by James A. Ottevaere

"...is a must read for

anyone interested in horses and

the riding skills of the United States Cavalry."

(so say the Cavalry Club Members)

 

 

During its time the United States Cavalry grew from a few scattered squadrons of dragoons on a vast frontier into what would become, by the end of the American Civil War, the largest body of mounted troops in the western world. In the post Civil War years it would again become a small, but highly affective, mobile force charged with protecting American westward expansion. At the close of the 19th Century the United States would fight its first “foreign war” away from the protective shores of the United States. The Cavalry, although it would play only a minor role in the “small war” with Spain, would emerge as the mounted arm of a new world power. It would train its troopers to be excellent soldiers, competent horsemen and journeymen riders, mostly, in that order. How its troopers were taught to ride and how they sat a horse is the story of the American Military Horsemanship and the “military seat”.

This term, “military seat” as it is used today amongst many riders and equestrian writers has various descriptions and meanings. Some riding instructors teach their students the “military seat” without understanding its origin or basic principles. While others teach a “forward” or “balaced”seat that has its origins in the “military seat”. Some riders and instructors who believe that they know exactly what the “military seat” is, know little of its origin, history or evolution.

The purpose of this book two-fold, first it is intended to clear away some of the misunderstandings of the “military seat” and to explain its evolution in the context of United States Cavalry history, through the end of the horse cavalry era at the close of World War II.  There is also a second, underlying purpose to this book. That is to present young riders, inexperienced riders, and accomplished riders, as well, with the riding style and teaching methods that shaped the Cavaly horseman through the mid-20th Century and evolved into an “American military seat". A riding seat that is in wide use today and is as useful to modern horsemen as it was to the Cavalrymen of the last century.

The research for this book involved, first, finding and then studying every, long out of print, United States Cavalry drill and tactics manual, as well as Cavalry equitation manuals, training materials, and surviving Cavalry School documents.  Then, sifting through a massive pile of “Cavalry Journals” and other secondary sources. It was a task that took more than two years to complete. The result is a history of sorts, but it is also a guide for riders and horsemen who wish to understand and, maybe even, practice the horsemanship of the “Old Horse Cavalry”.