08-12-2006, 07:05 PM
Some how I get the impression that many of the folks writing about cavalry and infantry have not 1. ridden and trained horses, and 2. done a whole lot of research. I haven't done as much research as some, but I do read a lot of books. I spent 4 years as a 'cowboy' off and on, and I own a small cattle ranch (off and on). Being a cowboy means fixing a lot of fence, birthing cattle, and working with horses. It can also mean riding until you are bowlegged, and actually training a horse, getting bucked off by a horse, kicked by a horse, bitten by a horse, smushed by a horse, and even doctoring and caring for horses.....
Anyway, you can train a horse to do anything, once. You trick him or her into thinking it won't hurt. (just like a young private in the army). I can teach a horse to run alongside a longhorn cow. That means I can get him to run alongside a mean and nasty longhorn cow who will disembowel him, once. I can teach a horse to jump over a hedge. That means I can teach a horse to jump over a hedge on the edge of a cliff, once.
I have books on training US Cavalry horses, (I used to be a Mexican -American War and American Civil War re-enactor, we used horses for cavalry, artillery and officers). I have books on training Napoleonic cavalry written by French horse trainers, and Russian Cossacks. I also have parts of books written by ancient cavalrymen in my collection. They all say the same thing. You can train a horse to attack formed infantry, once. If the horse is moving fast, and with the other horses in 'the herd' and they think they won't get hurt, then they can do it. Afterwards, mostly only the ones who didn't get hurt will do it again. Some horses are just mean. Those are the ones that will do it again and again just for the fun of hurting someone/something. These are usually stallions, but geldings and mares can sometimes be mean too.
I know my 'expertise' isn't enough to convince anyone, and I don't expect you want to see the scars from horse bites and such, but here is a narrative from the Memoirs of Denis Davidov, a Russian cavalry general and cossacki partizan from the 1800's
"...General Suvarov had the horses trained to gallop at full speed and were accustomed them to break through the central ranks of the enemy's firing line. To achieve this, he saved the manoeuvre for the end of the training period, relying on the memory of the animals, and reinforced with a verbal command that they knew would signal the conclusion of the exercise.
For this purpose, he had half of his troops dismount and stand with carbines loaded with blanks. The soldiers were separated from one another by the distance necessary for one horse to gallop between them. The other half remained on horseback, aligned opposite the gaps of the facing infantry, and then were ordered to attack. The foot soldiers were told to discharge their weapons at the very moment when the horses galloped through their lines. The riders would then dismount and the training manoeuvres were over. The theory was that instead of being frightened by the shots being fired directly at them, the horses would look forward to the moment of facing the infantry fire, remembering that the sound of the shots would be followed by their being reined in, haltered, or returned to stables. Indeed, they would neigh and be eager to charge!
Of course, these exercises were not without cost to the foot soldiers, because sometimes more than one horse or rid fer would burst through the narrow gap, causing injury, even death. That is why the soldiers so hated this exercise, especially if they were to play the role of infantry that day."
"In the Service of the Tsar against Napoleon, the memoirs of Denis Davidov, 1806-1814" translated by Gregory Troubetzkoy 1999 ISBN 1-85367-373-0 Greenhill Books, London.
The French horse trainer used similar methods. You can tell a modern reenactor on the blackpowder battlefield who has not trained his horse to stand for the firing of cannon or even smaller weapons. Usually he is walking, and trying to catch his horse......
There is no reason to doubt that similar training would teach a horse that it could ride through a mass of formed infantry, and if it was gong fast enough, it would be too late to stop when it ran into spears. This would be very expensive, but losing a battle is more expensive. The only thing that would stop the charge would be the failure of the riders to carry through, or something totally unexpected, like the appearance of elephants or camels or something.
Anyway, you can train a horse to do anything, once. You trick him or her into thinking it won't hurt. (just like a young private in the army). I can teach a horse to run alongside a longhorn cow. That means I can get him to run alongside a mean and nasty longhorn cow who will disembowel him, once. I can teach a horse to jump over a hedge. That means I can teach a horse to jump over a hedge on the edge of a cliff, once.
I have books on training US Cavalry horses, (I used to be a Mexican -American War and American Civil War re-enactor, we used horses for cavalry, artillery and officers). I have books on training Napoleonic cavalry written by French horse trainers, and Russian Cossacks. I also have parts of books written by ancient cavalrymen in my collection. They all say the same thing. You can train a horse to attack formed infantry, once. If the horse is moving fast, and with the other horses in 'the herd' and they think they won't get hurt, then they can do it. Afterwards, mostly only the ones who didn't get hurt will do it again. Some horses are just mean. Those are the ones that will do it again and again just for the fun of hurting someone/something. These are usually stallions, but geldings and mares can sometimes be mean too.
I know my 'expertise' isn't enough to convince anyone, and I don't expect you want to see the scars from horse bites and such, but here is a narrative from the Memoirs of Denis Davidov, a Russian cavalry general and cossacki partizan from the 1800's
"...General Suvarov had the horses trained to gallop at full speed and were accustomed them to break through the central ranks of the enemy's firing line. To achieve this, he saved the manoeuvre for the end of the training period, relying on the memory of the animals, and reinforced with a verbal command that they knew would signal the conclusion of the exercise.
For this purpose, he had half of his troops dismount and stand with carbines loaded with blanks. The soldiers were separated from one another by the distance necessary for one horse to gallop between them. The other half remained on horseback, aligned opposite the gaps of the facing infantry, and then were ordered to attack. The foot soldiers were told to discharge their weapons at the very moment when the horses galloped through their lines. The riders would then dismount and the training manoeuvres were over. The theory was that instead of being frightened by the shots being fired directly at them, the horses would look forward to the moment of facing the infantry fire, remembering that the sound of the shots would be followed by their being reined in, haltered, or returned to stables. Indeed, they would neigh and be eager to charge!
Of course, these exercises were not without cost to the foot soldiers, because sometimes more than one horse or rid fer would burst through the narrow gap, causing injury, even death. That is why the soldiers so hated this exercise, especially if they were to play the role of infantry that day."
"In the Service of the Tsar against Napoleon, the memoirs of Denis Davidov, 1806-1814" translated by Gregory Troubetzkoy 1999 ISBN 1-85367-373-0 Greenhill Books, London.
The French horse trainer used similar methods. You can tell a modern reenactor on the blackpowder battlefield who has not trained his horse to stand for the firing of cannon or even smaller weapons. Usually he is walking, and trying to catch his horse......
There is no reason to doubt that similar training would teach a horse that it could ride through a mass of formed infantry, and if it was gong fast enough, it would be too late to stop when it ran into spears. This would be very expensive, but losing a battle is more expensive. The only thing that would stop the charge would be the failure of the riders to carry through, or something totally unexpected, like the appearance of elephants or camels or something.
Caius Fabius Maior
Charles Foxtrot
moderator, Roman Army Talk
link to the rules for posting
[url:2zv11pbx]http://romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=22853[/url]
Charles Foxtrot
moderator, Roman Army Talk
link to the rules for posting
[url:2zv11pbx]http://romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=22853[/url]
