Medieval warhorses were 'surprisingly small'

Dr Katherine Kanne from the University of Exeter measuring horse bones found in Goltho, Lincolnshire

Medieval warhorses were "surprisingly small", researchers have found.

They are often depicted as large powerful beasts, but many were no more than pony-sized by modern standards, according to research by five English universities.

Horses during the period were often below 14.2 hands high, or 1.44m.

A team of archaeologists and historians found they were not always bred for size, but for success in functions such as long-distance raiding campaigns.

Researchers measured different bones as part of their research

Researchers analysed the largest dataset of English horse bones dating between AD 300 and 1650, found at 171 separate archaeological sites.

A spokeswoman for the University of Exeter said: "Medieval warhorses were surprisingly small in stature."

Depictions of medieval warhorses in films and popular media frequently portrayed "massive mounts on the scale of shire horses, some 17 to 18 hands high" but that evidence showed horses of 15 hands were "very rare indeed", the study found.

According to the Encyclopaedia Brittanica, King Henry VIII established the hand as a unit of measurement as 4in (10.16cm).

It is used primarily for measuring the height of horses from the ground to the withers - the top of the shoulders.

Prof Alan Outram, from the University of Exeter, said the horses were "much smaller than we might expect for equivalent functions today".

He said: "Selection and breeding practices in the Royal studs may have focused as much on temperament and the correct physical characteristics for warfare as they did on raw size."

The study, published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, showed that breeding and training of warhorses was influenced by a combination of biological and cultural factors, as well as behavioural characteristics of the horses such as temperament.

The work, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. was carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter, University of Sheffield, University of Leicester, Bournemouth University and University of East Anglia.