Medieval Barding

Most forms of barding, other than padded or quilted cloth, required massively heavy and powerful mounts. The weight of barding and the man, including his armor and weapons, easily strained even the largest war horses. For this reason, later barding was redesigned using lighter materials such as boiled leather or thick padded cloth. One of the most common historical bardings was made of boiled leather (sometimes more than 2 inches thick), with specially reinforced parts made of steel bands and wooden planks or short strips of thick, hard wood.

Late medieval barding comprised a number of pieces of armor covering different parts of the mount. These included the chanfron (for the head and neck), the crinet (for the side of the neck), the cuello (for the forward chest), the poitrel (for the flanks and broad chest), the flanchards (covering areas around the saddle), and the crupper (for the hindquarters). Barding almost never protected the legs of the mount.

In warmer and more humid climates, full barding is less common than half barding. When used at all, lighter forms are preferred. Half barding usually includes only the chanfron and poitrel (plus the crinet and cuello for plate barding).

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