hobbler

English

Old English also hobeler, Old French hobelier, Latin hobellarius. See hobby (“a horse”).

hobbler (plural hobblers)

One who hobbles.
- 2005, Maureen Rylance, The Spur on the Plate:
  The horse was one of the finest I had seen, not a hobbler. This was a far more delicate creature.
(historical) One who by tenure was to maintain a horse for military service; a kind of light-horseman in the Middle Ages who was mounted on a hobby.
- 1954, James Francis Lydon, The hobelar: An Irish contribution to medieval warfare, Irish Sword, II, v, pp. 12–16.
  - However superior the Norman knight might be upon the field of battle, the bogs and woods of Ireland gave little opportunity for the mail-clad charge. Thus there evolved in Ireland, as a habitual part of every Anglo-Norman force, a type of light horseman, which came to be known as the hobelar.
- 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:
  no man shall be constrained to find men at arms, hobblers, nor archers, other than those who hold by such service
An unlicensed pilot, casual dock labourer, etc.
A man who tows a canal boat with a rope.