Horse. A military term for a body of cavalry.
Horse Artillery. Is that portion of the artillery which usually serves with cavalry, and in which the cannoneers are mounted on horseback, to enable them to conform with the rapid movements of that arm of the service. Possessing, from their lighter construction and mounted detachments, much greater locomotive powers than other field-batteries, they are especially adapted for following the rapid evolutions of cavalry, for sudden attacks upon particular points, and for supporting the advance, or covering the retreat of an army.
Horse, Associated. A body of cavalry so called in the days of Cromwell. At the famous battle of Naseby (June 14, 1645), which decided the fate of Charles I., the Associated Horse were posted in the rear of the right wing of the Republican army, and formed a part of the reserve. Cromwell commanded the cavalry on the right of the whole, and the Associated Horse were under his immediate orders.
Horse, Cavalry and Artillery. Horses generally make in a minute, at ordinary pace, 120 steps, and they cover 110 yards; at a trot, 180 steps, covering 220 yards; and at a gallop, 100 steps or strides, covering 352 yards; from which it would appear that the length of the stride at the ordinary pace is about 0.917 yard, and that the velocity corresponds to about 1.74 yards per second; and at a trot the stride is about 1.28 yards and the speed about 3.68 yards per second; and at a gallop the stride is about 3.52 yards, with a speed of about 5.87 yards per second. A good horse carrying a weight of 225 pounds, can travel, without over-exertion, 25 miles in a day of from seven to eight hours; his speed in this case would be between 1.75 and 1.53 yards per second. The weight of an average-sized horse is about from 900 to 1350 pounds. The age of the horse is determined by the appearance of the teeth, which vary according to the number of years the animal has attained, and may be easily understood by a slight attention to the subject; the number, quality, and size of the teeth indicating the respective ages. The lower front teeth or nippers are those by which the age of a colt is usually determined. At two years old these teeth will be complete; that is to say, the colt will have a full set, six in number, of milch-teeth. Between two and three years old the two centre teeth are displaced, and two permanent teeth succeed them, easily distinguished from colt’s teeth by being broader, larger, and having a dark cavity in the centre of the upper surface. At three years old the colt will have in the lower jaw two permanent and four colt’s teeth; between the third and fourth year the next pair of incisor teeth will be shed, and permanent teeth succeed them. At four years old there will be four permanent teeth in the centre, and two colt’s teeth at each corner of the lower jaw. Between the fourth and fifth year the last remaining colt’s nipper, or corner tooth, will be cast; and, if a horse or gelding, the tushes, four in number, will show themselves, two in the upper and two in the lower jaw. At five years old the horse will have a full or complete set of permanent teeth in the upper and lower jaws; for the same change that takes place in the lower is developed in the upper jaw also. The colt at this age takes the name of horse, and is supposed to be equal to all the laborious duties expected from him. Although we can no longer judge of his age by the shifting or shedding of his teeth, we can form a tolerably correct conclusion from other appearances of them. At six years old the dark oval-shaped mark in the centre of the two front nippers, usually called by horsemen “the bean,” will be nearly or quite worn away; the tushes higher and stronger, and the cavities of the interior part of the tooth more filled; the two corner nippers level with the others, and equally developed. At seven years old the marks in the second pair of nippers are filled up, and the tushes become more round externally and internally. At eight years old the marks in the corner nippers are worn out, and the tushes more round and blunt. From this age the animal is said to be, in horse phraseology, “past knowledge”; and although a tolerably correct opinion may be formed for many years to come by the appearance of the upper jaw and other prognostics, still they cannot be implicitly relied on. It often occurs at a much earlier period that the best judges of age are deceived by the untimely structural alteration of the teeth, produced by mechanical or pathological causes, such as crib-biting, biting the rack or manger, eating hard food, etc. Horses used for cavalry in the United States are selected with regard to climate, the American horse east of the Rocky Mountains, and what is known as the Mexican or bronco, west of the Rocky Mountains; the power of endurance of the latter being much more than that of the former, they are better adapted to the rugged, arid country that an American cavalry soldier has to travel over on the western frontier. For artillery large, strong American horses are used. A horse occupies a space in the ranks of a front of 40 inches, a depth of 10 feet; in a stall, from 31⁄2 to 41⁄2 feet front; at picket 3 feet by 9. Cavalry horses usually charge at the rate of 24 miles per hour, or one mile in 21⁄2 minutes. See [Pack and Draught Horses].
Horse Guards. The name was applied to a large public office in Whitehall, London, appropriated to the departments under the general-commanding-in-chief, and guarded by a squadron of Horse Guards. In 1871 the headquarters were removed to Pall Mall.
Horse Guards, Royal (Oxford Blues). Is the third heavy cavalry regiment of the Household Brigade (English). The regiment was raised in 1661 from the remnants of the disbanded army of the late Commonwealth. It took part in Marlborough’s campaigns; served under the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsula and at Waterloo, and has always been considered one of the finest heavy cavalry corps in the world.
Horseman. A mounted soldier.
Horsemanship. The act or art of riding, and of training and managing horses; manege.
Horse-power. A measure for the quantity of work of which an engine or motor is capable in a given time. It is 33,000 foot-pounds in one minute.
Horse-shoe. In fortification, is a small round or oval work, with a parapet; generally made in a ditch, or marsh.