differentiating gaits.
     As your second image is concerned. I think we can both agree that your snap shot may be in fact also representing an ordinary walking horse with a high lifted fore leg. I think this example is especially relevant for the fact that it is a very hard task to differentiate a walk from an amble while having to deal with stationary imagery.

     Concerning the Liberi corpus, my research reveals that especially the Pisani Dossi manuscript holds most images of an ‘ambling’ horse, (in fact, when compared to the images demonstrating walk, it is a ratio of 7 to 10). However, most images are questionable at best, with the exception of two images much clearer portraying an ambling horse (the aforementioned 31r and one on 31v, also demonstrated in your original post, I must congratulate you once more with filtering them out :)). However, these images are all corrected in the Morgan and Getty versions, and, adding to the confusion of the Pisani Dossi manuscript, there is one image where trotting seems to be involved (also on 31r), although I assume this to be incorrect (since the left hind is already heavily protracted, while the right fore is still in the middle of the protraction fase). Also this image is corrected to a normal walk in the Morgan and Getty manuscripts (though in different ways). The Fiori ambling question is thus a very tricky one, but I will present my full results in the upcoming article.

     That being said, I first want to stress that I do not assume that ambling horses were not used in the Middle Ages. What I simply doubt is their use for combat purposes. Nonetheless, I must admit I have found a rather unexpected source where ambling in combat situations is without doubt clearly represented, it concerns the Bayeux tapestry, which also contains clear images of walking and even one image of a trotting horse (again I will present these findings in my article). Since in this case we can fully compare the different gaits, no doubt about the (only) three ambling pictures can be made.

     However, as I will also demonstrate in my article, we must also be aware of iconographical topoi slipping in. The Morgan bible and the codex Manesse for instance (two documents to be considered authorities), seem to only comprise ambling horses (in a way even more explicit than any of the Fiori images). However, the context of the imagery makes ambling impossible (in one instance, the horse is in fact being mounted and held when he appears to be ambling). Again, I will present this evidence in greater detail in the article (I know I am repeating this phrase quite a lot).
     More astounding is the fact is that most fighting manuscripts appear actually to portray ambling horses (although ambling or walking is much rarer in these manuscripts than in Fiori’s work), rather than walking horse. I cannot further elaborate on this right now, since I am still analyzing this material in light of your findings (it even appears to me that by analyzing mounted combat I find that Fiori’s influence might have reached further than previously assumed).

     Coming to the school walk. I did not intent to state that school walk is present in Fiori’s work. In fact, I fully agree it is not. It does, as far as I know, only appear in the Goliath manuscript. My point with school walk was merely to indicate that, as being a collected walk, fore legs can be raised to quite some extent when at walk (and are therefore not be considered evidence of gaited horses). I also gave the example of the Spanish walk in the same context. Due to my comparative research, I have abstained from clearly identifying any clear school halts in the images you depicted in your initial post. Although (but sadly fore legs are missing) a school halt seems to be rather applied (in the sense that the horse strongly places his weight on his hindquarters as a means of countering an opponent’s pulling technique) in Getty (f. 45v). This is certainly not a perfect school halt, but it demonstrates what the school halt could be used for. (Indeed, the picture I was referring to is the one you found).

     Now a few comments on the subject of agility and balance. You are indeed right that ambling has diagonal moments, although you must agree that these are very short indeed (just one frame in the Muybridge collection). Furthermore, I think you are making too big a seperation between jousting and mounted combat. In fact, jousting could be seen as the, although more restricted due to the presence of a tea, angreiffase of mounted combat in general. This is proven by almost all fighting manuals, amongst which those of dei Liberi (he always starts with the combat of the lance, demonstrating a rider in canter; this for instance strongly corroborates with the structure of Lichtenauer’s Rossfechten, where, after the guards are introduced, he starts with the combat of the lance). Consequently, the argument that the balance of the horse is still very much determined by the lateral placement of the feet holds. And, yet again, since the clearest example of Fiori performing an amble concerns a rider (in fact dressed in full armour) is one concerning a rider using the spear.

     A crucial question is what would be the use of ambling in mounted combat? Ambling should be considered as a replacement for trotting, and also this gait we barely see appearing in fighting books (or even in other iconographic material). One might suggest that trotting horses were simply not used, but this would strongly contradict the statement of Jordanus Rufus, who in fact has quite a bit to say about trotting, but nothing about ambling. If we assume that trotting horses must have been around too and trained for martial combat where is the trotting gait in the fencing manuals? The most logical explanation is that walk and canter are the gaits mostly used in combat, and trotting or ambling appear to be less relevant. An observation that might appear absurd, but is in fact not so extraordinary when looking at the cow work of vaquero’s (think about cutting) or bull fighting on the Iberian Peninsula (two forms which should certainly be studied when engaging in mounted combat). In these forms of horsemanship, trotting is barely applied (except for an occasional movement, not directly related to the activity itself). What trotting (and ambling for that matter) is mostly used for, is to either travel on horseback or training the horse (since the trot offers more impulsion than a walk, but is less complex and less exhausting for the horse).
     Should we consider the ambling in Fiori’s manuscripts as a representation of training, as Jürg Gassmann seems to imply. I believe this is a rather far-fetched interpretation. Why should a master make great efforts (not to speak about costs) to produce a manuscript, where suboptimal techniques are demonstrated (if we assume that canter would have been a better choice), just because it demonstrates training situations. Furthermore, the text give no indications whatsoever that we should not consider the represented techniques as properly executed.

     Coming to agility, I think we can both agree again that the special performances in paso fino are not applicable to the works of Fiori, and therefore can be hardly discussed in this topic (Moreover, I have no knowledge of any European breed of horse that is able to do the paso fino work as demonstrated by the Puruvian Paso or Paso Fino breeds). Returning to the subject of agility, on this point I hold to my initial statement. Agility, as I define it, is the ability to change directions quickly. In such a definition agility does not always require a horse to be moving, think about the fall backs used when working cows. However, agility, either in stationary or dynamic modes, depends on the speed of movement and the ability to collect a horse, since collection allows for a greater movement of the forequarters allowing a more expansive way of changing direction. Biomechanically, due to the lack of diagonal phases in the movement (or at least very short ones), agility in dynamic situations decreases if a horse is balanced laterally. This is in fact quit clear in stationary as well as in dynamic modes. For stationary agility, let’s consider the fall back. During a fall back to the right, the horse puts more weight on his left hind in order to allow a broad movement of the forequarters to the right. The same goes for instance for lead changes at canter. Assuming a change from left to right lead, the horse needs during the moment of suspension change his weight from the right hind to the left hind so the right fore can be raised. The same logic applies for instance to lateral movements such as travers.
     In this respect I am happy that you provided the movie of lateral cues for gaited horses. It clearly demonstrates that lateral movements can be exercised in an ambling gait. However, if you would compare this lateral work, to that of an ordinary horse, it will demonstrate the point I am trying to make very well. It is not that you need trot or canter to perform lateral exercises, I often teach my horses to perform shoulder-in and travers in walk. However, the purpose is to perform them at trot and canter as well, where trot will be the main training phase. It is important to know that these exercises are not simple trickery or just looking nicely, they have a concrete purpose, which is to engage one of the hind legs to come further underneath. These exercises prepare for more advanced types of collection, where both hindlegs need to come underneath in a good and flexed fashion. In order to achieve this, good impulsion is paramount so the hind legs step underneath sufficiently. When you observe the movements of the Kentucky mountain saddle horse, you can clearly see that the hind leg is actually not really stepping under as to be expected, proving the point I want to make.
     There is, in my perception, also another problem with training gaited horses, since they often do not trot (or at the very least do not trot as easily). It is quite clear, in as well the vaquero traditions as in the dressage traditions that trot is the main training gait (especially when physical elements are involved). Furthermore, gaited horses are often harder and rockier to canter (I agree that gaited horses certainly can canter. However, just type ‘gaited horses canter’ in google and it quickly becomes clear that this is a far harder task for gaited horses). Since canter is by far the most important gait in mounted fighting (I think this can hardly be disputed, the source evidence is quite unambiguous on this point), the difficulties gaited horses seem to experience with canter (leave alone collected canters) seem to be quite disadvantageous to their use as fighting horses.
     To the argument that training for dressage and training to fight a horse are different things I must strongly object. Indeed, dressage movements and fighting movements are different, and I do not agree with some trying to claim that dressage movements are perfectly transferable to fighting situations. However, dressage is not a separate discipline or use for a horse, it is a training system first and foremost. Although by the time of the seventeenth and eighteenth century dressage had already taken a different form than what is to be expected of medieval horsemanship, there were still clear links between both. Furthermore, although dressage was now considered an art in its own right, virtually all dressage masters still trained horses for jousting and hunting purposes and had still something to say about how one should hunt or joust with a horse (even melee fighting, although it had gone out of practice, is still considered by de la Guerinière). Hence, we cannot disregard the comments of classical dressage masters as irrelevant for medieval mounted fencing.
     The same is even more true for king Duarte, since he is certainly not refining his comments to the subject of jousting. In my post, I also added a paragraph of Duarte on sword fighting, and, next to that, he had quite a lot to say about hunting, spear throwing and even wrestling on horseback. His work, in fact, should be considered as one of the most important sources on the subject of mounted combat (even though he has nothing to say about the training of horses).
     Regarding the techniques, I do agree that working at slower gaits might be commendable during the ‘kriegsfase’. However, this does not necessarily need to be so. Talhoffer’s work, also including wrestling and swordplay, almost constantly depicts horses cantering (even during wrestling). Moreover, when one wants to reduce the speed of the fight, why not simply go to walk. I think what happens most of the time is to canter in the angreiffase, bring it quickly down to walk and applying stationary agility to position oneself to take a hold of the opponent, and then quickly rush of into canter yet again (comparable to jumping out of the spurs, used by vaqueros and buckaroos). A few years ago, when I was training these techniques, such swift speed changes appeared to be most successful (sadly enough, my sparring partner has stopped her HEMA activities, so I never got around in refining these skills). Finally, I need to notice that many of these swordplays, as in Rossfechten, happen very quickly. For instance the technique in Getty 44r, which also appears in Talhoffer (Wurtemberg, 128v), is nothing more than what could be called an absetzen in the Lichtenauer tradition, a movement which is performed ‘in des’ (so in the same time when both swords collide). The main difference between both depictions is that Fiori performs it at walk and Talhoffer at canter.

     I want to make a final comment on the ease of using ambled gaits. I am not going to dispute this point. Gaited horses are easier to ride. However, the development of an independent seat is paramount to good riding, and certainly to properly fight on horseback. If you have a good seat, even trot can be a very workable gait. Let me illustrate this by an example. I have myself conducted some jousting tests on a horse which was still in training and did not always took the canter when riding besides the tea. One such instance was during the apple cutting test. Not to blow me trumpet, but I found little trouble in slicing the apples. Pictures and movies which were took at the time, actually indicate that I was able to hold my sword leveled (I was even using a longsword instead of a broadsword, so even more difficult to keep leveled). It is the independent seat, which requires the hips to be able to move independently from the upper body that should be looked at. Off course, it will be easier on an ambling horse to carry out such tasks, but a lack of riding skills can hardly be considered a reason to use gaited horses.

     In conclusion to this (yet again much to long) comment, I certainly do not doubt the medieval use of gaited horses and I even want to acknowledge their use in combat situations. However, I doubt that Fiori is actually using ambling gaits (although I cannot exclude it entirely), but I am rather convinced that gaited horses are less fit to be used for fighting purposes than ordinary horses.

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     • 

       Tuuli Salmi on September 11, 2014 at 12:30

       Xavier, I’m looking forward to your article, especially the methods you used to analyze the illustrations! 🙂

       Like I said in the original article, I only chose a few illustrations, as to me there are many more which show from varying speeds of amble. There are illustrations of trot, canter and walk/halt (in some abrazare pictures). You yourself said that only looking at the posture in still pictures is not a correct way to analyze them. I’m fine with that, and I agree. Thus we have to look at the context. There are other reasons, why I think some of the horses are ambling. To list a few:
       1) Fiore’s works are showing training fencing with horses, NOT training horsemanship. Sure, this could mean walking too, but why would it rather be walking than ambling? What would be the benefit of walking over ambling in fencing?
       2) Some of the illustrations show opponents facing each other, the other one in full gallop/charge. Why would you walk your horse against a fast moving opponent? Lateral movement would be slower as would any other maneuvers.
       3) Even in Paris manuscript “walking” illustrations, the clothing is showing movement similar to the pictures showing galloping horses. This is however not the case in the illustrations depicting abrazare. This indicates at least some speed.
       4) What walk would this be as you have now admitted that it is not Spanish walk (this would probably be indicated by the elevated and straight fore leg, if it was), and not school walk. What walk are we then talking about? Also the halt you see in Getty could only be horse putting his weight in his hind legs due to the fact that his balance is being moved to one side as his rider is pulled down, not a “school halt”. But I see your point.

       There are records of known people riding an ambler, even to battle (Henry V). The ambling horse had many names, and it was a valued horse. Why would this type of horse be suitable for battle?

       Now, as interesting as medieval iconography is, I fail to see the point of bringing up bibles and Codex Manesse as evidence for not absence of amblers in fencing manuals. The context is different, and besides, in Codex Manesse there are clear errors in the way the horses’ joints are depicted. I.e. I would not perhaps use it as an example as a biomechanical example of correct gaits in horses. Although I do love the bear.

       There seem to be ambling horses in other fencing manuals as well, as can be seen from Codex 11093:
       http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cod.11093_46r.jpg
       http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cod.11093_45r.jpg
       http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cod.11093_45v.jpg (Note the other horse is trotting)

       And more interestingly Die Blume des Kampfes: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cod.10799_272r.jpg

       My intention was not to make a difference between jousting and mounted combat, it was to make a difference between the context in jousting and Fiore’s work. Fiore shows training, and this is evident from the way he speaks about wearing an armor or not for safety etc. He tells us in his prefaces about the difference of combat (with sharps and in zuparello darmare, i.e. arming doublet) and fighting in organised fights (he uses the term “lists” or “barriers”, if this is melee, duel or tournament, is unclear to me), and his manuals are not in the context of war. Indeed, as Jürg and I have both already said, Fiore’s manuals depict training. I also don’t understand your idea of “suboptimal techniques”. It is a FENCING manual, not a horsemanship manual. He is trying to show correct technique, not correct riding. IN this context an ambling horse is very optimal, as I have, to my believe, tried to demonstrate the whole time.

       Regarding your theory of replacing trotting with ambling, as I told you before, there is no reason whatsoever to think that an ambler cannot or will not trot. Regarding genetics that affect this trait, the DMRT3 is thought to be a dominant gene, i.e. one mutated allele will result in a gaited animal. Also, this means the trait is stronger in homozygous animals, i.e. affecting trot and changing to canter. Heterozygous animals however can exhibit all gaits, and so can at least all Icelandic horses regardless of the mutation type. Icelandic horses are always at least four-gaited. You have to again remember the context of the manuals, if they were written for patrons and their men-at-arms, not all of them had warhorses. Training had to be done with whatever they had. And like I have said, there are records of even kings riding to battle with an ambler. I’m not going to argue of the actual reasons, but clearly they were valued animals. But there are things that a “normal” horse may be better and that is war, fast moving and agile horses were needed. Amblers are not usually the fastest of horses, and I think we have agreed to the point that for fast sideways motions a cantering horse may be better. I’m not at all convinced though that a warhorse could not amble. It is again a matter of personal likes and dislikes and also of horse material. What I am interested is that in Fiore’s manuals, there seem to be amblers, I’m not arguing if they were or were not superior. I’m not interested in that question, to be honest. Every horse has a job as William Cavendish said. I would thus very much like to hear well-put evidence for this statement: “I am rather convinced that gaited horses are less fit to be used for fighting purposes than ordinary horses.”

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5. 

   Jean C on September 9, 2014 at 21:43

   Really interesting article Tuuli, I enjoyed it. I’m not an expert on this but my understanding was that many types of warhorses were bred (or trained or however they learn) for the ambling gait, and it makes sense to me on an intuitive level to use it in fighting when close-in, since it seems less disruptive to the rider than say, a cantor or a gallop.

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   • 

     Tuuli Salmi on September 11, 2014 at 06:54

     Thanks for your comment Jean. Ambling is a inherited trait, but it can also be taught to a horse (I’m going to try! 😀 ). Indeed this was why I started thinking about if the horses in Fiore’s works are ambling, as it truly is an excellent gait to work anything from.

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