 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.