When we think of horses before the arrival of machines, we imagine the plough horse, the cart horse, or the mail horse. And we too often forget that throughout history, horses have always been used primarily by warriors.
The first war horses
As soon as man became head of the horse, he was quick to make it his auxiliary in battle. The quadruped was first covered, then harnessed well before being mounted. And in some countries, such as Egypt, it was used to pull war chariots. The shoulder collar was only invented around the year 1000, and the poor animal pulled its load, strangling itself with the straps that were passed around its neck. This is very different from the performance of the Hollywood Ben Hur chariot!
In wooded Europe, the conditions were quite different from those of the desert North Africa. And carriages could not be used efficiently there until the 16th and 17th centuries, when good road networks were developed. And as always, they were used for war… When the armies moved, the horses pulled caissons and artillery pieces of all kinds. Does this mean that the pack horse was forgotten and belonged to the past? Not at all, since in Napoleon’s armies each squadron was equipped with a pack horse, intended to carry… the accounts! But pack horses and draught horses should not make us forget the mount of the warrior.
The first horse fighters had no harness, no means to control their mount and to “stick” to it. The saddle and the stirrups were unknown to them, and sometimes even the bit! Thus, the Numidians, just before the beginning of the Christian era, remained masters of their mount thanks to the “collar-brake”. This invention consisted simply in a noose, passed around the neck of the horse. To slow down the animal or stop it, the rider pulled on this collar-brake, acting as a choke; to guide it, he used a stick with which he tapped its head, on the side opposite to the one towards which it wanted to turn.
It is obvious that without strong means of holding a horse, charging, swordsmanship or even the use of a spear was difficult, if not impossible. The first mounted warriors took this handicap into account. Their tactics consisted in approaching the enemy ranks quickly. As soon as they were within range, they would throw a javelin and then retreat to repeat the same maneuver. They were like wasps on the enemy’s flank.
The bow was more rarely used than the javelin because it requires the use of both hands. However, some peoples of skillful horsemen were fond of this weapon. This was the case of the Parthians who lived on the banks of the Euphrates, a few centuries before the Christian era. When they retreated, these horsemen were famous for the skill with which they shot at their pursuers. And sometimes they did it while riding backwards, looking at the tail of their mount! Their equestrian skill is at the origin of the famous expression “to throw the arrow of the Parthian”.
The inventions that transformed warfare on horseback
It is obvious that the first warriors on horseback could only have been very skillful riders whose mount was trained. And it is certain that it was the least skilled of them who invented the bit and then the stirrups to compensate for their lack of skill! The bit was invented in the early days of horseback riding, and its use spread quite rapidly. As for the stirrups, which appeared around the 5th or 6th century, they were strangely adopted only slowly, which may be surprising because they constitute irreplaceable holding points that make the rider solid on his mount. Thanks to them, warriors on horseback were able to saber efficiently and to resist to shocks.
In Europe, the dense forests limited the great movements of cavalry. This is the reason warriors with stirrups came to prefer fighting with a lance. The need to fight with a spear meant the need for protection. Riders were covered with chain mail and other armor, until they became very heavy. This evolution started around the year 1000 and lasted until the death of Bayard, around 1500.
One usually imagines the knight maneuvering with skill a dashing steed. However, the knight could only practice a poor horsemanship, on a mount that did not pay much attention. He was crammed into his squeaky iron frame and had trouble getting into position between the cantle and the pommel of his pricking saddle (which allowed him to “prick” with his lance). And once settled, he was too stiff, too embarrassed, to do anything else than give the spur or weigh on the reins.
As for his mount, the knight had to be content with whatever he could find. Except in a few places, horse breeding was a matter of the economy of gathering. Those who had land let the four-legged animals breed freely in the uncultivated areas, moors, marshes, or forests. It is easy to guess the results of this non-selection: animals measuring between 1.20 m and 1.40 m – in the best cases – and with a very variable morphology. In these wild breeding, the knight could at most choose the strongest, most buoyant subject. For the animal was called upon to carry a lot of weight: the weight of its rider in armor, plus the weight of the weaponry – double-edged sword, mace, spear, shield, axe.
For this horse to be fresh at the time of the fight, it traveled held in the right hand – the dexter – hence its name of dextrier or destrier. Although it was kept in this way, the animal, harnessed and ridden by its rider, often only went into battle at a heavy trot.
Due to the lack of thoughtful breeding, warriors always had trouble getting up. Thus, before leaving to conquer England, Duke William had to bring horses from Spain. Later, in 1571, to build up his troops, the future Henry IV sent the Viscount of Turenne to buy 5500 horses in Germany. Little by little and everywhere, a more rational and careful breeding began. In France, Colbert created the Royal Studs which were to become the National Studs. Despite this, Napoleon I, as well as Napoleon III later, still had many problems to raise his troops.
A new equitation thanks to firearms
At the end of the 15th century, the arquebus appeared. For the knights, this weapon was “diabolical”, “satanic”. For if their armor protected them from arrows and crossbow bolts, it did not protect them from bullets. This they refused to admit. For a short time, they had a fierce hatred for the harquebusiers. And some, like Bayard, had all those who were captured hanged on the spot. Despite this, the use of firearms obviously became widespread. Armor was no longer useful and was gradually abandoned. Rid of this heavy metal straitjacket, horses and riders found themselves free to move.
This changed many things…
The knights, suddenly lighter, finally understood that their main asset in battle was no longer the power of the shock. To attack effectively, to dodge and avoid blows, they now needed fast and maneuverable mounts. Mounts that had to be patiently trained and then driven with tact and precision. What almost nobody had ever done before…
The first riders who seriously addressed this problem became – and still are – masters of the equestrian art. Whether they were Italian and named Grisone, Fiaschi or Pignatelli, whether they were French like La Broue or Pluvinel, whether they were English and named Newcastle, all of them thought of educating the horse and making it maneuver as precisely as possible according to the imperatives of combat. They invented the cabriole, a jump during which the horse launches a bucking, the levade, the croupade or the ballotade, only to allow the warrior to get rid of opponents, mounted and on foot, or to protect himself. However, even if these school tunes can be effective, it is doubtful that they were often used in combat. First, because few would have had the talent and horsepower to perform them, and second, because it is easier to get them from a horse in the quiet of a riding school than in the noise and chaos of battle. But the pleasure of educating horses and getting them to do exactly what the rider wants is so strong that the almost useless military research of the experts has given birth to a new art: the equestrian art, seeking its end only in itself.
Who says change equitation – or elaborate a real one! – means choosing mounts suitable for the practice of the new discipline. The riders, both military and civilian, have therefore increasingly sought lively and docile horses, brilliant. In the 17th and 18th centuries, they found them in the Iberian Peninsula, where horse breeding had already been a tradition for a long time. It is from this period that the reputation of the famous Spanish genet, now a purebred Spanish horse, dates, after having been simply called Andalusian for a long time. And even today, this horse is the favorite mount of the peaceful warriors that are the stuntmen.
Specialized units and horses
Riders were relieved of armor and were able to perform warlike functions that were ignored by the too-mobile knights of the Middle Ages. Recognizing enemy positions became easy for them, as well as pursuing retreating opponents without being forbidden to use the tactic of charging. Soon, cavalry corps specialized in these various tasks. To put it simply, after a long period of stammering, light, heavy and light-heavy cavalry corps were created.
The light horsemen (called a light horseman) were the first to be differentiated from the rest of the cavalry. Their corps was created in 1599, by Henri IV who made them his personal guard. We cannot say that they had a real war specialization, which is the reason they disappeared in 1815. The musketeers, a corps created in 1622 by Louis XIII, only took their name from the musket because on horseback they were unable to use this very heavy weapon. It is because of this ambiguity of their role that they also disappeared in 1830.
It was around 1800, during the Napoleonic wars, that the cavalry of Europe showed the greatest panache and efficiency. All countries had their regiments of hussars, cavalrymen copying the Hungarian mercenaries, specialists in coups de main. In France, the chasseurs à cheval were other light riders. More seriously armed, and therefore heavier, were the dragons. As for the cuirassiers, who owed their name to the cuirass covering their torso, they were truly heavy horsemen, whose role was exclusively to charge.
The heart of the cavalryman receiving the baptism of the charge, had to beat very hard… But how not to follow leaders who, with a crazy assurance, launched themselves at the gallop on the enemy? How not to be carried away by a prince Murat who was charging, dressed like a dandy or a circus man? How could one not be impressed by a General Lassalle who galloped while drawing on his pipe? As for General Macart, he was charging “dressed as a beast”. Now of the action, this curious character took off his jacket and shirt. And it is while presenting to the enemy his hairy chest like that of a bear that he charged while swearing like a pagan! Throughout history there have been countless cavalry charges. One of the last ones took place in 1945. An S.S. general, von Pannwitz, had managed to gather the Cossacks one last time. Under his command, these warriors in blade charged with their famous cry: “Hurrah!” and saber in the clear they took… artillery batteries!
War Horse: Rise and Fall
Obviously, the light hussars needed fast and lively mounts, while the heavy cuirassiers could only ride powerful and load-bearing horses. But in the army, everything depended on the good sense of the corps leaders. Some, like Colonel Marbot in 1812, made sure that the mounts were assigned according to the size and weight of the riders. But others did not worry about these details… Also, in many regiments, after a lively action, a good part of the cavalrymen only had mounts that were unable to gallop. To compensate for this eventual handicap, each regiment had an elite company, made up of the most seasoned riders and riding the best horses. When the rest of the unit had only horses that were too tired to be of any use, this company remained fit for action.
Another precaution taken in most of Europe’s cavalry during wartime was that a cavalry unit would only dismount or water some of the horses, never all of them at once.
The military has always looked for fast, hardy horses. It was to select them that King James II of England opened the first racetrack around 1700. Since then, his invention has been imitated all over the world and punter have no idea that they owe their hobby to a military purpose.
The Russian retreat was a most successful “test bed” for the horses. Here is what an aide-de-camp of Napoleon wrote: “The Arabian horse endures hardships and privations better than the European horse. After the cruel Russian campaign, all the horses that remained to the emperor were Arabs. General Hubert could only bring back to France one of his five horses, and it was an Arab. Captain Simmoneau, a staff officer, had only his Arab horse left in the end. It is the same for me.” This proves that the Arab is enduring and resistant”.
It is to discover subjects endowed with these qualities, that at the end of the XIXth century the military set up the first raids of endurance. Today, this discipline has followers in many countries around the world. Arabian horses – or horses with Arabian bloodlines – are often entered in endurance events where they perform well. And their riders are rarely military.
In 1902, in France, General Donnop, inspector of the cavalry, organized a competition to select horses: the Championship of the horse at arms. It was held in three phases: a dressage test, a cross-country test and a show jumping test. In 1945, this competition was opened to civilians and was named the Saddle Horse Championship, before becoming the Eventing Competition. Another discipline due to the military!
To learn more: the role of the horse in the Great War
