Horse Calvary: Present Day??

[DrunkMonkey81488]

Return of Horse Soldiers? (http://www.geocities.com/futuretanks/ponysoldiers.htm)

So what do you all think about it??[/url]

[Seraphim]

And why isnt Hood taking Polls of this section...
;)

[GazB]

The Soviets found horse mounted patrols to be quite effective in certain areas. They also used mounted troops in Afghanistan... there are plenty of places a horse can go where tracked or wheeled vehicles cannot... a horse can carry more than a man can up a mountain.

[NcDeuce]

They still use horses in combat. Special Forces guys use horses, lol, anything that will fit the mission profile.

[seventy6er]

German Mountaintroops use horses and mules (for example to transport howitzers and ammo in high mountain regions).

[Haiw]

*waits for some photoshopper to make a horse with a TOW or mk19 on its back*

[ArmoredDov_D9]

They are very useful for policework and crowd control.

[Nawlins]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a difference between using pack mules (which can be very useful in certain terrain), and a formal mounted cavalry?

I think that, even though mounted forces do quite well in police work, a mounted cavalry in the traditional sense wouldn't be terribly useful anymore. In general, horses can be pretty delicate. They get sick easily and if they happen to get injured, they're useless. They have to be fed and watered. Think about how much water has to be carried around for troops, especially in desert areas. Now multiply that by 10 and that's about how much water you need for troops and horses. Arabians do pretty well on a low water supply, but they can also be quite temperamental and hard to handle if you don't have experience with them.

Of course, I'm just talking about horses. Most of the animals in the pictures seventy6er posted are ponies or mules, which are more sturdy and generally easier to handle.

Training is another issue. Everyone knows how to drive, so having troops drive trucks doesn't take all that much extra training. Back when cavalry was still being used, just about everyone had grown up riding horses. Today relatively few people know how to ride.

There's my two cents.

[seventy6er]

I asbolutely agree with you, Nawlins.

[Dennis G]

A question about your countrys Mountain troops seventy6er they are called Gebirgsjäger right and they go to
mountain leader school(Burger Fueaer)<--Dont no how to spell it--> oh man I butchered that word :oops: sorry Do you have any idea what that school is like? This is a question anyone that has served in the 10th Mountain Div. Whats your mountain training like? And the Royal Marine are the U.K. Main mountain fighting force right? They have some thing else to the mountain fighting cadre I think.

Thanks
Dennis

[GazB]

"a mounted cavalry in the traditional sense wouldn't be terribly useful anymore."

No? It seems the writers of Rambo III disagree... hehehehehe... those brave afghans charging Russian tanks and anti aircraft vehicles... in reality they would have been mowed down... espceially with a Hind flying around at the time fully armed.

Apart from the Movies cavalry, ie mounted units still make sense. The rediculous mounted charge on well equipped Germans... or anyone now who has machineguns and soldiers who know how to use them is no longer a sensible thing to do, but as I said a horse can go where wheeled and tracked vehicles cannot.

You say:

"They get sick easily and if they happen to get injured, they're useless. "

Vehicles can break down or get stuck and are equally useless...

"They have to be fed and watered."

Vehicles need oil, fuel, and water, as well as a supply of spare parts... they also make a lot of noise and with modern anti tank weapons like RPG being so widespread the difference in protection is not all that important... look at the open little dune buggies the Spec Ops use. (bunching your men into groups in armoured vehicles like APCs or even helos is asking your enemy to kill your men in groups in an ambush. I have seen Cossack units get their horses to lie down to reduce their size as a target... the natural seperation between mounted soldiers protects them from all being injured from one mine or missile... unless they are big ones.

"Think about how much water has to be carried around for troops, especially in desert areas. "

Desert areas are worse case, and you could always use camels.

If horses are so useless why would they have been used for the last few thousand years?

If a truck breaks down can you eat it?

"Training is another issue. Everyone knows how to drive, so having troops drive trucks doesn't take all that much extra training. Back when cavalry was still being used, just about everyone had grown up riding horses. Today relatively few people know how to ride. "

There are plenty of Rural people who would dispute that, especially those of Cossack descent and most Mongolian soldiers. Certainly rural Russia has plenty of horses, including tough little siberian horses that know to dig up snow to find grass.

[Nawlins]

There are plenty of Rural people who would dispute that, especially those of Cossack descent and most Mongolian soldiers. Certainly rural Russia has plenty of horses, including tough little siberian horses that know to dig up snow to find grass.

Since I know little to nothing about other countries' forces, my opinion really only applies to American troops. And, with some exceptions of course, what I said is true of them.


Vehicles can break down or get stuck and are equally useless...


Unless it gets blown to bits, it generally takes far less effort to fix a broken car than it does to fix a broken horse.


Desert areas are worse case, and you could always use camels.

I mentioned a desert-like climate because that's where the majority of US troops are right now.


If horses are so useless why would they have been used for the last few thousand years?

I don't believe that they are completely useless. I just don't think that they are as practical as trucks. They were used for thousands of years because there weren't any trucks.

[perdurabo]

I voted for usefull in some situations i can't imagine truck even humve (SP?) driving in my mountines and usage of helicopters here are hmm easy to destroy or Polish cavalery in WW2 done to german Panzers smth like that: little attack just that germans had to go afther them and cavalery went thru swamps and panzers not:) they drown in swamps:D
but in the desert trucks are far more usefull in plains and normal terrain horses are usefull only for SF and recon grups
BTW: Poland now is 3rd(it was 2nd or 1st in comunist times) world biggest "production" of fullblod horses almoust every USA Arab horse comes from Polish stables:)
BTW2: Arab horses are legendary for their marches thru deserts story says that some arab lord marched with his horses thru deserts and they were out of walter after few days they saw a little oasis almoust every horse went there but few steyed with his mastah ;-) and that few was grndpa's of Arab horses:) (sorry for my eng. :( )

[aeternum]

A question about your countrys Mountain troops seventy6er they are called Gebirgsjäger right and they go to
mountain leader school(Burger Fueaer

The mountain school is called "Gebirgs- und Winterkampschule" and is located at Mittenwald. Here is the offical webpage:
http://www.deutschesheer.de/C1256B6C002D670C/vwContentFrame/N25G4GDB184MP9ZDE

Its a pretty famous school. Well know by allied mountain troops for its hard training under aggravating climatic and geographic circumstances.

Here a page in english about the german Gebirgsjäger:
http://juni0r.orcon.net.nz/gebirgs.html

[Royal]

And the Royal Marine are the U.K. Main mountain fighting force right? They have some thing else to the mountain fighting cadre I think.

I know there ain't many of us, but it's not just me ;)

3 Commando Bde has historically had a role on NATO's northern flank. Because of that we developed the ML SQ (Mountain Leader). Ops permitting at least one of the Commando's goes to Norway every winter, so all members to the 'Basic Winter' course within 3 years (usually sooner). Many members get alot more experience than that.

The Army also has a mountain roled light batallion (I think the Highlanders at the moment), and of course the Gurkhas also know a bit about hills...

[fng]

Afghanistan is mostly desert and their little horses and donkeys seemed to do good service in 2001. There are places in the world where you can't even take an ATV, much less a truck or Humvee.

Option #1: Carry all your equipment, including crew served weapons, on your back.
Option #2: Put your equipment on a self-propelled organic machine that runs on grass and water, doesn't need to transport it's own gas or oil, has a certain amount of useful intelligence, can be a mobile MRE in a pinch, its waste product can be dried and used for fuel to cook with, can go almost everywhere that you can walk and has the benefit of being self replicating.

I think they make a lot of sense.

[Oxley]

haha, sorry, could not resist :lol:

[papabear]

might as well have some contingencies in case the supply of petroleum is ever cut off

[Merit]

The Brits still have their Royal Horse Artillery, don't they...

[usa320]

Delta used Asses in Afghanistan.

:lol:

[[AFSOC]]

Hey man you never know when you might need to use the HORSE.