War horse
War Horses are
horses specially trained for use in
battle or individual
combat (see also:
Jousting). Horses used in groups to carry mounted fighters were the original form of the
cavalry, a title now used to refer to
tank units in the
Army.
The earliest documented examples of horses playing a role in warfare date to the 19th century BC, when they were used in
chariot warfare. The oldest preserved hippological text, the horse training manual of
Kikkuli, dates to the age of the chariot. The first instance of cavalry was the horsed archer deployed by
Eurasian nomads, notably the
Parthians. Though the
saddle was invented fairly early on, arguably one of the most important inventions that made mounted cavalry particularly effective was the
stirrup, appearing in about the 7th century, which gave nomadic tribes such as the
Mongols a decisive military advantage.
Throughout time and across multiple cultures, most military officers came from the elite cavalry ranks.
Heavy cavalry was an Iranian innovation, first appearing in the
Parthian cataphracts of the third century BC, rising in importance until it reached its highest form in the
plate-armoured knight of the European
High Middle Ages. Though useful as "shock troops," particularly against unmounted infantry, mounted heavy cavalry units were not particularly useful in extremely large numbers, developing instead the single and small group combat skills of jousting.
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Museum Display of an armored horse and knight of the European Middle Ages, Zwinger Museum, Dresden. |
During the
Middle Ages, large horses with the strength and stamina to carry both a
knight and his heavy armor into battle were highly prized. In addition to size, this type of horse, known as a
Destrier or
Great Horse, was selected for speed and trainability. The expense of keeping, training and outfitting these specialized horses prevented the majority of the population from owning them. Modern breeds of
draft horse such as
Belgian,
Percheron and
Shire horse descended from the huge horses that carried armored knights and were often armored themselves.
Experts dispute the precise cause of the demise of the armored knight. Some claim it was the invention of
gunpowder and the
musket, others date it earlier, to the use of the
English longbow that was introduced into
England from
Wales in
1250 and used with decisive force in conflicts such as the
Battle of Crecy in
1346. In either case, technology evolved to counter the force of heavily-armored knights as shock troops. With the development of muskets and other light firearms during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, light cavalry again became useful for both battles and field communication, using fast, agile horses to move quickly across battlefields. The once-proud heavy armored charger of the medieval knight was relegated to hauling cannons and wagons of supplies. Light cavalry remained a force on the battlefield until displaced by modern
tank warfare, which, ironically, is sometimes still referred to as "cavalry."
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"Napoleon I with his Generals." This painting shows the light cavalry horses used as officer's mounts in 18th and 19th century European warfare. |
Horses were particularly useful for the
Conquistadors when they came to the Americas and conquered the
Aztec and
Inca empires. Because the horse had been extinct in the
Western Hemisphere for approximately 10,000 years, the
Indigenous peoples of the Americas had no warfare technologies that could overcome the considerable advantage provided by European possession of horses and gunpowder.
One of the last major uses of horses in combat by a national army was during
World War II when the underequipped army of
Poland used their cavalry in a last-ditch attempt to defend themselves against the tank warfare of
Nazi Germany. In some
Third World nations today, there are still a few mounted units of soldiers used for raiding, mostly against unarmed refugee and other civilian populations. Examples include the
Janjaweed militias used in the
Darfur region of
Sudan.
A common misconception is that a war horse is simply a horse in armor. In fact, much training was required to overcome the horse's natural aversion to the smell of
blood, and its natural disinclination to
trample a person. A war horse's training would generally address its responsiveness to being controlled without reins, tolerance for the noises of battle, and its adaptability to
weapons and
armor the rider would be using. In addition, some war horses were trained to kick, strike and even bite on command, thus becoming weapons in the extended
arsenal of the warriors they carried. The
Haute ecole or "High School" movements taught to the famous
Lipizzan horses at the
Spanish Riding School in
Vienna have their roots in manuvers needed on the battlefield.
Today, the historical military uses of the horse have mostly evolved into peaceful applications. The graceful training techniques and equestrian competition known as
dressage has its roots in training horses for battle maneuvres. The
Police Horse is a fixture in many large cities, used for patrol and crowd control. In more rural areas, many
Sheriff's offices have specially deputized, usually volunteer search and rescue units who are often sent out to locate missing people in wilderness areas.
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Lipizzan horses in the Slovenian armed forces |
Although horses have little combat use today by modern armies, the military of many nations still keeps a few mounted units for certain types of patrol and reconnissance duties in extremely rugged terrain, including the current conflict in
Afghanistan. Germany, Hungary, many Commonwealth nations, many Balkan nations, and nations that comprised Soviet Central Asia maintain cavalry units as part of light infantry and reconnaisance formations for use in mountainous terrain or areas where petrol supply may be difficult. Many nations also maintain traditionally-trained and historically uniformed cavalry units for exhibition purposes.
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New Riders of the Golden Age Modern performers of authentic full contact jousts on Belgian, Percheron, Shire, and Clydesdale horses.
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The British Cavalry Regiments of 1914-1918 The British Cavalry Regiments of 1914-1918
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The Spanish Mustang Registry (preservers of the warhorse of ancient Spain)
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United States Dressage Federation*
Home Page of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, where the "high school" art of Dressage preserves the ancient movements and manuvers of the war horse. (in German, can be translated into English via Google)
