Re: Lady Godiva - stirrupless! Saddling Cloth and Sumpter


Joetheone wrote:
"celia" <c_a_blay@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1151296779.999683.120490@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Joetheone wrote:

It is immediately obvious that the horse carrying the baby
is not exactly pulling its weight so I thought about
pack horse arrangements, a system that has hardly
changed at all over the centuries.
Different types of horses were favoured for different jobs
as suggested in this early 16th c. song;

A courser for the warrior
A rounsey for the squire,
A sumpter for the baggage train,
A screwbald for the friar.
But I will braid the jennet
and shine the bridle- rein
For the riding of my lady
When she is home again.

A destrier for the jousting,
A hackney for the maid
A palfrey for the princely one
Who preens it on parade.
But I will gloss the jennet
That is cosy in the hay
for the riding of my lady
In the merry month of May.

We had a good gentle mule that could carry 4 small children
comfortably
in
the alforjas bags on a packsaddle. When they were babies, I've
zipped my
own
children up in my coat to take them horseback. A regular baby sling
works
just as well.

That sounds lovely. I bet you don't live in England,
both pack saddles and mules are rare here.
On the lanes I use an 1890's governess car for the little ones.
The smallest baby sits by my side nearest the pony.
A safe animal is still needed as they always seem to
want to pat it on the rear end.
I'm not sure my old cart is robust enough for really rough
off road work though it would originally have been used in
such conditions.
I have happy memories of taking a cart load of inner city kids
for a drive to where a ford crosses the track, they were astounded
that they were allowed to get wet and dirty and ride up the stream
bareback but were soon having a wonderful time and posted
me a thankyou picture the next day in which even the sun
and the pony were smiling.

Celia

"Bomb proof" and "Kid's horse" are actual terms you find in horse
classifieds.
No, I'm not in England. But I'm surprised that mules and pack saddles
would
be rare. I thought people would be big on taking off across the
countryside
horseback. It would be more of a pain to hang stuff from an English
saddle
that it is from a western one.
Heck, Napolean rode a mule across the Alps.
Didn't clerics usually ride mules?
Your little trips sound like fun, too. Kids and horses. Good times.
I'd just as soon let an inexperienced kid ride bareback as in a saddle.
They
learn balance better, and if they fall off, they just fall off and don't
have anything to get hung up in.

Agreed, and I'm too mean to let any kid ride in the stream on
a good English leather saddle.
I have never in my life seen a pack saddle yet alone one in use.
I have a pair of very old leather saddle bags that i have restored.
i have only ever seen mules in county shows, never on the roads.
When I say rare , I mean rare, I've seen more endangered birds
than mules.
Long distance riding is popular. A friend of mine went in for it.
Last week I waved to her as she rode by on her Arab, on
Thursday the village was in the church for a talk on the history
of the church and it was announced that earlier in the day she
was in the Chilterns for a long distance ride, got on her horse
and dropped down dead. It doesn't seem real yet.

I think in the early Anglo Saxon period priests weren't supposed
to ride horses. It went along with the not carrying weapons thing
and was I think a hang over from pre- Christian times.
It would be interesting to know if this rule was ever broken in
the Dark Ages. Near us is a 7th c. burial mound where a member
of the royal family named Taeppa was buried, the treasure found
there is in the British Museum and pictures can be found online.
While working on some charters that I believe belong in this area
though presently ascribed to other areas I came across a couple
of mentions of his name that suggested that he held land used
by priests (pre - christian) It would have been natural to speculate
that his authority included a priestly role but his tomb included
weapons and nothing that indicated he was a priest.

Celia

I somehow doubt if Bishop Odo was stuck on a mule. (That's facaecious. And
probably mispelled.)
How do you put a couple day's food, bedroll and coat on an English saddle?
I'd like to tell you that I really appreciate the knowledge and quality
you've brought to this group. You made it interesting again.

Thanks.
Oh you lucky person, living somewhere with wide
open spaces, here all we usually attach to the saddle
is a tiny leather case to hold a couple of sandwiches
or a flask of whisky. We dream of being a days ride
from civilisation but are rarely more than half an hour
from the nearest shop or pub and even with horses
with a little planning there will be a B&B at the end
of the day.
I no longer ride and it's slightly more difficult with
a cart as less tracks are available but at least there's
storage for a good packed lunch in a cart.

Celia

.

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