Jordanus Rufus's De medicina equorum - Chapter 3: On the management and education of the horse

Les Vigiles de Charles VII, Martial d'Auvergne (c.1484) BnF, MS Fr. 5054, fol. 11r
(c) Bibliothèque nationale de France

 In 1250, the Italian knight Jordanus Rufus wrote the most significant veterinary treatise of his time, the De medicina equorum, which discussed and gave remedies for a large variety of diseases, from farcy (a contagious and often fatal bacterial disease), to colic, to hoof injuries. This treatise also contains the only original method for training horses in medieval Western Europe. This method was initially destined to warhorses but it ended up being applied on other types of horses. 

In a series of three articles, I will present an English translation of the first three chapters of the treatise which contain the training method. This translation is based on the Latin edition made in 1818 by Jérôme Molin: because the original manuscript written by Rufus is lost, the edition, which recreates what the original text could have been, based on several manuscripts including one of the oldest, is universally considered by historians as an essential source for studies on Rufus. 

I first translated Molin's text (from Latin to French) in the course of my Master's degree. I made the following translation into English a few years ago to share with members of the University of Exeter Warhorse project. Because it is a working text, it is very close to the Latin original and as such can seem clunky and weirdly phrased. I am publishing it on the blog now to give anyone interested in the topic of medieval horse training in Western Europe an insight into its most significant source. 

On the management and education of the horse

I have previously discussed the capture and taming of the horse; now a third chapter must explain his keeping and education. The horse must be kept in such a way: a halter made of strong leather, or of a similar material, must be put on the horse’s head after his taming, and he must be suitably attached to the manger with two reins, like I explained above, and his front feet must be tied with a hobble made of wool, and one of the back feet must be tied with a woollen rope, called traginel in the vernacular, so that he can in no way go forward. And this is done to preserve the health of the legs.

Moreover, the place where the horse remains must continuously be clean of all manure during the day. During the night, the bedding must be done for him, a bed of either straw or long hay, piled up to his knees, for his rest. 

At dawn, he is taken out of there. In the early morning, his back, his legs, and all his limbs are rubbed with a suitable cloth or curry-comb, according to what you consider best. Then, he is led to the water to drink, at a slow walk. He is kept in the water both in the morning and in the evening, up to the knees or slightly above, for the space of about three hours, in running, cold, fresh or sea-water, for the coldness of freshwater or the dryness of seawater naturally desiccate the legs of the horse by tightening the humours and illnesses that go down into the legs. However, after the return of the horse to the stable, he must in no way enter under a roof or in the stable while his legs have not been rubbed and dried from the water, because the atmosphere of the stable, due to its warmth, engenders galls and bad humours on the wet legs. 

You must not forget that the horse should continuously eat on the ground next to his front feet so that he can barely take with his mouth the hay or the other food given to him. Because when he eats like this, he stretches his neck and his head becomes more slender and more able to respond to the bit, and, in truth, it becomes more beautiful to see. And due to that, the horse’s legs strengthen each day and become bigger, because the action of eating in that manner puts more pressure on the fore-legs. 

The horse must eat hay, straw, grass, barley, oats, spelt, and other similar things that are naturally and particularly food for horses. Naturally, if he is young, he must eat grass and hay, with barley or other similar things, or a sufficient amount of barley, because grass and hay dilate the belly and body and it is true that, due to their humidity, they naturally increase the growth of his limbs. If the horse is fully grown or has reached adulthood, he must eat in moderation straw, barley, or other similar things, because due to the dryness of straw, the horse easily does not fatten too much, but remains stronger in the right muscles, and thus the horse can be worked more healthily and safely.

And you must know that the horse, for his own good, must be neither too fat nor too thin, but be in-between, so that he maintains the right muscles. Because if he was too fat, the superfluous humours from this condition would go down to his legs and then ailments and injuries that usually come to the legs of the horse due to this condition could easily happen. And if, perchance, he is suddenly worried by some labour, he can more easily be ravaged by several ailments. Indeed, he only needs to deport in a certain way his moderate fat. If he was too thin, due to his thinness his strength deserts him. Moreover, he is horrible and ugly to look at. 

Moreover, after he has reached adulthood, the horse must only eat cultivated or wild grasses to purge himself in the spring, for the space of approximately one month, not in the fresh air but under a roof. And he must be covered by a thick, woollen rug, because the said grasses are naturally cold, and if he was not covered, the horse could easily become cold or catch serious illnesses. 

Since the horse requires barley, his feed must first be suitably sieved and then given to him, because the dust of barley and similar cereals easily induce a cough in the horse and desiccate the inside of his body. 

The water the horse must drink should be soft, slightly salty, murky, slightly or not at all running  because such waters are said to be warm and full of great substance due to their softness and largeness, and for that reason they are more fully nourishing and comforting for the horse. And because the horse, if he does not drink sufficiently fully, cannot put on suitable muscles, it is useful that you see he drinks sufficiently, and the inside of the horse’s mouth can be frequently rubbed with salt wetted with strong wine, because due to that the horse takes water more easily. 

To shoe the horse

The horse must be shod with shoes that fit him and are round according to the shape of the hoof. The extremity of the periphery of the shoe must be narrow and light, because the lighter the shoes, the more the horse lifts his feet nimbly and easily, and the more the hoof of the horse is in a narrow shoe, the more it becomes robust and strong, according to what is suitable. And you must note that the younger the horse is shod, the more his hooves become soft and weak, because the habit of going barefoot in his youth makes his hooves strong and robust.

You must be careful that the horse who has sweated or who is overheated neither eats nor drinks, until he is covered with some cloth to be walked so that the sweat and heat completely go away from him. However, you must know that unaccustomed and tiring riding in the evening is not profitable for the horse, because, due to the work he has done, so much sweat comes to him that he can barely dry suitably, due to the falling night, and cannot eat as usual. In truth, he can easily be cold due to the night air which is colder than the day one. For that reason, riding in the morning is in many ways recommended. 

The horse must constantly have a linen rug in hot weather, due to the flies and other insects. Similarly, he must keep a woollen rug in cold weather due to the cold.

The horse, for his own good, must not be annoyingly ridden from the middle of July to the end of August or slightly before. On the contrary, he must be kept, like has been said above, in a cold place where he can have grasses and other new growth, because then, due to the great heat and excessive riding, he could internally desiccate or overheat. I say the same for the month of January because due to the great cold, the heated or sweating horse could easily get cold.

You must note that for the health of the horse to be correctly preserved, he must be bled four times a year from the usual vein in his neck, that is once in the spring, once in the summer, once in the autumn, and once in winter. However, he must be sufficiently bled each time. You must also know that the horse very carefully kept like I explain above, ridden as is suitable with moderation, remains in his virtue and goodness, like many, for the space of about twenty years. 

On the education of the horse

And thus I speak, in what follows, about the education of the horse. At the beginning of the education and submission of the horse, you must find the weakest and lightest bit you can, and when the bit is put on the horse, you must sometimes coat it with a bit of honey or some sweet liqueur. I say, perchance, light and weak, because the less it hurts the mouth of the horse in the beginning, the more willingly he will bear it easily and agreeably henceforth. I say that you must first put honey, or something else that is sweet on the mouthpiece, because he will take it again more eagerly another time due to the sweetness that he has tasted. Then, when he receives the bit without difficulty, he must be led in hand, each day, morning and evening, until he follows his handler very well. 

Then, without noise or tumult, without saddle or spurs, the most softly and lightly that you can, the horse is ridden and led little by little at a slow walk, being often turned right and left with a crop used to hit him suitably and, if it would be advantageous, a handler can go before him on foot, like it is said above, from the early morning, or dawn, until the middle of the third hour, on flat ground without rocks, until the rider can direct him wherever he pleases, without a handler and without company. 

When he has been ridden in that way for the space of about a month, the saddle is put on him, without tumult or noise, and then he is ridden with the saddle until the cold weather comes, that is winter. However, the rider, after he has gently got on the horse, must not let him walk away while he arranges his cloths, as is suitable, because then the horse gains quietness, to the advantage of the person who rides him. 

After that, when the cold weather has come, the means or aforesaid manner of educating the horse changes: the rider must make him trot in moderation in fallow or ploughed fields, like I said, in the early morning, making him turn more often to the right than to the left, the right rein first being held shorter than the other by a transversal thumb, for the horse is naturally more inclined to the left. But the bit must first be changed for a stronger one, if you see it as advantageous, so that the horse is held more easily for what you want to do.

I say that he must trot more often in ploughed fields than in other flat fields, because due to the small hollows and mounds that are in fallow and ploughed fields, the horse will be habituated and trained daily to suitably lift his legs and feet higher and more lightly when he goes. And this can be done for the same reason in sufficiently sandy places. In truth, once he has taken the habit of suitably lifting his feet and legs in the aforementioned places, the horse makes his way more securely and correctly in other places, and thus he makes his rider fall less as he goes, and he does not injure himself. 

Moreover, once the horse is used to trot well and skilfully during the appropriate space of time, right, like I said, and left in the same way, in the places I have mentioned, in the early morning, then little by little at first, with the smallest and shortest jumps possible, like I said, he must be cantered. You must be careful that he should not be cantered long and annoyingly during the day, so that cantering does not become annoying for the horse, and it upsets him to do this exercise; this would certainly be the rider’s greatest mistake. Indeed, because of this, the horse could easily become restive later on. 

Another measure must be taken: the rider, to trot or to canter, or to remove the horse from the gallop, must draw the reins with his hands towards the back, low towards the withers, so that the horse lowers his head while bending and curving his neck so that his mouth is continuously near his chest. And at first, this must be done little by little, according to what you consider advantageous, and it is true that all precautions and care must be taken then. And certainly, I say that this is done very usefully and healthily for the horse as well as for his rider, because when the horse has his head bent sufficiently near his chest, and has his neck conveniently curved to trot and canter like I said above, he can see his way better and more clearly, and he can better turn right and left, his is more easily pulled back according to what you desire. But as I will say briefly, this must be in every way recommended. 

But because what I have written about the head is, for the most part, dependent on the bit, for that reason I will describe the shape of the mouthpieces and the types of bits. 

On the shape of bits.

There is a certain shape of bit which is called “with bars”, because it is made of two transversal bars and of another lengthways, and it is the lightest and weakest for the horse of all the others. 

There is another shape of bit which is vernacularly called “intermediate mouthpiece”, taking the name of its effect, because it has an intermediate transversal mouthpiece, with a single bar, and another divided in two parts. It is stronger and more efficient to hold back than the first one. 

Moreover, there is another type of bit, called “intermediate mouthpiece”, similar to the other with twisted or plain artifices, presenting themselves on the mouthpiece like wrought rings, so that it is stronger and more efficient to hold back that the others. 

There is also another bit called “caralde”, which has a longer mouthpiece than the others, up to the horse’s palate, the mouthpiece extending into the horse’s mouth, and on which there are artifices of many shapes and forms, due to which it is recognised as the most brutal and cruel of the bits above.

There are moreover other shapes of bits that some provincials often use on their horses, which are horrible and severe for no reason. Due to their brutality and cruelty, I will not discuss them.

The softness or hardness of the horse’s mouth must be examined: according to whether he has a soft or hard mouth, a bit must be chosen that should completely satisfy the rider. Then, like I explained above, the horse must be ridden daily, with moderation and without violent racing. 

It is useful to ride the horse little by little more frequently through the city, especially where the blacksmiths work, or where there is noise or din: due to that, the horse will acquire more safety and audacity, and he will be less fearful when he is confronted to noise and din. If he is afraid of going through those places, or if he is scared, the horse must not be pushed with cruel blows of the crop or with the spurs, but he must be led by being lightly hit with a suitable strike. Indeed, he would imagine that the blows would come from the noise, din, and tumult, and thus the horse would become scared and fearful. 

The rider must, during the day, get on and off the horse, as gently and lightly as he can, so that he gets used to getting on and off when that is advantageous, and so that he remains in peace and quiet. And everything that has been instructed above must be observed until the horse’s teeth have completely and perfectly changed, which happens when the age of five is reached. 

Once the teeth have changed, as healthily as possible, four inside teeth are drawn from his jaw, that is two from one side and as many from the other, which are the scallions and called flat by many, because they continuously oppose the mouthpiece. Once this is done, like I said, if the horse had until then a hard, strong mouth, you must first allow his wounds to consolidate a bit, and then you put on him a bit made with bars, which is light. If he had a soft and tender mouth, similarly, you must put on him a bit with bars on the second or third day after the extraction of the teeth. And like I said above, he must be ridden daily, as is suitable, cantering with moderation.

I have also taught this: if he had a hard mouth, you must let the wound in the mouth consolidate a little bit, because the new flesh ruptures more easily than the old, and due to that the horse fears the bit more, because of the sensitivity of his wounds, to the satisfaction of his rider. I have said this, however, that if his mouth is soft, he must be ridden with his usual bit on the second or third day, because the wound of the teeth is consolidated under the bit that he is used to bearing continuously, and the flesh of the wounds then becomes callous and almost hard, and from that the mouth of the horse is more apt to be bitted. 

Indeed, you must note that the mouth of the horse must be neither too hard nor too soft but be in-between. And this must be suffered because the horse cannot be properly and tidily bitted if the four teeth are not extracted as described. And due to that, the horse acquires other qualities that I have often observed through my experience: after the aforementioned extraction, the horse acquires plumpness and largeness of body, because he loses his savagery, his pride, and his fury. 

After the extraction of the teeth, the horse must be ridden like I said, being held back with little  jumps, and often meeting other horses, entering and leaving their group, since he will become used to leave them more bravely. And the bit must be changed to an intermediate or stronger one, according to what you think is suitable. You must be careful however, because once you have found an appropriate or suitable bit, it must in no way be changed later. Because after the extraction of the teeth, the mouth of horses is usually ruined by a frequent change of bit. 

When the horse is suitably and completely habituated to the bit, as I said, because he knows by heart, due to long and frequent practice, the art and manner of responding to the bit, then he must be habituated to gallop. The horse must gallop in the early morning, once a week, one a flat and slightly sandy road, at first for a distance of about a quarter mile, and then, if it pleases you, it can be increased to a mile and more.

You must know that the horse, when he is galloped more frequently and with moderation, becomes speedier and more nimble at the gallop, due to this practice. Something is contrary to this practice: to make him gallop too frequently. The horse, due to that, would become more nervous and impatient, and sometimes restive, if he unduly hastens in the gallop and loses the greater part of his ability to respond to the bit.

Something must not be forgotten, that after the horse is perfectly educated and habituated to respond to the bit, like I said above, the rider must be reluctant to make the horse moderately canter, jump, and gallop, because a long rest breeds laziness in the horse and he would be led to easily forget the things he artificially learnt some time ago.