Medieval Footman VS Mounted Knight: Advice for the Fighter on Foot

Medieval Footman VS Mounted Knight: Advice for the Fighter on Foot
Zachary Evans' Part 2 follow-up video: • Cavalry vs Infantry wi...
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[@calebcampbell9280]

Me, who's equestrian experience is 99% from Mount & Blade: "Hmm yes, indeed." [nods in agreement]

[@Taistelukalkkuna]

Where horsies run tirelessly, and like F1 cars.

[@Lionbug]

@@Taistelukalkkuna F1 + F3 cars you might say

[@iamshangyee]

@@Lionbug F1 + F2 cars if you are really into micros

[@aginorchuain77]

Having seen Jason Kingsley's videos with him galopping full speed in armor I can't help but think that I'd be absolutely terrified by even one mounted knight attacking me, let alone a group of them. I mean: even when you stab at them (and timing might not be easy to do damage), there's still a metric ton of mass coming at you at 30km/h

[@mattjack3983]

For sure. It would be incredibly scary. And most of the time the horse itself was pretty well armored as well. Not to mention that a knight would have also been riding a bigger horse than the one shown in this video. They would have been on a big destrier warhorse, bred specifically for the purpose of being rode into battle. Mounted knights really were like the tanks of the medieval period. They were just incredibly difficult to kill. I certainly wouldnt want to find myself on a battlefield with one of them running me down, thats for sure.

[@nowthenzen]

Matt: "we're not going to stab the horse" Horse: "Gimme' a carrot"

[@dysomniak]

Having known horses I guarantee this is the entirety of what goes through that animal's big stupid head.

[@nowthenzen]

@@dysomniak sounds ideal to me; if my entire burden was simply wondering where by next carrot would be coming from ... paradise

[@bigyin2794]

Obviously in real life you hit the horse and get it to bolt or rear up and dismount the rider, then the rider is toast.

[@mortache]

@@bigyin2794 assuming you're still alive lol

[@dizzt19]

In a traditional fashion, it too Matt 90 seconds to explain the context before the other person got a word in... xD

[@texasbeast239]

Matt even had to edit a break in there to cut part of his own talking out. So he probably went even longer than 90 sec!

[@MtRevDr]

Poor horse waiting there for the talk. That is a horse's life.

[@spyrofrost9158]

@@MtRevDr Nobody ever listens to the horse.

[@ilejovcevski79]

Being run down, bullied or knocked out of the way is indeed (or better said, would be) my primary concern when fighting mounted opposition. The momentum he can command is just so much more then any brace i can pull.

[@stevenkobb156]

Yes, unless a footman gets a surprise hit in the crush of battle, I can't imagine a one-on-one duel ending in any way but a fallen footman covered in hoof prints.

[@b.h.abbott-motley2427]

@@stevenkobb156 Pietro Monte wrote that this was no big deal, that even if you were unarmored & trampled by a horse, it still shouldn't be able to hurt you enough to prevent you from killing it by attacking its belly as it rides over you. He did, however, note, that soldiers on foot almost always failed to do this theoretically obvious thing in practice, that it required considerable courage to accomplish.

[@PaletoB]

Probably depends a lot on the horse. If it's trained to think and move on it's own while being really aggressive. I wouldn't want to fight it even without a rider on top.

[@ilejovcevski79]

@@PaletoB well said

[@simonbrooke4065]

@@stevenkobb156 In an open field with no cover, the horseman has a lot of advantage.

[@jm9371]

Amazing Horse!... such a well disciplined animal. Of course the rider is a pro.. but still very impressed with the animal.

[@KartarNighthawk]

Currently writing an article on a similar topic, looking at the ability of Early Medieval infantry to face down horsemen, with Hastings and Zallaqa as the primary case studies. At one you've got housecarls with Dane axes holding out against Norman cav until the end of the day, at the other the countercharge of the sword and assegai armed Blackguard routs the Spanish knights.

[@Nickrioblanco1]

Superb idea for a video. The wind gives me an excuse to watch multiple times. Thank you and keep up the great work.

[@lloveAphmau]

Zack, you're far more of a subject matter expert than most of us watching, don't be so apologetic or self dismissive buddy, humility is good but as I'm always telling my wife where you have actual authority be confidence in it and project it, especially if you're holding anything back we all want to know on the subject due to excess humility, great to watch you, its plainly obvious you know and have exercised far more than you're letting on, I hope you're on more videos

[@Briver64]

Thank you two for making this video. I'm planning an animation of two knights fighting and at one point I want one to be on foot, the other on his horse. So I needed to look up what the knight on foot could do to even the playing field. This really helped and gave me some idea of what I could put in to make the fighting believable.

[@SandraOrtmann1976]

That was very, very interesting. My thanks to everybody involved. It was really interesting to see the pictures from the treatises put into practice, so to speak.

[@atrior7290]

A good one handed hit using Meyer quaterstaff technique with a spear on the horse's legs would be pretty effective I'd imagine. I own 3 horses and I must say the fragile part of their body is the legs.

[@Jacob-W-5570]

wow, I do a lot of backpacking, and occasionally meet horse (and rider) on the trails, but those horses are 9/10 spooked by us by the backpacks changing the shape. And here you are waving pike spear sword shield around.. and the only thing the horse is bothered with is the fact that you didn't bring an apple.

[@bigguy7353]

Two different types of horses exposed to completely different stimuli. Apples and oranges.

[@itsapittie]

As a horseman and cavalry reenactor, I can address that. It comes down to two things -- selecting the right horse and doing enough training. Many horses can be taught to tolerate those things but certainly not all of them. After finding a horse with the right temperament, it's a matter of doing a lot of training. I won't go into the techniques for that but there are a number of ways to do it. Obviously it also involves a lot of trust for both partners. The horse learns that the rider won't take him into a situation where he will get hurt and the rider learns that when the horse is hesitant to do something it might be wise to reevaluate. I don't know where you're hiking but it's very likely that most of the riders you encounter haven't selected their horses for that and haven't spent a lot of time training them to tolerate things they haven't seen before. People select their horses for a lot of reasons and everything involves compromises.

[@markfergerson2145]

@@itsapittie Even in more modern times, horses had to be selected for tolerance to gunfire whether from the rider or from others. Some horses will more or less ignore it, others become uncontrollable.

[@itsapittie]

@@markfergerson2145 Oh, absolutely. I've trained horses to gunfire for cavalry competition. Some of them just aren't suited and will never get it. Some are dead easy to train. Most can be trained with enough time and patience.

[@poppymason-smith1051]

and to add to what Kelton is on about, even nowadays certain horse breed are bred for different things. most horse breed you encounter in europe or used for hacking nowadays have been bred from riding stock meant for hunting and jumping as sports. they have not been selectively bred to be docile and amiable and brave. you can hear reaction anecdotes about how arabs, thoroughbreds and warmbloods behave and react. and then how pres, shetlands and cobs react. ofc all horses are different but there are generalisations of how they cope with certain things. and in those days some horse were bred for war, so were they bred to be brave? which is certainly not something they are being selectively bred for today. and e.g. quarter horses are bred to herd cattle and ik someone and have heard from others that some even bred in the uk and with no prior experiences to cows will try to herd and drive them when first introduced

[@kamilszadkowski8864]

It would be great if you guys could explore the differences between using a lance vs using a spear(possibly with the addition of a shield) from horseback against a footman. I'm asking because lances that were designed to break on impact and spear-like lances were used side by side for centuries. My take on it is that both offered some advantages and disadvantages in different scenarios.

[@shawn6860]

The spear most times did not have a guard or means to keep the weapon from sliding out his or her grip. That would be one difference.

[@kamilszadkowski8864]

@@shawn6860 Yup, the other would be an option of using an overhand grip.

[@airnt]

15th century lances can be really long, 12-16 foot is pretty normal, there is an original lance of 467 cm, overhand spear use and two handed use of long lances is shown in the treatises. but the reach of a 16 foot lance is pretty huge and the lance feels much heavier in the hand, especially with a period weight head on it. (ca 150 grams) but you can absolutely fence with it still the 12 foot lances are a lot more nimble lances in later periods (napoleonic, or something) are often 250-310 cm long, which is a fair deal shorter and is more commonly held in the middle (or 2/3rds) of the shaft. this does really change the game.

[@bakters]

@@shawn6860 "or her" ;-)

[@shawn6860]

@@bakters I figure some poor peasant woamn at one time or a antother picked up a spear or pitch fork and sais "Oh ya? you wanna piece of this?" and stabbed the fool getting too close. lol!

[@hazelkingofrabbits]

Lovely horse, so affectionate, not a war horse at all. He seems to understand you, mostly, at other times puzzled, also understands his role and that it's a game, simulation. Fascinating how good natured and trusting our 4 legged friends are, despite us putting them in danger (historically)

[@rogerlafrance6355]

Attack and retreat or break thru the line both at speed leaving their lances stuck into the enemy was the goal. While some would go for the horseman, others would go for the horses legs in order to trip him with a spear or various snares even ropes. Often the goal was not to kill but, take the knight for ransom. Also, one way to disable a fallen knight it to lay a pole arm across his neck and you and a mate stand on each end. Still, it took a number of footmen to defeat a horseman.

[@GallowglassAxe]

This is an amazing video and I enjoyed every bit of it. I've been talking with one friend who does SCA and she specializes mounted competitions. We discuss a lot about this and different styles of horsemanship. I would be really interested in the pros and cons of the different grips used on horse (Overhand, underhand, and the couched).

[@RoninOfTheVerse]

Love this video, never thought to look on this platform to learn this

[@qiangluo5537]

16th century Chinese genreal Qi Jiguang said spear has little use against heavy cavalry charge. especially when facing barded heavy horse of mongol elite cavalry which they were trained to run into infantry spear instead of ride pass. spears often break when meet the barding and rarely killing the horse. and brace cavalry chargewith spears also required extreme displine. he encourage the use of mobile wagons, imported japanese/European firearm and twohanded swords to fight cavalry dominated mongol army. he stated using twohanded sword sweeping at horse legs that has been stopped or slowed down by the wagon; is much more effective than brace the impact with spears.

[@sunnmringenriksheim7812]

I would love to see you Matt taking riding lessons and hear about how the experience was for you. Perhaps you eventually could ride a lesson in your armour!

[@madao7865]

I wish I got as many complements as this horse got from Matt.

[@mikaelm6404]

More horses please! Matt you should get up to saddel list ones! I want to see how it goes!

[@malcolmclancytv2262]

During Caesar's Gallic War one of his best units was the German cavalry. I believe they deployed as a sort of infantry/cavalry hybrid, with two men riding each horse and one man dismounting and remounting between engagements. I understand the technology and horses themselves were different, but is there any Medieval comparison and is this a concept you guys could explore?

[@Harbinger359]

I'm personally pretty curious about mounted archers and gunners as well

[@erikjarandson5458]

Matt (talking): Offend... threat... lever... take his lance in hand... penetrate... that being said... context... Zack (thinking): Wait! Am I... helping him explain... how to, um, kill me? Indy the horse (thinking): Blah-blah-blah! When does the fighting start? I know I can crush that puny human! Matt (talking): Beautiful, big horse... Indy the horse (thinking): Aw... Isn't he cute? Fine! I'll let him live!

[@ilari90]

Also, if you stab a horse with spear, and the horse has even some cloth on it, it might got stuck in the cloth and you need to ditch the spear if circling like that.

[@MtRevDr]

A spear that gets stuck to something on the horse is likely to obstruct or even hurt the horse in some way. The horse could get a bit mad. It could be a gamble how well trained the enemies' horses are.

[@jamesduda6017]

Great video

[@manfredconnor3194]

Matt, when you cross the lance performing the manuever where you stated. "The treatise version is done with the other hand and foot leading . . . " Is that an inside move or an outside move? I would suspect it to be an outside move, but man, it could be hard to get outside fast enough with someone riding at you - eh?

[@caradocewing4434]

if you do it both in harness itd be very cool

[@DoctyrEvil]

The 9 dislikes must be people who lost against Zack at jousting...

[@grindsaur]

Excellent!

[@Daedrex]

Woah. Now that's a head!

[@steveholmes11]

Horse is thinking "Puny humans, I would crush them both; if only I could grow my own oats".

[@Dwaynerade]

I was hoping for techniques against a pegasus rider but this'll do.

[@ZacharyEvans]

Hope this gives some ideas: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hHO3naygnJaFrpY Thanks for the video suggestion.

[@Dwaynerade]

@@ZacharyEvans Awesome! Thanks for humoring me!

[@philholman8520]

Blimey! I didn't realise how tall you are. Standing next to that horse gave it away. This changes all the sizes of the weapons you hold! I'm 5'6"! How tall was the average medieval footman?

[@barretharms1432]

My mounts will be trained to be determined my mouse will not be trained to be calm

[@shawn6860]

4 Cavalrymen have already put their dislike in lol! Nice video, Matt. and I will look at Zach's channel. And give that horse an apple. Indy did a great job.

[@itsapittie]

LOL! I'm a cavalryman and I gave it a hearty thumbs up. Only a fool thinks his preferred weapon system (yes, the horse is part of the weapon system) has no disadvantages or will always prevail.

[@TrueMentorGuidingMoonlight]

If you're infantry and your enemies are cavalry, use a billhook, pike, or arrows.

[@andrewrobertson4085]

Indi and Gary are absolute legends. Try Gary and Bueno, his younger and more sprightly horse.

[@manfredconnor3194]

Any special moves for Katzbalgers vs. horses? = @ )

[@colbunkmust]

I think there is some speculation that Richard III's groin injuries among others were retributive and inflicted post mortem.

[@janehollander1934]

Zac Evans got to his "opinion" after researching the findings, that the team of Leicester University had published. Following the archeological excavation of King Richard III's remains in 2012. After he had been killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in August 1485. The team think that, fallen King Richard III, was slung over a horse to transport his corpse from Market Bosworth to the town of Leicester. And that somebody indeed stabbed the dead King in the buttocks. But the team admitted that they don't know the exact order of injuries the King sustained that led to his death. But Zac started with the question; why did Richard get off his horse at the bottom of the battlefield at all?! If the King at one point stood-up in his Midieval Warhorse saddle. His buttocks would have been unprotected from a stab from down below going up as well...and would have forced Richard to dismount. Because riding/fighting on with such a wound have been impossible. Imho I really think that Zac, as a 15th Century reenactor & fully armed & experienced Jouster makes a really good point. And he isn't alone in this line of thinking. Here's a link to Zac Evan's video on Richard III 's wound. ✌🏻 kzbin.info/www/bejne/aIiUnKhnf5upaMU

[@colbunkmust]

@@janehollander1934 It is very possible that the reason that Richard III was dismounted from his horse is that the beast was already dead. I never claimed that Zac was right or wrong, only to add that the nature of R3's wounds are not definitive and that there is in fact speculation as to their origins.

[@mrd7067]

How common were really grassfields without rabbitholes and other sinkholes you or the horse can step in and hurt your manevour, stance or ancle, up to mybe even breaking it? When military parachuting for example all the holes are quite a bad thing and they knock the wind out of you.

[@emamag6455]

What I learned from your videos in the open it's that England is a very windy country

[@ThisNameShallBeUnique]

A slightly different scenario: The Horseman has to defend a position or another food soldier. The stereotypical example would be the king who has lost his horse and now his brave knight has to protect him while the king lies in the mud. Riding away is no longer an option. Turning on the spot is more difficult as one does not want to let the foot soldier be on the same side as the king.

[@GB-yt9sn]

Question I have about the treatises, who read them mainly. To clarify, I mean when they were written who had access to them and how was the information disseminated. Would the information be passed down to the common spear/pike/swordman via the military chain of command or would it be only accessable to the literate and well off?

[@lynnettejalufka2682]

Thank you so much for this video! I am very interested in mounted combat. Indy appears to be a good representation of a medieval war horse. How tall is he? I am looking forward to future videos. I would like to see if the techniques change in a group or battlefield scenario. Also, was something used to protect the reins in combat from being cut? Other than the quintain and tournaments, what did a knight use to practice the lance and sword with his horse?

[@brittakriep2938]

Oh in the years before wwl still infantry rifles had been rather long compared to now, same with bayonnet to have a polearm against a monted cavallry man.

[@repeatdefender6032]

Question: Are there historical sources that mention fighting men being hesitant to deal blows to horses? Just curious if that was a thing?

[@barretharms1432]

The one-handed thrust used against the horse before you knocked his weapon offline would ensure your death by all means threaten the horse but immediately Dodge that Lance do not attempt to strike the horse just threatened it once the night stops then you have the advantage

[@bigguy7353]

You have no real grasp of punctuation or capitalization. It's just gibberish.

[@lifigrugru6396]

its 3+1 base type horsmen in my eye's one who travel to battle and continous on foot --- not so interesting now-- light cavalry less armor (even the Hussars ornamented jakcet, the hat white visor is a tipe of armor), more mobile saber/short lances (missile/firearm) is not the best to break a line white direct overrun but flanking and harrasing can done lot of damage; and heavy cavalry what is most likely the theme for me now from situation (less armor is sort of side note's), heavely armored impact like a train intho the line to break it and get away. one style is a nomadic horse archer what not real use close combat, or get a light cavalry like tactick if have to. I woul like a 3. part in themen tactics, like (square) formation, and non weapon uses, like digged pole, or walls usage. Just to round up.

[@DemonEnrgd]

Time Traveler: Ah! This is just what I needed.

[@catu1995]

I heard “If we look at our Bolognese sauces…”

[@MarcRitzMD]

Would we generally consider the footmen to have a numerical advantage? The horseman is basically defenseless if he is already defending against one opponent

[@adamnorton1734]

It occurs to me that once everyone arrives at the battle a horseman must have enjoyed an advantage. Otherwise, why would anyone incur the additional expense of a horse? Then I wonder: could it just make it easier to get away it thing went wrong?

[@pp-wo1sd]

That is certainly a part of it . But I think it was mostly because the pay was much better , though they might have gotten some advantages like not needing to preform guard duty , set camp , dig trenches and similar things . I'd also expect it was a bit less tiring aswell than being a foot slogger .

[@dysomniak]

I love the big dumb horse and on the off chance anyone who has power sees this please give him an apple for me.

[@IceniBrave]

One thing that I've seen in TV/film fights is the footman grabbing the horseman's foot or leg, lifting, and tipping them off the horse. I have my doubts, and clearly you'd have to be lucky to get exactly the right circumstances to even try it. But even allowing for that, is it a remotely practicable technique?

[@ModernKnight]

It can be done, but if the horseman simply flexes the leg at the knee you have to lift up a long way, and frankly there's a ton of ways to avoid it. Like many fancy techniques it can work, but works best with a compliant target, especially if they're a trained stunt specialist...

[@leemcgann6470]

Did The horseman just simply “ride him down” referring to a man on foot?

[@Lucius1958]

I must admit, while the presentation was great, much of my attention was distracted by the horse. Indy looks supremely bored, while the two humans (well, at least one of them) keep chattering on, when he just wants to get moving... 7@=Q

[@TomTomTomTom538]

Imagine if Matt, lindybeige, Todd, Metatron and Stefan Milo all had a fight I wonder who would win

[@johnladuke6475]

Actually Matt, you are dead wrong about one thing. I had assumed that you *could* ride a horse.

[@RedHandedGod]

One thing I'd like to see is the practical ability for Zachary to defend himself with different types of shield on horseback (i.e. how much better is the kite/teardrop shield over the later heater shield).

[@Robert399]

probably worse tbh

[@VanguardArmament]

"Down here, he's an incredibly strong great big animal" I wish someone would say that about me

[@aparioss1072]

- ur parents, selling u at the farmer black market -

[@GallowglassAxe]

Stop skipping leg day.

[@Robert399]

@@GallowglassAxe I don't think he was talking about his legs...

[@kleinjahr]

Note also that a man on foot has a tighter turn radius than the horse. This allows him to find the optimum spot to attack. With properly trained horse and rider there are methods that negate this advantage , see the Spanish School Lipizzaners.

[@jmclean7006]

Just got off a weekend event being infantry against cav doing some of Mair’s and Fiore’s plays. so good to see this side of HEMA get more attention!

[@ryuukake]

I have a theory, as HEMA seems to rise in popularity anti populists join and want to do things other than the normal swords. they want to do axes, and spears, because those are not normal. My sister kind of did this by learning fencing with her left hand

[@ryuukake]

She is naturally right handed,

[@deputydynamo]

That is so awesome! I hope to join one of those weekends myself sometime!

[@Mupworp]

32:10 "if we look at the Bolognese sauces..."

[@johnpauldwyer2034]

This is really cool! Great job creating consistent content while keeping the topics of the videos unique and interesting! Thanks and keep it up!

[@b.h.abbott-motley2427]

Pietro Monte described how the combatant on foot has the option to attack the horse underneath on its belly, whether intentionally or opportunistically if overrun by the animal. He noted that "nearly all footsoldiers" fail to do this in practice, & that it takes considerable courage to face a rider even though the person on foot in theory can do so successfully.

[@predwin1998]

I think this is further enhanced by the riders mobility allowing them to essentially choose their engagements most of the time. Even if one would encounter such a brave and skilled footman, if the horseman recognizes this in time he'd just ride away and find one of many potential others targets who would break under the immense pressure of facing a mounted knight. In a one-on-one situation the horseman might not notice this in time, but on a battlefield the footmen most likely to properly stand up to the cavalry are those surrounded by fellow soldiers who'd do the same, AKA those in an infantry block that doesn't break cohesion at an incoming charge. Which would likely result in the cavalry abandoning the charge and finding some other targets elsewhere on the field isntead. So those footsoldiers who would manage to fend off a horseman like that are the least likely to actually find themselves fighting one directly.

[@simonbrooke4065]

@@predwin1998 I'd agree that in open field conditions, the combatant with greater manouverability will use that advantage to avoid engaging except on terms favourable to him. But urban fighting, or fighting in woodland or scrub or on broken ground or bog, would negate this to a greater or lesser extent. One on one, in an open, level, firm field, my money would be on the horseman. Hint to the footman: choose your ground.

[@davidtuttle7556]

@@simonbrooke4065 like Moray and Wallace did at Stirling?

[@predwin1998]

@@simonbrooke4065 I agree. Additionaly, while I don't want to give the impression that knights were fools, it can also be noted that the cavalry was often chosen based on who had access to the proper equipment (warhorses), which meant that *some* knights could be arrogant/foolish enough to be lured into a fight they should and could have avoided, perhaps due to peer pressure or something. I'd say Agincourt is a good example of mounted men-at-arms taking a fight they really shouldn't have. P.S. While you don't seem like someone who would assume knights were just arrogant rich dudes in armour, the emphasis I put on stating that would be the exception was aimed at others who might read this conversation.

[@simonbrooke4065]

@@davidtuttle7556 The Scots waited until 'about 2,000' of Hugh de Cressingham's troops - apparently mainly cavalry - had crossed the extremely narrow bridge, and were hemmed in on a small area of soft ground, before they launched their attack. The attack drove de Cressingham's force away from the bridge into a bend of the river on extremely soft ground. Outnumbered more than two to one by mainly light infantry while tightly packed in a bog with no escape route, it's hardly surprising that de Cressingham's cavalry was cut to pieces. It's also significant that the Scots commanders, on the Abbey Mount, had a clear strategic view of the field of battle, while the English side did not - so the Scots command and control will have been better.

[@silverjohn6037]

Meanwhile, if the horse was an old sergeant major horse, "Ok you two you keep swinging those pointy things around I'm goin to run about 200 meters that way. Rider, you can come along if you behave, but this is not up for debate. We'll come back after that at full speed but I'm not doing anything useful standing still."

[@khartog01]

I love when Matt is discussing the horse, he just wants pets from Matt.

[@JustGrowingUp84]

Aww, beautiful horse wants some pets! Very interesting video Matt. I sure hope you and Zach get to do some more videos.

[@stephenwilhelm]

No constant stream of "good boy"? Not sure what I think about that.

[@carebear8762]

I see what you did there.

[@janehollander1934]

We are all fans of Jason and his 👍🏻encouraging Horse talk.

[@gabrieladonai9427]

I like to point out that physically the lunge seems a very risky move against an armored rider, because you'd probably lose your pole weapon before you'd knock the rider. You are putting your pole weapon's balance point really far out your reach with that move, and if it hits solid enough, any angle in impact will be felt really hard on your grip, possibly twisting it out. It probably is useful, however maybe the fact it's not really safe/reliable is a reason why it never went into the medieval sources, only showing up when armor started to fade out from the battlefield because of guns

[@99IronDuke]

A very lovely horse. Were not at least some medieval war horses trained to kick and bite the enemy? leaving aside highly disciplined infantry squares, that it was almost impossible to get horses to charge into, in the Sudan in 1898 when the 21st Lancers charged the Dervishes, the footmen often lay on the ground (a less good tactic against lancers) and cut at the horses bellies and legs with their spears and swords, while others cut at the reins and the riders. Men who were unhorsed did not fair well. One good thing about modern war is that horses are not really involved in it any more and I say that as a former soldier who likes horses.

[@shaidrim]

When I saw your preview of this video I thought you were about to make a collab with Jason, but Zac looks very competent too. I will subscribe to his channel for sure. Nice video 👍

[@LuxisAlukard]

That horse deserves it's own coat of arms!

[@adambielen8996]

Do you mean a comparison? The cloth coat that knightly steeds are usually shown wearing?

[@LuxisAlukard]

@@adambielen8996 OK, that too, but I mean real heater-shield shaped personal coat of arms. You know, maybe with picture of black horse on it? =)

[@MarcRitzMD]

I'd like to see whether it would be advantageous and realistic for the horseman to just ride away to then turn and charge. Also, do some full speed agility maneuvers! I wanna know how easy it is for you to outmaneuver a horseman

[@airnt]

this was the explicit advice throughout the cenutries, this was known in Italian as a 'repulon' and in franch as a 'passade' the tightness of the turns at the end is quite significant to make it an effective technique. sidestepping is not really as easy as people presume as a horse can be very easily made to follow with a lot of precision, in fact side stepping very much encourages the horse. stepping towards can also be accomodated by the rider in a way akin tot he rejoneo bullfight, for instance. the sidestep of a horse is generally much larger than the step of the human.

[@sjwoo13]

@Satanas Luciferi we got a badass over here.

[@retardcorpsman]

@Satanas Luciferi There's 3 main problems when it comes to "Side stepping" a charging horse. 1: If you're in a set piece battle, your mate by your side will block you 2: If your entire formation does decide to side step with you, the entire formation will scatter, lose cohesion and allow the horsemen to pass through your lines unscathed 3: Horses can turn on a dime. There's always a chance that a horseman might see you sidestepping and decide to strafe his horse to your direction before you could even hit him back. You should see how good horses are at turning when they come to a halt.

[@LeonMichielS]

This calls for a coop with Jason Kingsley! Modern history TV please?

[@ModernKnight]

He knows where I am!

[@antivalidisme5669]

Love the concept and loved the exchange. Glad I discovered Zach's chan thanks to this cooperation. Zach's horse is incredibly beautiful by the way!

[@Camcolito]

Horse - *Less talking, more riding*

[@dantherpghero2885]

Am I the only one who kept hearing Sir Jason (of Modern History TV) saying "Good boy" to the horse in their head?

[@janehollander1934]

Nope, you aren't 😉✌🏻

[@MarcRitzMD]

Which kind of medieval horse would the horse in this video compare to? Are modern horses generally comparable?

[@zerentheunskilled]

Matt, if I may make just the smallest quality of life suggestion for your videos, please shield your microphones from the wind. This can be as easy as placing a sheet of cloth to one side to catch the bulk of the wind from the camera microphone to using studio quality filters over them. No matter what, it'll help a lot. Cheers, and all the best no matter your choices. I'll still watch.

[@grailknight6794]

More horse videos matt!! Plus i would like to see matt on a horse atleast once 😀

[@chengkuoklee5734]

Matt should get Jason and Toby next time.

[@spiffyracc]

Just get a mod that adds magic or firearms to the game and blast that horseman back to whatever Khuzait trash heap he came from.

[@texasbeast239]

Arquebus

[@Thesandchief]

i would love to see techniques from "the mamluk lancer" attempted and tested

[@stormiewutzke4190]

How much did they train the horse to fight? I have read some books that the horse was a combatant all of its own. I'm not not sure how accurate those were

[@markfergerson2145]

There are horses today it simply isn't safe to be around other than for its owner (usual rider) and maybe one or two other people. Just another attribute horses were likely selected for historically (see Kelton Oliver's comment).

[@JC-Denton]

Black Horse, Black shirt in the end. Don't know, if that was deliberate, but it sure is a nice little detail... Cheers, J.

More a technological recommendation. But perhaps it would be good for this typ of video to invest into a wireless Mikrofone set. Like the rode wireless go 2. That would give you more freedome of movement and a seconf mic for the other person.

[@brittakriep2938]

In horseman sport there is cross country race, ordinary horse race, obstacle jumping and ( in german) Dressur, don' t know english word. Is it true, that in this fourth style, there are some relicts of medieval/ rennaisance military riding ? I have heared , that there is a movement, in which the horse has all his hooves in the air, this was used that footmen should be hurt by horses hooves?

[@stephena1196]

"Dressage" in English and I think the jump described is called capriole.

[@alexh4436]

Could Zach demonstrate the Dothraki jump off the horse into a line of spears technique. That would be awesome.

[@antivalidisme5669]

Goodbye horses, I mean Zach!

[@blackbadger4419]

First off, that's a beautiful horse! Secondly, absolutely fantastic video! So many insightful thoughts and ideas about a topic that (for practical reasons) is largely neglected or only looked at from a very theoretical standpoint by others. Loved it.

[@chrisnotyourbusines7739]

Back in the day when I used to participate in riots I faced mounted police a couple of times. Very very scary and i can't even imagine how it would be if they actually charged at us. Also..what a video! What a production value! Thanks so much!

[@southpawmoose]

I am shocked, shocked! That a gentleman such as Mr. EASTON CANT ride a horse. England what are you coming too?!

[@HeavensBladeTM]

I'm fine with people killing people, but horses should never be harmed, it's just barbaric!

[@andreweden9405]

Whoa, Zach's sword is exquisite! Is that an Albion "Burgundian"?

[@Sk0lzky]

I wish we had jousters over here. Can't have everything I guess >< PS Yes I do know it's ridiculously expensive

[@Wastelandman7000]

On the bit about _____ always winning, one thing people don't take into account is luck. Sometimes the really good fighter just has bad luck and the other guy gets in the proverbial lucky shot.

[@stevenkobb156]

Indy is georgeous and so well behaved. If the horse has armour, it almost seems that quickly wheeling the horse about against the footman might be more effective than trying to defend with the lance. At full speed, a trained war horse should be able to knock a footman aside in less time than it takes for the horseman to bring his weaponto bear, making the horse itself your best weapon. Maybe you could address this in your next video. This could be demonstrated against a training dummy, but hard to do with a live person without risking injury (no, I'm not implying you should test it on a cadaver 🤣). We wouldn't want to squish Matt.

[@ycplum7062]

Caveat: Not a horseman. I don't see a calvarlryman circling a footman, unless he is trying to herd them in a dirrection. I would think the calvaryman would ride past quickly, circle and charge again. The only exception would be if the cavalryman has infantry support. I can see him riding into a mass of infantryman with the hoorse wheeling and kicking, to break up the formation. The supporting infantry would then fall on teh disrupted enemy infantry. I am wondering how difficult it would be for a horseman with a light lance or spear to change his grip from a couched position to an overhand grip.