I love all horse breeds and the Frisians are some of the most spectacular. This is a photo that speaks to the size of the Chargers that Robert was describing in his history of war horses.

A little story, here: An artist I knew was given a huge, black, Frisian stallion, by her boyfriend for her birthday. Combing her fingers through his mane, she discovered, tied into his long black mane there was a huge diamond engagement ring! Now, could there be any better way to deliver an engagement ring..than by a beautiful Frisian! To heck with the ring box!

B U O N A D O M E N I C A
WAR HORSES - Absolutely Beautiful!
Too magnificent not to send on. These horses were originally bred as "war horses" in the days of knights and Armor. As Armor got heavier, bigger horses were needed and the Friesian almost became extinct.
They are back and are one of the most beautiful horses in stature as well as gait. Can you imagine what it would be like to ride one? Their manes and tails are the longest that I have ever seen and I noticed that when performing on grass their hooves do not kick up a divot as they land flat footed.

These horses are native to the Netherlands .

Please ensure to have your audio on.
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Y5XJbSqwriM?rel=0

they are beautiful horses
I am a retired history teacher. When the larger horses first were adapted to carry the armor these horses (and a few other similar breeds) were often used by light scouting cavalry troops and many of the knights whose families had bred them used them as "palfreys" (light riding horses) when traveling. They wore light cloth padded leather armor, chain mail or just heavy coats. The armor and the big chargers only came out when they knew they were needed. Using a war horse as a palfrey instead of just any horse that came along had the advantage that if attacked by surprise the light leather or chain mail armor combined with the born and trained war horse gave the knight and his men-at-arms a chance to survive and if necessary run from the heavy chargers of the ambushing enemy. But part of what contributed to their lesser numbers was that the breeders put their efforts into the big chargers and these horses became more and more expensive as they became harder to find. So knights started to switch to even lighter and more common riding horse as palfreys just because they were more affordable. A trained warhorse cost about what a peasant family's farm was worth and those huge chargers, a good one cost the price of several peasant farms. That is why the knights maintained their battlefield domination for so long. They, or the noble they were sworn to, were the only ones who could afford the chargers. And on the battlefield the lighter houses of the non knight cavalry just could not stand up to them. But if the lighter cavalry could get the knights to fight their way (and a lot were stupid/arrogant enough to do it) they got them into a running battle as opposed to head to head charges. Dash in with throwing spears or bows and arrows then turn and dash away. If the knight tried to follow they either ambushed him or repeated until that huge charger was exhausted and maybe even collapsed. Then the guy in the heavy armor was basically a lobster to be cracked by lighter cavalry or infantry armed with weapons designed to open his armor like a can opener or stick through the joints where pieces of plate joined.

Then they got gun powder from the Chinese and the days of armored charges were numbered as the power and speed of reloading improved with each new type of firearm to come along. The longbow used by English Yeomen fighting from behind barricades or trees could slaughter a mass formation of knights, but, it took a lifetime of practice to become expert in the longbow's use. A bright young soldier could learn to use a firearm and become good in a few weeks or months. The armored knights became a sport at the jousting matches.

Yep that is a big, rather beautiful, showy heavy cavalry horse. A pretty pure white like that would have been used as a show or ceremonial horse by a knight/noble who was a bit of a show off. Most people don't know that those Budweiser Clydesdales are actually a breed that carried heavy armored knights. They are big, heavy and strong. Under the right circumstances they could run right over lighter horses or infantry. They were not very fast, I seem to remember 20 mph was about the speed of a full charge, and they couldn't keep that up for long. Other light riding horses used by light cavalry or as palfreys usually could do 25 to as much as 40 in a short burst. A pretty good light cavalry horse could do around 30. That is why if they could avoid being penned in where they had to face the knight's charge head on it was nearly impossible for the heavy knights to defeat/kill them. They couldn't catch them.

B U O N A D O M E N I C A
WAR HORSES - Absolutely Beautiful!
Too magnificent not to send on. These horses were originally bred as "war horses" in the days of knights and Armor. As Armor got heavier, bigger horses were needed and the Friesian almost became extinct.
They are back and are one of the most beautiful horses in stature as well as gait. Can you imagine what it would be like to ride one? Their manes and tails are the longest that I have ever seen and I noticed that when performing on grass their hooves do not kick up a divot as they land flat footed.

These horses are native to the Netherlands .

Please ensure to have your audio on.
http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Y5XJbSqwriM?rel=0