Page 411 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
escape according to the requirements of the moment.”70 A man fighting from horseback also has the advantages of greater height, speed, and inertial mass over an opponent on foot. This combines with the psychological impact a mounted soldier can have on an opponent.
The primary benefit of mounted Operations is the greater relative distance an individual can travel in any given time. This is complemented by the amount a horse can carry in addition to its rider and still maintain a walking speed of 8km an hour for three hours and its “sprint” ability of up to 25km/h. The actual distance that mounted troops could cover in a single day is subjective. Depending on ground and the availability of water, it is not unreasonable to expect mounted troops to patrol 20 – 25 miles a day without discomfort and be able to sustain this for five days.71 Intrinsic to this reach and speed is the benefit that when the soldier reaches the area of operations he is fundamentally fresher than the foot soldier. He is also more situationally aware than those who travelled inside a vehicle. With the reach of mounted troops goes their relative stealth. Although horses braying, or whinnying are obvious compromises, when covered by ground, the dust signature from a sub-unit of horses is significantly less than that of vehicles.
Associated with speed, reach and stealth is the terrain crossing ability of horses and mules. Horses are inherently stable on steep ground and because of the natural design of the hoof they are adept at climbing or descending steep ground. It is well recorded that it is always the rider who refuses to go up or down slopes, the animal is unconcerned. This cross-country ability drastically improves the tactical uses of mounted troops. Even intermediate riders are able to jump small ditches, banks, and fences. In short, there is seldom anywhere a horse cannot go, that a soldier would want to go in the first place.72 Again, a benefit of mounted Operations is that the horse can carry more weight than the soldier that rides it. The average weight of a British Infantryman is currently in the region of 78kg. It is thus evident that middleweight horses with an average soldier could carry in excess of 33kg without any undue effort to the horse. This load could be increased to the region of 45kg for a few days, or the total load on the animal could be mitigated by selecting lighter soldiers. However, even though the soldiers may continue to carry large weights they are not using their lower limbs and the chance of injury to the lower back and neck is greatly reduced.
The use of horses contributes to situational awareness. Firstly, the rider is at height where there is a better chance of being able to see over walls and shrubs and
70 Warner, Philip. The British Cavalry. J M Dent and Sons 1984.
71 Macdonald, Colonel, interview with author, May 13th, 2010.
72 Warner, Philip. The British Cavalry. J M Dent and Sons 1984.
73 Hunt, Mr John, interview with author, 16th December 2009.
74 Ibid.
75 Ibid.
crops. This elevated position gives a 1.5m height advantage when looking down at the ground and in doing so makes recognition of disturbed earth or other anomalies slightly easier. The second contribution to situational awareness is the line of sight to each rider. Because individuals are not confined to vehicles and because they gain natural protection from their mount, they are able to maintain awareness of each other and the surrounding atmospheric conditions. A third advantage of being 1.5m above the ground will be the added protection from IEDs. The protection comes from two aspects. Firstly, any explosive detonated by an animal would be absorbed predominantly by the chest, legs, and neck of the animal. However, the mass and density of the animal is such that it is extremely unlikely that damage could penetrate completely through the animal, thus protecting the rider. However, the riders’ legs would be in a vulnerable position and in closest proximity to the detonation. This is mitigated by the physics of explosive force. The force of the explosion decreases by a cube factor as the shrapnel and blast dissipated in three dimensions. Thus, for every 1m that the rider is distanced from the explosion, the force is reduced by 75%.73 At this range, the dissipating effect would render the majority of anti-personal IEDs ineffective and make the majority of incidents wounding injuries, not fatalities.
Needing no spare parts or oil and lubricants a mounted unit would need only to be supported by enough feed stuffs and water to last the patrol. Whilst this in itself would be a logistic burden it equates to no more than fuel and water for vehicles. Obviously horses will need veterinary care and attention, but the medical supplies and instruments to conduct veterinary aid are minimal compared to engine assemblies of large PM vehicles. It is likely that patrols would be 8 hrs in duration, with long and sustained rest during the night.
The greatest benefit that mounted troops will bring to Afghanistan, while conducting a counter insurgency, will be their natural affinity with the population. As most Afghans cannot afford mechanised transport the most popular working animal and means of mobility is the mule or donkey. Horses are much rarer and accordingly more expensive. The owners of horses are revered in Afghan culture74, but owning horses is not considered as ostentatious wealth, just a suitable means of expressing social status in a culturally sensitive manner. If a Troop of horses arrived in a benign village, the natural bond between a culture that has great reverence for horses and those that chose to ride horses would be apparent.75 While there is no guarantee of acceptance and welcome, the fact that ISAF forces had decided to use a culturally
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