Palfrey
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/217.180.32.12|217.180.32.12]] ([[User talk:217.180.32.12|talk]]) to last version by Tombomp
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[[Image:Guido Cavalcanti e la brigata godereccia, miniatura del XV secolo.jpg|right|thumb|350 px|A [[Middle Ages|medieval]] painting of riding horses]]
A '''Palfrey''' is a type of [[horse]], not a breed of horse, and was highly valued as a [[Horses in the Middle Ages|riding horse]] in the [[Middle Ages]].
The word "palfrey" is cognate with the German word for horse (of any type), "Pferd". Both descend from Latin "paraveredus", meaning a post horse or courier horse. The German term for a palfrey, meanwhile, is ''Zelter'', which literally means "[[ambling|ambler]]" and is cognate with the [[Icelandic (language)|Icelandic]] ''[[tölt]]''.
==Breeding==
The term 'palfrey' usually referred to the most expensive and highly-bred types of riding horse during the Middle Ages,<ref>[[Ralph Henry Carless Davis|Davis, R.H.C.]] ''The Medieval Warhorse: Origin, Development and Redevelopment'', 1989, p 137 (ISBN 0-500-25102-9) </ref> sometimes equalling the [[Knight|knight's]] [[destrier]] in price. Consequently, it was popular with nobles, ladies and highly-ranked knights for riding, [[Medieval hunting|hunting]] and ceremonial use.<ref name="Oakeshott">[[Ewart Oakeshott|Oakeshott, Ewart]]. ''A Knight and his Horse'', Rev. 2nd Ed. USA:Dufour Editions, 1998</ref><!--this cite p 14-->
==Gait==
The significant characteristic of the palfrey was that, rather than [[trot|trotting]], it usually possessed a smooth, [[ambling]] gait.<ref>Bennett, Deb. ''Conquerors: The Roots of New World Horsemanship.'' Amigo Publications Inc; 1st edition 1998. ISBN 0-9658533-0-6</ref> The amble was the name given to a group of smooth, four-beat [[horse gait|gaits]] faster than a walk, but slower than a [[canter]] or gallop. The [[trot]] is a two-beat gait, about 8 mph, suitable for covering a lot of ground relatively fast. However, the horse also has a bit of a spring in its motion as it switches diagonal pairs of legs with each beat, and thus can be rough for a [[equestrianism|rider]], and jostles about packs or weaponry to a considerable degree. The amble is about as fast as the trot, not tiring for a horse that performs it naturally, and much smoother for the rider. Thus, because much ground transportation in the Middle Ages was on horseback, with long distances to be covered, a smooth-gaited horse was much desired.
An amble is achieved by the horse when it moves with a 4 step rhythm, either derived from the two-beat lateral gait known as the [[horse gait|pace]] or from the diagonal trot, with the two beats broken up so there are four. There are several variations, but most either have a lateral sequence of footfalls (left hind, left front, right hind, right front), or a diagonal sequence (left hind, right front, right hind, left front). In either case, only one foot is all the way off the ground at a time. Such a gait can be maintained for long distances, and sometimes at considerable speed.
Ambling horses are now uncommon in Europe. They were effectively replaced by trotting horses for several reasons. The first was that travel by [[carriage]] became more common, and trotting horse breeds were generally larger and stronger, more suited to the job at hand. Another reason was the rise of the [[Thoroughbred]] and other breeds developed for [[horse racing]] and for light [[cavalry]], both of which required horses able to [[canter|gallop]] for substantial periods of time. Breeds swift at the gallop also tend to trot rather than pace or amble.
The smooth ambling gaits today have many names, including the single-foot, the stepping pace, the tolt, the rack, the paso corto, and the fox trot. (''see [[ambling]]'') Though ambling horses are less common today than in the [[Middle Ages]], there are still many ambling [[list of horse breeds|breeds]], particularly in [[North America]] where today they are referred to as [[gaited horse]]s. Some of these breeds include the [[Missouri Fox Trotter]], [[Tennessee Walking Horse]], [[Icelandic horse]] and a sub-group within the [[American Saddlebred]]. The [[Paso Fino]] and the [[Peruvian Paso]], breeds developed in [[Latin America]], perform two or three different ambling gaits of varying speed, and are probably the closest modern descendants of the medieval Palfrey.
==See also==
* [[Horses in the Middle Ages]]
* [[Jennet]]
==References==
<references/>
{{Equidae}}
[[Category:Types of horses]]
[[Category:Middle Ages]]
[[de:Zelter (Pferd)]]