A wooden horse, Chevalet (as it was called in Spain), Spanish donkey or cavalletto squarciapalle is a

torture device Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions restrict torture to ac ...

, of which there exist two variations; both inflict pain by using the subject's own weight by keeping the legs open, tied with ropes from above, while lowering down the subject. The French called this instrument the chevalet, from the French diminutive of ''cheval'', horse.

Torture device

The first variation of the wooden horse is a triangular device with one end of the triangle pointing upward, mounted on a

sawhorse In woodworking, a saw-horse or sawhorse (saw-buck, trestle, buck) is a Trestle support, trestle structure used to support a lumber, board or plank (wood), plank for sawing. A pair of sawhorses can support a plank, forming a scaffold. In certa ...

-like support. The victim is made to straddle the triangular "horse." Weights or additional restraints were often added to keep the victim from falling off. A punishment similar to this called " riding the rail" was used during the

American colonial period The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonization of the Americas, British colonies on the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–17 ...

and later. The victim was often carried through town in this predicament, often in conjunction with the punishment of

tarring and feathering Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture where a victim is stripped naked, or stripped to the waist, while wood tar (sometimes hot) is either poured or painted onto the person. The victim then either has feathers thrown on them or is r ...

. The crotch could be injured and the victim left unable to walk without pain. The

Jesuit Relations ''The Jesuit Relations'', also known as ''Relations des Jésuites de la Nouvelle-France (Relation de ce qui s'est passé ..'', are chronicles of the Jesuit missions in New France. The works were written annually and printed beginning in 1632 an ...

say that in 1646, a man "was sentenced to make reparation, by the Civil authority, and to mount the Chevalet," and "a public blasphemer, was put on the Chevalet. He acknowledged his fault, saying that he had well deserved punishment, and came of his own accord to confess, that evening or the next day," and that another man "acted at the fort as such a glutton, that he was put on the Chevalet, on which he was ruptured." The device was used during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

by Union guards against their Confederate prisoners: The

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

documentary ''Eighty Acres of Hell'' describes a torture device, "the mule", on which Confederate prisoners were forced to ride until they passed out; many were crippled for life. The device was also used by Union officers as an entertaining way to discipline troops, and on

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...

after the Civil War. Foner, Eric (2002). ''Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877'', p. 154. .

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wooden Horse European instruments of torture Medieval instruments of torture , , - ilm clip of wooden horse torture