Horses in War
by Jasmine on July 1, 2009
As most of you know ,I love horses so I decided to do a military project on horses!
not just in canada but all over the world.
The horses used in the military depended on conformation, ( the way the horse is built.) Light weight horses were very fast, but they couldn’t pull the nesecary weight that needed to be brought into battle. Heavy drafts could pull the weight, but they were not able to run as fast as needed. So the military decided to ride in on the light weight horses and use the heavy horses for pulling big loads at the rear, and for carrying the men who were in more armor.
Traning:
The horses used in war had to be able to support the riders weight, carry loads, get over their natural instinct to run from blood, loud noises and confusions, and they had to getused to unusual motions from the soldiers. The horses used in close combat were permited to kick, and inflict injury to the opponent.
Some places taught their horses how to do what the rider asks with out the reins. (body language, shifting of weight, all sorts of subtlle movements.)
A horse can pull around 30% of its body weight, but it also depends on wether the horse(s) are using a breast collar,ox yoke or horse collar. A horse wearing a horse collar could pull 8 times more than a horse using a breast collar or ox yoke.
Light breeds are breeds such as the Canadian, Arabian and other horses more than 1000lbs.
Heavy breeds are like the Clydsdale and the Belgian draft horse. They can weigh up to 500lbs!(Wouldnt want to get stepped on by him!)
THE CANADIAN HORSE!
The Canadian comes in black, dark bay, mousse,and some times liver cestnut. It is a Gorgeous horse who was bred for the military. Today they are still used by the R.C.M.P. and riding.
Heres something nice!( I read about it in a fact book on horses!)
When the military had to recrut war horses, they would take horses that were good from farmers and put them into action. One farmer loved his Dales pony too much to let him go and maybe never come back, that he hid his pony in the kithen while a britishxy room army sargent waited for the owner in the next room! ~AWW!
Horses were only used in the military during WW1.
Canadian
