Equipment for Mounts (AEG)

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The following information expands the details found in the Player's Handbook with regard to barding, tack, harness, and other items used with horses and mounts. Optional rules are provided to allow the DM to match the armor of mounts and their riders (which can be used to simplify the record keeping when large numbers of mounted troops are encountered). In addition, partial barding is covered in an optional table that allows calculation of a mount's armor class if only partial barding is available.
The information in this section centers on horses, because this type of mount is the most commonly encountered. Much of this material, however, can be easily adapted for other types of mounts. The following sections deal mainly with barding, as this will have the most direct effect on adventuring and combat.
==Barding==
Barding refers to armor designed for mounts. Mounts are most commonly horses, but also include the huge beasts that carry fighting platforms into combat (such as elephants with howdahs). The vast majority of mounts will wear no barding at all. Such protection is expensive and time-consuming to construct, tires the mount quickly, and reduces the speed and maneuverability of the mount in combat.
Historically, barding reached its peak development in the medieval era. After the introduction of gunpowder and the gun, barding quickly degenerated into little more than parade trappings. The development of barding was controlled by two factors: the breeding of horses strong enough to wear the protection and carry an armored rider, and the technical problems of designing such armor to be ever lighter and more flexible than that worn by men without sacrificing protection. In many ways, the development of barding parallels the development of armor for the fighting man.
==Medieval Barding==
Most forms of barding, other than padded or quilted cloth, required massively heavy
and powerful mounts. The weight of barding and the man, including his armor and weapons, easily strained even the largest war horses. For this reason, later barding was redesigned using lighter materials such as boiled leather or thick padded cloth. One of the most common historical bardings was made of boiled leather (sometimes more than 2 inches thick), with specially reinforced parts made of steel bands and wooden planks or short strips of thick, hard wood.
Late medieval barding comprised a number of pieces of armor covering different parts of the mount. These included the chanfron (for the head and neck), the crinet (for the side of the neck), the cuello (for the forward chest), the poitrel (for the flanks and broad chest), the flanchards (covering areas around the saddle), and the crupper (for the hindquarters). Barding almost never protected the legs of the mount.
In warmer and more humid climates, full barding is less common than half barding. When used at all, lighter forms are preferred. Half barding usually includes only the chanfron and poitrel (plus the crinet and cuello for plate barding).
==Barding in Campaigns==
In the AD&D® game worlds, the use of barding varies by culture and race. Although individual variations are up to the DM (and are encouraged), a few generalizations are useful. Most barding will be used by human forces. Other than humans, elves (and sometimes halflings) will use horse barding. It is rare to see gnomes or dwarves mounted, except as members of adventuring groups. It is much rarer to see them on barded mounts, as they prefer fighting on foot.
Besides horses, war elephants are sometimes outfitted with leather or metal barding.
Camel riders tend not to bard their mounts, as the bulky armor makes them more difficult to handle, reduces their carrying capacity severely, and interferes with their ability to survive desert conditions much more so than with horses.
Worgs and war dogs are occasionally barded with leather, though this is rare. Aerial mounts can be barded with leather or lighter materials.
==Types of Barding==
Full barding: This is a complete set of horse armor that provides the rated protection when attacked from any side. Note that the term "full plate" is used to denote a new, more advanced type of horse armor, like the fighter's full plate armor.
Half barding: The difference between half barding and full barding is that half barding covers only the front and forward sides of the animal. Attacks from the rear or rear flanks use the mount's base armor class.
Partial Barding: This is an option that allows the averaging of a mount's armor class if full barding is not available. See Table 4.
Note: All "suits" of barding, including half barding, are complete units; that is, half barding is not achieved by leaving off half a horse's armor. The pieces are made to be used together—they are specially formed, fitted, and balanced to provide a certain level of protection and a certain degree of mobility in a fight. Cobbling together odd or ill-fitting pieces degrades the effect of the whole, to the degree ruled by the Dungeon Master.
In the following section, barding is discussed in order of least protective to most protective. New types of barding are included. Tables summarizing the information can be found on pages 50–51.
==Pieces of Horse Armor==
Chanfron: This piece of armor covers the mount's head, neck, and mane. In its most primitive form, the chanfron is made of boiled leather. Chanfrons made by humans and dwarves are usually made of iron or steel, while orcs and other humanoid races tend to favor leather and sylvan elves use wood or strong, fibrous plant materials.
Crinet: This neckpiece is found only in plate armor. It covers the upper side of the mount's neck and is made of narrow strips of steel articulated with six to eight inches of mail.
Cuello: Found only in plate barding, this is armor for the underside of the horse's neck (the throat). It is hung from the crinet with a number of straps and buckles. In more advanced barding, the cuello has fully articulated plates hinged with wide bands of tight chain links.
Poitrel: This part of the horse's barding covers its chest and flanks. The poitrel is also known by names such as the peytrel, pectoral, or poitrinal. It covers the front of the chest and sides as far as the saddle. Early poitrels used heavy cloth with scales, rings, or studs; later ones used plates or bands of steel.
Flanchards: These are plates of armor for the horse's side, including the area behind the front shoulders, across the saddle length, and ending at the hindquarters, protecting areas not covered by the poitrel or crupper.
Crupper: This piece covers the hindquarters of the horse and is sometimes referred to as the croupiere bacul. The lightest form of this armor is made of light leather sewn together into small squares, then joined together by straps and stitches. The most advanced cruppers are made of several thick steel bands joined with pieces of chain or mail, bound to the saddle and the flanchards.