A wooden horse, Chevalet (as it was called in Spain), Spanish donkey or cavaletto squarciapalle, is a torture device, 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 structure used to support a board or plank for sawing. A pair of sawhorses can support a plank, forming a scaffold. In certain circles, it is also known as a '' ...

-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, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centur ...

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 and punishment used to enforce unofficial justice or revenge. It was used in feudal Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier, mostly as a ty ...

. 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'', are chronicles of the Jesuit missions in New France. The works were written annually and printed beginning in 1632 and ending in 1673. Originally written ...

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, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

by Union guards against their Confederate prisoners: The

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

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

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wooden Horse European instruments of torture Medieval instruments of torture