His comrades in the Army would be first to admit that he has never really been the stiff-upper-lip sort.
So when Thomas the strapping black gelding retired after almost 20 years of impeccable military service yesterday, he bowed out in an emotional farewell, complete with goodbye kisses for everyone.
His slobbery smooches for the soldiers looking after him have become the stuff of legend in the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. Click Here to read the rest of the article.
A Recent and I believe fair review of War Horse in Michigan War Studies Review byGervase Phillips, Manchester Metropolitan University :
A one-volume history of mounted warfare is a bold undertaking, for the scope of the topic is immense. As Louis DiMarco remarks in the introduction to this new study, “the war horse and rider was a viable military system for more than 3,000 years, far longer than any other military system” (ix). It is a challenge that has largely defeated the handful of historians who have attempted the task thus far: G. T. Denison, in the late nineteenth century, wrote what was, essentially, a polemic advocating the then current “mounted rifleman” school rather than a history;1 in 1961, James Lunt, a former cavalryman, published an elegy for his arm, too episodic to serve as a general history.2 In the 1970s, two works, one a collection of essays,3 the other a monograph by John Ellis,4 attempted a more comprehensive coverage, but these slim volumes provide only superficial treatment of their topic, and Ellis’s work is marred by his ideological prejudices against those social classes who (in the west at least) traditionally dominated the cavalry branch. DiMarco’s work is different: in his history, the horse itself provides the strong, central, unifying theme. The physical characteristics of the horse, breeds and types, horse equipment, equitation and horse mastership (care of horses) in the field—these are DiMarco’s concerns as he takes his reader from the earliest years of man’s blossoming relationship with equids, up through their use by American special forces in Afghanistan today.
I can recommend DiMarco’s work as the best single-volume history of cavalry….
Above is the trailer for a six part documentary entitled “The History of the Horse” that will be on most PBS stations later this year (dates and times TBD). I helped out some with the episode on the horse warrior. I have no idea what the final product looks like but the trailer promises a pretty interesting project.
See below for more information.
Saddle Up with Dennis Brouse is a television series airing on public television stations across the nation
The show celebrates the relationship between horse and human. Whether you own a horse or just love to watch them in the movies, we have a storied partnership with this magnificent animal. This series showcases everything from training tips for horse owners to trail destinations for recreational riders. We visit ranches and other locations where our bond with horses is illustrated in countless ways.
The Army have decided to reward their loyal horses with an off-duty trip to Blackpool.
Household Cavalry arrives in the Middle East. Read Article Here.
Corb Lund, Canadian Country Western singer who I just discovered, sings the perfect theme song for this blog. See the video here:
The song is from his album, Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier! and includes several cavalry oriented tunes including I wanna Be in the Calvary.
This blog is a new adventure for me… adding to my webpage adventure which has been running in various forms for about 10 years now. I intend for this blog to serve a variety of purposes: host random thoughts on a variety of professional and personal areas of interest; provide a new media for connecting to friends old and new; and open a dialog on a variety of subjects with others who are also interested in those areas. Time will tell how successfully this endeavor is….
A Horse Soldier's Thoughts 