In Days Of Yore

 When in days of old, when knights were bold .....

Small War Horses And Long Legs

..... most of them were probably well muscled, short arses.

 

Now I'm sure there are probably scientific studies, and also archaeological research that show that quite a few of the elites (with their access to higher protein diets than the peasantry), were around the 6 foot mark. However if they were six footers, then they would likely have been dragging their feet on the ground when they got on their horses.

 

Knights Of Old - Now

It appears that all those Hollywood images of knights of your as strapping lads,  on large war horses (well apart from Alan Ladd, who was famously very small), were wishful thinking.  The reason I can say this is because a recent study of the bones of early to late medieval horses (AD 300 to 1650), found that most of these mighty steeds were below 14.2 hands in height. 

This is as opposed to the horses used in modern day historical film dramas which average 17 to 18 hands. Now when you consider that a 'hand' in horse measurements is four inches and measured from the ground to the top of the shoulders, this is quite a difference. In fact most knights horses would be classed as ponies in modern classifications. While the horses used as mounts in films are almost the height of Shire horses. 

 

Alan Ladd And His War Pony

 

The 171 skeletons examined showed that back then, horses even the size of modern racehorses or showjumpers were very rare (virtually none) ..... and this included medieval royal stables. So oddly, Alan Ladd will be smirking, because he would have been perfect for the war ponies that they were really riding.