At first glance, this surprising object could almost be mistaken
for an impressive piece of skeleton from a whale or something
similarly enormous. In actual fact, it is an extremely rare
preserved example of a late 15th/early 16th-century German
jousting saddle, which was used in the form of joust known as
the ‘Gestech im hohen Zeug’. The saddle supported knights in a
standing position rather than seating them on the back of the
horse. The saddle consists of a large wooden shield, forked for
the horse’s back. Behind this barrier projects a seat made up of
a central bar with a ring on either side. The rider would insert
their legs through the rings, so that they were secured and
protected by the shield. The knight would thus be anchored
firmly into a standing position from which to joust, although
the rigid stance must have increased the potential for serious
injury if he received a forceful blow. Mounting was probably
quite difficult; John Hewitt speculated in 1858 that ‘Into a
saddle of this kind the knight