War Horse

War Horse:

Mounted Horse Combat

"In one respect a cavalry charge is very like ordinary life. So long as you are all right, firmly in your saddle, your horse in hand, and well armed, lots of enemies will give you wide berth. But as soon as you have lost a stirrup, have a rein cut, have dropped your weapon, are wounded, or your horse is wounded, then is the moment when from all quarters enemies rush upon you"

Winston Churchill,1898

War Horses are horses specially trained for use in battle or individual combat

The history of Mounted Combat can be traced at least as far back as the ancient Assyrians in 750 BC. It continued through the Eastern horse cultures of the Scythians, Sarmatians, Magyars, and Avars. The classical literature chronicles the exploits of Greek, Persian, Roman and heavily armored medieval European

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 on command at its enemy, thus becoming weapons in the extended arsenal of the warriors they carried. 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.



Prior to the development of plate armour, small, agile horses were trained for use in battle by various cultures for both cavalry and horse archers from the east, Middle East, North American Indians, to the Spanish conquistadores . In some of these cultures, war horses were routinely gelded, as an ancient trick was to release a herd of mares in heat onto the battlefield to cause distraction and disobedience in non-gelded war horses.

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, these horses were selected for speed and trainability. The expense of keeping, training and outfitting these specialized horses prevented the majority of the population from owning them.

Compared to the medieval knights' Great Horse, most modern breeds are small and fast. However, 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.

 The elevation of the foot soldier to mounted warrior had a profound effect on the technology of warfare, and ultimately on the societies that evolved to support those warriors,were at an advantage to the foot soldiers, beating them in strength and speed.

War horses of Ancient Greece seem largely to have served to carry their masters into battle. Various strategies for the usage of horses in war are shown in Greek art and literature. One of these is for the horses to be ridden into battle, and then taken into the hands of a squire or groom while the master dismounts for actual combat. Horses were also used to carry archers by the 4th century B.C.E., and by the Hellenistic period of Greek, mounted combat seems to have increased.

The cult of the mounted warrior is expressed in the code of Chivalry for the European Knight, to the Japanese Bushido, the Way of the Warrior in Eastern cultures. It has existed in various forms on almost all the continents and cultures, from the steppes of Russia and plains of Mongolia to the Great Plains of America and the horse culture of the American Indians.

 Perhaps the earliest work was by the Greek Author Xenephon, whose "Treatise on Horsemanship" was published circa 350 B.C. Many of his principals are still considered valid today. The

 The role of mounted cavalry in the military has been made ineffective by the weapons of modern warfare. A mounted police trooper however, still possesses the advantage of a knight over lightly armed peasantry, whenever he faces a crowd from horseback. Those ancient skills are still relevant to his task of horse to ground combat, crowd control, reconnaissance, and pursuit and capture. The modern trooper still seeks to understand and master these skills today.

It is not within the scope of this guide to review the entire history of mounted combat, or impart fundamental training in horsemanship or martial arts.

 It assumes the reader is at least an intermediate rider, and already has training in some form of martial art. If the reader lacks basic experience or training in either of these areas, it is strongly advised that he/she acquire those skill separately before attempting to combine them.

This guide will outline skills and drills to accommodate the horse and rider to the sights, sounds and contact of battle. It will detail the use of various weapons commonly wielded from horseback, and explain their field of engagement. Drills are employed by the modern trooper in pursuit and crowd control.



Equestrian sports are always inherently dangerous. This is doubly so with the addition of gunfire, loud sounds, waving swords and the contact of engagement. When a calm temperament is acquired, a stable weapons platform is achieved. This allows the rider to practice his art with maximum efficiency. Once these skills are mastered, they will be able to trace with pride a direct link to the earliest mounted warriors, and join the ranks of the brotherhood of the order of CHIVALRY.