Armoured Riders and Barded Warhorses in the Metropolitan Museum
Mounted figures in the arms and armour court of the Metropolitan Museum. The armour shown is later than the period this article covers; what it demonstrates is the endpoint — a horse bred and fed to carry a fully armoured man and its own steel as well.
The destrier was an agricultural project. Getting a horse heavy enough to carry an armoured rider at the charge meant selective breeding over generations, oats rather than grass, stud farms held by kings and by the military orders, and stallions moved across Europe as diplomatic gifts. It also meant that the animal cost as much as a small estate, which is why the cavalry of 1300 was drawn from the class that could afford one and why the longbow and the pike would prove such an unwelcome argument. See medieval horse breeding and the transformation of European warfare.
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