How We Prevented Traffic Accidents in the Middle Ages

The elderly lady [95+ years old at the time, so was born in the 1870s] that we bought our farmhouse from told me that her favorite memory of our farm was when the jingling sound of the harness bells on the horses of her father's farm wagon when she was a child. She said they sounded like the bells of doom when he drove her to school in the wagon and the happiest sound ever when he came to pick her up and take her home daily. Recently we had a heavy rain storm at the farm and a slope that led to/from the barn was washed out... and I found one of the old harness bells. Very large, super heavy, and still works. Have it hanging in my car now so it can keep doing its job when I am traveling.

You can talk about tiny bells for 10 minutes and make it interesting. That's a rare talent!

"One of my war-horses in training.." Well, THAT's the party small-talk stitched up.

I imagine an immortal watching this and thinking: “What a familiar sound. Good times”

Ghost is absolutely gorgeous and the name Ghost suits him.

“Walk on.” Is what I tell myself when I’m in the candy aisle at the grocery store.

I love how Jason always lists whichever horse appears in the credits.

I've found a fair few medieval crotal bells whilst metal detecting. They're very common finds, so must have been in wide use. Mine still ring after a bit of cleaning.

If he ever accidentally hits a time warp wormhole back to the medieval age, he will be prepared for anything.

When I was riding a lot in quiet country areas my horse was occasionally startled by birds flying suddenly out of a bush or an animal rustling away in the undergrowth. One day I was a million miles away in my thoughts and I think my horse also when something startled him so badly that he jumped hugely, sideways and left me on the ground on the other side of the track. I think that could be one of the main reasons for the bells, not to warn people so much as the more abundant wildlife there would have been in the hedges and forests. Falling off a horse was probably a leading cause of injury or even death in those days.

Ghost is suuuuuch a stunning stallion.

Back when I was in college, I was hiking in the Red Rock Country of Southern Utah. Once, I stepped around a large rock outcrop and came face to face with a cougar (the mountain lion kind--not the 40 something named Karen kind). And I don't know who was more startled--me or that big cat. Since then, I have kept couple of small bells attached to my hiking stick. Better to warn others of my approach than become lunch. Now I have a name for them. Thanks.

The way in which you talk to your horses must build real confidence in them, for you.

Cat bells do something very similar. When they prance it sounds like a trot, when they run it sounds like a canter, and when they walk you hardly hear anything. Bells also teach cats how to sneak better because they learn what motions don't ring the bell at all. On the other hand, one of mine deliberately shakes in a way that rings instead of meowing to let me know they're outside a door. I imagine horses picked up similar habits.

Back in the 1990's "rhythm beads" became a fashion thing on my local barrel racing circuit. One girl started making them, and sold them to everybody else. It was essentially a horse necklace that clipped to at least one of the breastplate dees on the saddle, or could be braided into the wither hair with a loop, and it draped across the horse's shoulders in the same general area of a breast collar. The necklaces were made out of strings of beads that were made to clack together when the horse traveled. The faster the horse, the faster the rhythm. Allegedly, the clacking encouraged the horses to run faster. Regardless of whether or not that's true, they certainly sounded cool and were all the rage for awhile. Additionally, the trainer at my boarding stable figured out that rhythm beads on lesson horses helped young riders learn to keep a steady rhythm at a trot. And she used them to great effect for a long time. Don't know why they've passed into disuse. I never see them any more and they were a charming idea. Anyone reading this who likes the crotal bell idea may want to try making your own rhythm beads. They are easy enough to make and they certainly do add an interesting extra dimension to the riding experience. I still have mine all these years later.

In the US there is a saying: "I'll be there with bells on!". It means they plan on being at the place and time agreed upon and in good order. The saying goes back to when teamsters were still using horse drawn wagons. If their wagon broke down and they received help, it was tradition to gift the helper with a harness bell. It a teamster got to their destination without any bells left they had a lot of trouble. I've also attached small bells to my backpack while walking the Appalachian Trail to warn bears I was there. Bears, especially ones with cubs don't like to be surprised.

Can you imagine minding your own business as a pedestrian and hearing hundreds of these little bells in the distance getting closer and closer?? They’re almost sweet at a walking pace but I imagine that would be pretty frightening.

And so the song called "Jingle Bells" - on the harness of the horse hauling the sleigh. When I first had to do shopping from a wheelchair, and most folks when shopping don't look down and trip over the chair - I put harness bells on my service-dog's harness - to alert other shoppers to look where their feet are going.

hence "jingle bells" a sleigh pulled thru snow by horses wouldnt make a lot of noise other than the bells on the harness, there for just this reason.

Jason calling his horses good boys is the content I need in my life