Still on hols, so more photos this week. While the Royal Ontario Museum doesn't have cuddly herds of black horses (see last week's post on the Musical Ride museum), it does have a surprisingly decent collection of western arms and armour. Here are a few of the cavalry related pieces:

This rather gorgeous cavalry sabre was presented to Col. Duncan Robertson by the officers of his regiment in 1831.

Pistols with distinctive ball grips like this 1591 German wheellock were often called 'horse pistols'. They were usually made in pairs and holstered either side of the saddle.

A late 17th c lance used for ring-spearing. It's hard to see scale in these photos, but it's about 12' long altogether, an inch wide at the tip, and the counterweight behind the grip about 2' long. There will be no more complaints about the length or weight of our ring-spearing spears!

The raised lattice-work on the jousting pauldron (a sort of combined shoulder-guard / shield) is not there for decoration. The ridges catch lance tips to decrease the likelihood of them glancing off, and increase the probability of the wearer being tossed out of the saddle.

Finally a sample of some of the absolutely nasty-looking spurs (and an even nastier caltrop) dating from the 10th - 15th centuries. The only kind and gentle spur in the lot is the smooth ball typical of the kind used during the Battle of Hastings (1066).

Devon Boorman is the Co-Founder and Director of Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay, which has been active in Vancouver, Canada since 2004. Devon’s expertise centres on the Italian swordplay tradition including the arts of the Renaissance Italian rapier, sidesword, and longsword, as well as knife and unarmed techniques.
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