Medieval Predecessors of Todays' Tanks

Horses were the main medieval way of transport and battle participants, also. So, it was usual that they also had some kind of armor to protect them and thus the rider, most frequently a knight. The horse's armor of the Middle Ages consisted of 5 things - Shaffron, Crinet, Crupper, Peytral and Saddle of course. All the parts were made of metal or steal. Shaffron was a medpiece of metal, that was located on the horse's head, Crinet was protecting the neck, Crupper was in the horse's back and Peytral below the head (in the front side). The most common and well-known medieval war horse in Europe was Destrier, but there were some smaller ones, known as Coursers and Rounceys. There were many various depictions of those horses through the history, showing various kinds of armors, characteristic for every nation. Some replicas are being preserved in museums (of war and history...). These horses are medieval predecessors of todays' tanks and the prices of war horses, along with the armor exceeded the prices of some small to average sized households and were often worn just as status symbols. These that you're about to see are just some of them, I myself find them magnificent, but I'd never send them to war.