riding horses and packhorses), with some records from the later Middle Ages showing knights bringing twenty-four horses on campaign. Five horses was perhaps the standard. Size of war horses There is dispute in medievalist circles over the size of the war horse, with some notable historians claiming a size of , as large as a modern Shire horse. However, there are practical reasons for this dispute. Analysis of existing horse armour located in the Royal Armouries indicates the equipment was originally worn by horses of , or about the size and build of a modern field hunter or ordinary riding horse. Research undertaken at the Museum of London, using literary, pictorial and archaeological sources, supports military horses of , distinguished from a riding horse by its strength and skill, rather than its size. This average does not seem to vary greatly across the medieval period. Horses appear to have been selectively bred for increased size from the 9th and 10th centuries, and by the 11th century the average warhorse was probably , a size verified by studies of Norman horseshoes as well as the depictions of horses on the Bayeux Tapestry. Analysis of horse transports suggests 13th-century destriers were a stocky build, and no more than . Three centuries later, warhorses were not significantly bigger; the Royal Armouries used a Lithuanian Heavy Draught mare as a model for the statues displaying various 15th- and 16th-century horse armours, as her body shape was an excellent fit. Perhaps one reason for the pervasive belief that the medieval war horse had to be of draught horse type is the assumption, still held by many, that medieval armour was heavy. In fact, even the heaviest tournament armour (for knights) weighed little more than , and field (war) armour ; barding, or horse armour, rarely weighed more than . Allowing for the weight of the rider and other equipment, horses can carry approximately 30% of their weight; thus such loads could certainly be carried by a heavy riding horse in the range, and a draught horse was not needed. Although a large horse is not required to carry an armoured knight, it is held by some historians that a large horse was desirable to increase the power of a lance strike. However, practical experiments by re-enactors have suggested that the rider's weight and strength is of more relevance than the size of the mount, and