Horses in warfare
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. |
Horses have been used to support human warfare since the time of domestication to the present day.
Types of horses used in war
A fundamental principle of horse conformation is "form to function." Therefore, the type of horse used for various forms of warfare depended on the task at hand. There was also a trade-off between speed and protection. While the average horse can carry approximately 25% of its body weight, and pull approximately 50% of its weight, [citation needed] adding weight also reduces speed, as is seen today with the modern race horse. Conversely, a warrior or soldier also required some degree of protection from enemy weapons, and an overemphasis on light equipment could easily prove fatal in some situations. In close combat, protection, even though it added weight, mattered more than speed.
Light-weight horses
Light, oriental-type horses such as the ancestors of the modern Arabian, Barb, and Akhal-Teke were used for warfare that required speed, endurance and agility. Such horses ranged from about 13 hands (~1.51 m) to about 15 hands (~1.74 m), weighing approximately 400 to 500 kg (800 to 1000 pounds). To move quickly, riders had to use lightweight tack and carry relatively light weapons such as bows, javelins or, later, rifles. This was the original horse used for raiding, light cavalry, scouting or reconnaissance, and communications.
Light horses were used by many cultures, including the Scythians, the Parthians, the Ancient Egyptians, the Mongols, the Arabs and the American Indian. Throughout the Ancient Near East, because the first domesticated horses were small, light animals, (see domestication of the horse) teams of two or more horses were often used to pull chariots. In the European Middle Ages, the light type of horse became known as a Palfrey. Light horses sometimes carried Dragoons and Mounted infantry, depending on the amount of weight required to be carried by each soldier.
Medium-weight horses
Medium-weight horses developed with the needs of most civilizations to pull heavier loads and to carry heavier riders, beginning as early as the Iron Age. [citation needed] Breeds such as the ancestors of the modern Andalusian, Lipizzan, and the various Warmblood breeds got their start by the need for horses to haul chariots capable of holding more than one warrior, pull supply wagons, and maneuver various types of weapons, such as Horse artillery into place. As light cavalry evolved into heavy cavalry, a larger horse was also needed to carry the increased weight of a more heavily-armed and armored rider. Medium-weight horses had the greatest range in size, from about 14.2 hands (~1.65 m) to as much as 17 hands (~1.97 m) weighing approximately 500 to 750 kg (1,000 to 1,500 pounds). They generally were quite agile in combat, though they did not have the raw speed[citation needed] or endurance of a lighter horse. The heavier horses in this class were sometimes called Destriers. Horses of a warmblood type often carried European Dragoons and Mounted infantry,
Heavy-weight horses
Heavy, draft-type horses were used in later periods, particularly in Europe, to pull heavy loads and to carry the heaviest-armored riders of all, the knight of the European Middle Ages. Weighing from 750 to nearly 1,000 kg (1,500 to nearly 2,000 pounds), the ancestors of breeds similar to today's modern Belgian and Shire had the muscle power to pull heavy supply wagons, albeit slowly, and to be calm under fire. Breeds at the smaller end of the heavyweight category, such as the Friesian, and Percheron carried knights, and had to be agile for their size in order to manuver in battle. Heavier Shire-type horses were sometimes ridden in battle, but usually for jousting or short charges where agility and endurance were less necessary.[citation needed] These horses were sometimes referred to as Chargers or the "Great Horse." There is a dispute if the Destrier class of horse included the heaviest types.
Training of war horses
Long chapter about the different scopes and training methods employed to make horses fit for war.
Horses in the military today
Discussion of various uses today, including use by US Special Forces units in places like Afghanistan, various ceremonial mounted units still under military command, as well as uses such as the Janjaweed.
Historical reenactment
This could wind up being a long subsection, but probably should include Society for Creative Anachronism as well as the major historical reenactment and Combat reenactment activities that are referenced elsewhere in Wikipedia, for example popular reenactments such as the American Civil War, the 7th Cavalry or Battle of Hastings reenactment.
Competition
Two of the three Olympic equestrian disciplines were formed upon the use of the horse in war. Dressage is based of the works of Xenophon and his cavalry training methods, most notably On Horsemanship, but had its greatest revival during the Renaissance. Training methods were developed to create a responsive, supple horse that could quickly respond to his rider's commands, as was critical when riding on the dangerous ground of the battlefield. The Spanish Riding School was built to train horses and riders for combat, and today is one of the great schools for developing riders based on the ideals of classical dressage.
Eventing had a more recent development, first occurring in the late 1800s as more of a competitive endurance ride than the modern three-phase competition seen today. The discipline eventually added a dressage phase, to test the ability of the cavalry mount on the parade ground, the endurance phase, to test the mount's fitness and ability to carry messages across the countryside, and the stadium jumping phase, as a test to ensure that the mount was still fit enough to continue after the rigors of the endurance competition. Originally, only officers on active duty riding military chargers were allowed to compete, but the competition is now open to all horses and riders.
The Olympic equestrian national teams of the modern Olympics were originally drawn exclusively from the ranks of the military until 19--(?). After that time, both civilian and military competitors competed together until most cavalry units were disbanded in the postwar era, and today most team members are drawn almost entirely from civilian ranks. [citation needed]
Footnotes
Bibliography
Bennett, Deb. Conquerers" Roots of New World Horsemanship. citation needed