Uma-yoroi

Japanese horse armor of the samurai era

Uma-yoroi (馬鎧) is Japanese horse armor consisting of three main components: the bamen (head guard), kubiyoroi (neck guard), and munaate (chest guard). Lighter and more minimal than Western barding, it used the same lamellar (kozane) lacing technique as samurai body armor such as the ō-yoroi. Its use expanded during the Sengoku period as mounted combat grew in importance, though it never achieved the ubiquity of European barding — partly because Japan's mountainous terrain was less suited to heavy cavalry. Surviving examples are extremely rare museum pieces.