Slings vs Heavy Cavalry

[Robert Harden]

So, is there in account of slings being successfully used against heavy cavalry in European history.

I have a buddy who thinks a line of slingers could stop a lance charge, but I'm skeptical of that.

[Corey Roberts]

What time period are we talking about? In the 15th or 16th century there is no way slings could stop a dedicated charge of men in plate. Also I'm not aware of slings being used that much in the era of plate. In an earlier era it may be possible though, as slings produce considerable blunt trauma and in an era with less rigid and deflecting armor a flurry of stones could be pretty debilitating.

[Robert Harden]

What time period are we talking about?

In general really.

In the 15th or 16th century there is no way slings could stop a dedicated charge of men in plate.

My friend seems to think that a slinger would have little issue trying to hit a horse's leg in full gallop.

[Sal Bertucci]

Horses wear armor too.

[Robert Harden]

Horses wear armor too.

A. How common was horse armor?
B. Did it effect the speed of the horse?

[John Farthing]

(A.) Only the upper echelon of the wealthy elite would have had armoured horses, that said they could afford to have the very best. As such (B.) the armour would have been custom fitted to the specific animal and fitting properly would have extremely minimal effect on the animals speed (much the same as a well outfitted knight who was trained in, and accustomed to, armour would be capable of running, vaulting, leaping, etcetera with very little reduction in speed, agility and/or greater mobility).

[Robert Harden]

(A.) Only the upper echelon of the wealthy elite would have had armoured horses, that said they could afford to have the very best. As such (B.) the armour would have been custom fitted to the specific animal and fitting properly would have extremely minimal effect on the animals speed (much the same as a well outfitted knight who was trained in, and accustomed to, armour would be capable of running, vaulting, leaping, etcetera with very little reduction in speed, agility and/or greater mobility).

So, how likely do you think a sling hitting a horses leg would be?

[John Farthing]

That is a difficult question to answer as any attempt to do so can be nothing more than speculative failing historical accounts of slingers specifically targeting the legs of horses, of which I know of none. There is likely no way to quantify the statistics for being able to readily hit such a small and fast moving target as a horse's leg, although it is relatively easy to postulate that it would likely cause severe traumatic damage. To reiterate that in the absence of any historical evidence the following is merely conjecture, it would seem unlikely that this would have been a prefered method of assailing a charging line of calvalry. There are much better and easier tactical options which also have a higher probability for success, while requiring a much lower level of skills proficiency.

[LafayetteCCurtis]

So, how likely do you think a sling hitting a horses leg would be?

A better question would be "what historical accounts do we have of massed slingers targeting the legs of cavalry horses and succeeding at stopping a cavalry charge by that method?" I'm afraid the answer is none and, while absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, there's probably a very good reason why we don't have any accounts of such an incident.

(It's worth noting that even English longbowmen didn't have that much of an effect upon armoured horses -- Italian men-at-arms in French employ, charging on well-armoured horses, rode down one English wing at Verneuil. Too bad they didn't finish their job and roll the flank of the rest of the English army.)

[ArthursArmory]

slings can stop anything. they are quite powerful if you hit the target

[RayMcCullough]

slings can stop anything. they are quite powerful if you hit the target

In the land of fairies and unicorns sure, but they won't stop my chevy or an M1 Abram.

[Joseph Dowdy]

I'm not sure I'd want to be the slinger trying to hit a moving horse's legs. Heck, I'm not sure I could hit the legs with a modern rifle. Also, keep in mind the range of a sling. If all you can afford is a sling, I doubt you'll be wearing much armour beyond what God gave you, and those lances will be closing fast! Without having any sources at hand, I think slings were used mostly as mass weapons at formations. In the era where slings were prevalent, armour was nothing compared to later plate armour. There were lots of exposed spots to hit. Put a few hundred rocks int he air at guys with a helmet and maybe a bit of mail or a cuirass and you'll probably do some damage. The only instance of a sniper slinger I can think of, he was shooting at an abnormally large man from Gath.