Written by: Dave Galvin
The all-important saddle had no stirrups. These were replaced by the use of 4 horns on the saddle itself, which offered a great sense of security, as the horseman could not fall out. However, if unseated, then regaining the saddle could be a problem yet we are told that in training a horse could be mounted by the rider whilst at a canter. Certainly whilst standing still simply by jumping on much as we would jump onto a vaulting horse today.
The saddle was held in place by a simple girth and prevented from moving by the addition of a breast strap and breech strap around the animal's bottom. Some harnesses were decorated with religious tokens e.g. lunate and phalera pendants. They symbolised the femininity of the moon and its opposite, the masculinity of the sun.
In the animal's mouth sat the bit. This one here is a copy of one found at Newstead, Scotland, and is commonly known as a twisted straight bar snaffle and made of iron. The twisted central section sat in the horses mouth over its tongue and gum; the loop below sat in the chin groove and was designed to prevent the animal from opening its mouth and escaping the action of the bit. The small iron bars on the side fitted to the bridle cheek pieces and ran over the sensitive poll area behind the horses ears. When the rains were jerked, the bars would rotate downwards and exert pressure on the poll.
The star shaped prickers were designed to again act on the sensitive areas of the horse's lips. Pull on one side of the rein and the animal would respond by moving in that direction. It was extremely clumsy and brutal in its design and application.
A subtler bit was the curb (not featured) although excessive or over zealous use would destroy the horse's palate as the action was very simplistically that of a spoon rotating in a horizontal and vertical plane and pressing against the roof of the mouth. Sometimes featured on tombstones, as an item of horse ware is the psalion, a strip of flat metal joining one side of the bit to the other across the soft part of the horse's muzzle. Once again it prevents the animal from escaping the bit and doubles up as a means of control by exerting pressure on the nose via the action of pulling the reins.
Finally, more common plain jointed snaffle bits were used. These are far kinder but it can be conjectured that as stallions were prized for their bravery in battle then absolute mastery was a must, and the tack used reflected this. We can only look through modern eyes.
