Gear

[gt1cm2]

Hi guys,

what do you guys considering acceptable gear (saddles and bridles) that have a medieval 'look' to them? I'm sure that my wintec 2000 ain't gonna look the part!!

Just wondering now for future reference.

Cheers
Cindy

[Chevalier]

Cheeky answer (again) - what is your time period - region - profession - status? Then we can discuss appropriate gear...

Seriously, safety comes first thus modern kit is OK but any effort towards your "persona" (medieval alias) is a step in the right direction. However, the recommendable fabric, material, design and make are determined by time period - region - profession - status.

A general step might be to cover your saddle with canvas and to consider a custom-made bridle? I can put you in touch with a good saddler (35+ years of experience with leather gear) too!

[gt1cm2]

[adrianf]

i would be surprised if you really need a special bridle, as most of the set ups i have seen in paintings from the period seem to be a simple curb bit type arrangement. but then if you are only using snaffles at the moment, why change?

[gt1cm2]

yeah, she doesn't need a curb at all and there are pictures of bits that look very close to a modern day snaffle. I think losing the noseband would be enough when it comes to a bridle anyway.

[Callum]

When it comes to horse tack I make major compromises on historical accuracy.

Partly this is because a lot of medieval tack (e.g. bits especially for warhorses) were either very severe or not engineered to maximise the comfort or safely for the horse. When it comes to mounted combat, especially the joust, the pressure exerted on a horse's mouth can be very severe and for this reason I prefer the softest bits possible and my personal choice are the Dr Cook style bitless bridles. However it is very hard to fake a modern bit and bridle to make it look medieval and to retain its functionality.

Expense is also another big issue, particularly when it comes to saddles. I know several people who have made, or who are attempted to make medieval style saddles - either from scratch or on a modern tree. The problem with these are at very few people are actually saddlemakers and a badly fitted replica saddle can cause more problems than it can solve. To get the best result you need to fit the replica to a particular horse whereas a modern saddle can be fitted to a range of similarly sized horses. A good replica medival saddle can set you back several thousands of dollars and if you run a team of horses like we do, obviously this is unaffordable.

However you can "fake" a modern saddle to look medieval by attaching a wooden saddle plate to the front of the saddle which gives a high fronted look that from a visual persepective looks very convincing if you cover the plate in leather that matches the saddle. As a compromise between what is practical and what is ideal, all of our saddles are being fitted with such plates which can be removed when they are being used for practice and modern use.

Portugese style saddles are a good option but are styled on later period saddles than the medieval ones. But they do give a more "medieval look" than a modern saddle. You can pick up such saddles for a few hundred dollars on ebay if you are lucky. I plan to buy such a saddle for my border reiver impression as the modern Portugese saddles are basically the same that were used in the reiver period (16th century into the 17th).

[gt1cm2]

Thank you Callum, that was the info I was after. My thoughts were that safety for both and comfort of the horse were the most important, regardless of how authentic you want to be. I thought that was the reason for the bitless bridles, how do you find control in them?

Has anyone seen the Portugese saddles? I assume they are more suitable to round horses (1/4 or spanish types). What are peoples thoughts on stock saddles?

[Callum]

Hi Cindy,

I have no problems with either the Dr. Cook style or Hackamore style of bitless bridle. The Dr. Cook in particular gives you a lot of control - both in stopping your horse and turning it. The trick is to release the pressure once your horse responds to you. But for all intents and purposes you use them the same way as you do with a bited bridle.

Next time you come out you can have a go with one if you like.

Most of our horses go well in the Dr. Cook and I like them because when you get a big hit in the joust, you can often pull the horse quite severely the mouth if you are riding on a bit. While we train to ride on a loose rein in the joust, we find that often our international competitors or people who haven't done a lot of riding tend to hang onto the reins a bit too much (because they don't really know the horses we give them that well and therefore don't trust them to stop).

Stock saddles are good and are a good compromise especially if you put a front plate on them because they tend to have a high cantle and this plus the frontplate gives a good medieval look.

You can also pick up good, cheap stock saddes from Saddlery Warehouse for as little as $299 and we now have stock saddles for all of our jousting horses. The cheap ones have lasted a long time and are good because maille or plate leg harness can rip up leather quite severely and you don't want to damage a more expensive saddle.

I have seen and ridden in Portugese saddles while on overseas jousting trips and can also recommend them.

[Chevalier]

Hi Cindy,

Great to see you have gotten the answers oyu were looking for. Just a few comments:

[Baroque]

Having owned both Portuguese and Spanish saddles, I far prefer the feel of the Spanish to the Portuguese which is too much like a bucket seat with the weight thrown to the back of the saddle. They are after all made for bullfighting and the way you end up sitting reflects this...

DON'T buy an indian cheapie off ebay. Go for the real thing, you wont regret it and the leather is a lot nicer!

This is the best place to buy this gear and the guy there is great to deal with. http://www.animoruitersport.nl/ both of my Alta Escuela saddles [I have a wide fit one and a normal width one for the smaller horses] only took about 10 days to get here in the mail including customs inspection. I have bought a few other items off him and he is very helpful.

[gt1cm2]

Well, we have ended up looking for a new saddle much earlier than I expected, unfortunately my plans of getting a period tent are now on hold. Grayson and his saddle for Julius don't quite agree so we're now on the hunt but being the typical TB he has a massive wither so none of the stock saddles from Saddlery Warehouse fit even with padding.

So yesterday we went and met up with Graham Turner of Dove Saddlery in Waikanae and we might be able to fit a nice western saddle on Jules. He has a roping saddle with a tree designed for narrow horses and it fitted much better than the SW do, not perfect but we're still working on it. We have a saddle pad that allows you to insert foam inserts (looked like under carpet rubber) to pad up specific areas like the shoulders. But if that doesn't work then we can look at either padding the saddle up or even altering the tree to fit Jules as a very last option.

Anyway enough of my rambling. If anyone is interested Graham can help someone if they are interested in doing a proper period saddle, his site is http://www.dovesaddles.co.nz/index.php?pr=Home_Page

[Chevalier]

Hello,

I met Graham Turner before and he is well-known for producing affordable entry saddles. If you wanna go for the real deal, however, I recommend Peter Carlisle from Greytown. Unlike Graham who imports plastic saddle trees from overseas, Peter creates saddle trees from wood and rawhide to your horse. Plus, he knows about working saddles and builds them to last! And yes, he can do medieval reproductions too - he has seen us in action, had a look at manuscripts and has the technical expertise for creating something new. He is also a bloody good horsetrainer but that is a different matter altogether. Check out http://www.saddlery.co.nz/!

[gt1cm2]

Well the issues I have about Pete is that he is somewhere that we can not take our horses too where we can with Graham. But also I wouldn't say Graham's stuff is not the real deal, it was/is quite good quality and I have to say I'm not willing to pay 3k for a saddle when I can get something for $1500 which is just as good a quality. I'm not saying I wouldn't look at his saddles as we did but he is outside of our price bracket and more importantly area for us.

[Chevalier]