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The following is a list of books I have related to the horsemanship program at the Cavalry School at Fort Riley. It may be useful as a bibliography.

The American Jumping Style, George H. Morris, Doubleday, New York, NY, 1993
Sections on the seminal influence of the Cavalry School on the American riding style

Animal Management, 1908, Prepared in the Veterinary Department for General Staff, War Office, Official copy, London (reprinted 1916), inside cover is written: “Detachment Veterinary Corps. Fort Riley, Kansas”

The Cavalry Manual of Horsemanship and Horsemastership...Education of the Rider, ed. Gordon Wright, ill. Sam Savitt, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, NY 1962
Wright was WWII grad of Cav School, abridgement of Part 1 Horsemanship & Horsemastership

Elementary Horsemanship, Ford E. Young, Jr., Franklin Press, Gaithersburg, MD 1949
manual by WWII grad of Cav School

Equestrian Excellence: The Stories of Our Olympic Equestrian Medal Winners, From Stockholm 1912 thru Atlanta 1996, Barbara Wallace Shambach, Half-Halt Press, Inc., Boonsboro, MD 1996
Biographies of individual Army Olympic riders

From Corral to Championship, Maj. Gen Perry B. Griffith, (Ret) Charger Productions, Capistrano Beach, CA 1980
1940 Grad Adv. Equitation Class, Cav School

Horse Training Out-Door and High School, E. Beudant, Intro. By Lt. Col. John A. Barry US Cav (translator), Charles Scribner’s Sons, NY, London 1931, several pictures of US Cav officers riding at Ft. Riley

Horseback Riding, Frederick L. Devereux, JR., Franklin Watts, NY 1976
grad of Cav School

Horsemastership, Margaret Cabell Self, A.S. Barnes and Company, NY 1952, description of military seat

Learning to Ride Hunt and Show, Gordon Wright, ill. By Sam Savitt, Garden City Books, Garden City, NY 1960
horsemanship book by WWII grad of Cav School

Olympic Equestrian, Jennifer O. Bryant, The Blood-Horse, Inc., Lexington, KK 2000
History of the equestrian Olympics with section on Army Show teams

Riding, Benjamin Lewis, The Garden City Publishing Co., Inc. NY 1939, introduction by Col. John K. Brown (former horsemanship instructor at Cav School)

Riding and Schooling Horses, Harry D. Chamberlin, Armored Cavalry Journal Press, Wash., DC, 1947 ed.
Cavalry School horsemanship instructor

Riding for America, the United State Equestrian Team, ed. Nancy Jaffer, Doubleday, NYC 1990
Chapter on the Army Olympic team

Training Hunters, Jumpers, and Hacks, Brig Gen Harry D. Chamberlin,
Arco Publishing, NYC 2nd Ed, Third Printing 1978
Cav School Horsemanship instructor



The following are Ft. Riley publications related to their equestrian program:

Animal Management, Dept of Horsemanship, 1923-1924, mimeo

Animal Management, Academic Division, 1926-1927

Animals, Training Remounts, Training Regulations No. 360-10, Cavalry School wrap no. 100 (Note: to be turned in at end of course), signed at top A.E. Duncan, Duncan collection

Annual Report of the Commandant, The Cavalry School, 1924

The Army Horse in Accident and Disease, a Manual Prepared for the Use of Students of the Training School for Farriers and Horse Shoers by Training School Instructors, 1909, Mounted Service School, stamped “Field Artillery Replacement Depot.”

Breaking, Training and Reclaiming Cavalry Horses, exercises prepared by Brig. Gen. Harry D. Chamberlin, Second Cavalry Division, Camp Funston, 1941

Cavalry Horses (World War), J. Paul Breden, 1st Lt., Cav, Regular Class 1935-1936, Academic Division, The Cavalry School, Historical Monograph, Cavalry Horses, Australian Mounted Troops, Sinai-Palestine, 1914-1915 submitted on April 13, 1936, 13 pgs of carbon copies with blueprint map of blood sources of Australian horse bound in yellow Cav School binder, monograph was printed as an article in Nov-Dec 1936 The Cavalry Journal (The Cavalry School Digest of Information–Cavalry Horses in the World War)

Conditioning Horses for Field Service, lecture notes 1939-1940, carbon copy
mentions conditioning for upcoming WWII, collec. Col. William Wolfe, Vet.

The Gaits The Horseman, L. De Sevy, Officier De Cavalerie, Translated by 1st Lt. John C. Hamilton, 13th Cav., Cavalry School 1930

Harness Driving and Animal Transportation, Dept. of Horsemanship, 1925-1926, mimeo


Horsemanship and Horsemastership:
1. All sections bound together, 1935
signed Earl C. Branniff, Capt. Cavalry, USA, ORC
2. Vol 1, 1935 (reprint 1937)
3. Vol 1, 1935 (reprint 1937), modern reprint
4. Vol 1, 1942
signed Lt. Thomasll Stone, 15th July 1943, Ft. Riley, Kansas
5. Vol 2, 1935 (reprint 1937) Part 3-Animal Management, Part 4-Horseshoeing
signed Frank Carroll
6. Part 3-Animal Management, 1940
embossed seal-Frederick J. Herr Jr.
7. Vol 3, Part 5 Horseshows, 1941

Horseshoeing, Frank G. Churchill, Senior Instructor in Horseshoeing, Cavalry School, 1933

Horse Show Management, The Cavalry School Press, Fort Riley, Kansas 1925

Manual for Army Horseshoers, GPO 1917, Prepared for the use of students of the Mounted Service School, original and modern reprint

Manual for Stable Sergeants, GPO 1917, prepared at Mounted Service School 1917, modern reprint

The Manual of Equitation of the French Army for 1912, translated at the Cavalry School, Q.M.C. Plant, Ft. Riley, Kan., 4-11-31, (also xerox of earlier copy--War Dept., War College Division, General Staff #20, 1913)

The Military Seat, The Cavalry School, 1934, booklet

The Military (Balanced) Seat, The Cavalry School, P-425, no date but approx WWII, booklet

Notes on Equitation and Horse Training in answer to the examination questions at the School of Application for Cavalry at Saumur, France, GPO 1910, Transl. By Maj. George H. Cameron, Fourteenth Cav, Assistant Commandant, Mounted Service School, Ft. Riley
modern reprint

The Rasp (The Cavalry School annual)
1912-signed Major Edward Black
1913-ex Lib. USMA (West Point)
1914
1921-ex Lib. USMA
1922
1923
1924-ex Lib. USMA
1925
1926-signed Maj R W Strong
1927-signed Saxton Berg, Capt Cav
1928-signed F.E. Rundell, 1st Cav DOL Adjutant, Ft. McDowell, Cal.

Seats, Gaits and Reactions, L. De Sevy Officier De Cavalerie, Translated by 1st Lt. John C. Hamilton, 13th Cavalry, 1930

Phillip,
That is absolutely outstanding, what a source for referance you have brought forth to us all. It is interesting to see the "modern" authors pay some attention to the influence of the teachings at Ft. Riley.

George Morris has always been a believer in that method, and recently I learned Jennifer Bryant is better versed in military horsmanship than I assumed. I know Jennifer reads this Forum so I offer her my regards in her book.

What does puzzle me is how so many "Instructors" do not make referance or usage of such information to thier students. Of course there are so many who do not know anything of this material, but they should.

Thanks Phillip, that took a lot of work.

Regards,
Ron Smith

Excellent, Philip. Here are a few more from my library:

Smalley, LtC Henry R. An Analysis of Horsemanship, Washington, DC 1932 American Remount Association

Churchill, Frank G. Notes on Horseshoing and Horseshoing Catechism, Ft riley, The cavalry School (undated, but my copy has a 1929 date by the owner's signature)

Churchill, F.G.; American Methods of Horseshoing; 1926; Ft. Riley; The Cavalry School

Basic Cavalry Manual (ROTC textbook); 1930;Washington, DC; National AService Publishing (forward by Guy Henry, Chief of Cavalry)

Academic Division, Cav School; A Manual of Equitation; 1928; Ft. Riley, the Cavalry School

Basic Field Manual of Animal Transportation (prepared under direction of the Chief of Cavalry);1939; Washington DC; The War Department

AND, From the Artillery side of things...

Elementary Mounted Instruction; 1933; Ft. SIll; The Field Artillery School

Joe

A very good list of additions Joe...thanks.

I have run into horse trainers and riders who do not like to be told of the military roots of show jumping and dressage. I think that many like to associate these sports instead with the English Fox Hunting tradition and are a bit resentful when the actual military roots are mentioned.

Philip;
I have to add my thanks as well. There were several titles in your bibliography I was not familiar with that I'll have to find. I was especially happy to learn of another tract by Chamberlin. There are also, as you may know, two other treatises by Lt de Sevy, published by the cavalry school: 'Seat, Gaits and Reactions' a technical analysis with some interesting historical material as well, also translated by Lt Hamilton; and 'Jumping of Obstacles and the Racing Gallop'. I haven't run across the latter yet so can't give details. I have a question though. Who was de Sevy? Why would an ecuyer wish to publish under a pseudonym? Is this a French thing having to do with class?
regards and thanks again, Sandy

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Philip S</i>
<br />A very good list of additions Joe...thanks.

I have run into horse trainers and riders who do not like to be told of the military roots of show jumping and dressage. I think that many like to associate these sports instead with the English Fox Hunting tradition and are a bit resentful when the actual military roots are mentioned.
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Phillip,
You have experienced much of the same disregard as I and many others have. Most trainers have a basic understanding of the US military impact on horsemanship and appreciate it to some degree. As with anything the elements of any socio-economic culture that are negative will get more press than those that are positive.

With that being said some of these trainers are also basing thier opinions on what they have seen in modern circumstances. Most military horsemen today are in Rodeo sports not English disciplines, while Rodeo is certainly an athletic endeavor with animals, finesse is not of the more prominent attributes, and horses in many Rodeos se emore abuse than respect.

Reenactors are also part of this equation; there are some who train and ride to progress in some form of discipline of English recognition. These riders are as anyone else is, dedicated and disciplined. But the overwhelming majority are untrained and undisciplined and project a strong inmage that they are military horsemen, which they are not. While not the deciding factor in such attitudes by some trainers it is a large part of the equation in many parts of the country.

All in all far too many US riders and trainers are unaware of thier equestrian heritage from the military. The US military itself does not help as it generally has an attitude of indifferance towards horses. During recent operations in both theaters many horses were in use by front line troops, but the military and the media show smart bombs and high speed armor making the day. That has been an attitude of the Army for decades, whether it is right or wrong is irrelavant to my point.

Most students today consider Podhajsky an ancient trainer and he only died just a few years ago. He was a military horseman first, head of the Spanish Riding School second.

The list you have compiled should be mandatory reading for any serious student of equitation, but availability alone will preclude much of it being read.

Regards,
Ron Smith

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Ron Smith</i>
<br />Phillip,
That is absolutely outstanding, what a source for referance you have brought forth to us all. It is interesting to see the "modern" authors pay some attention to the influence of the teachings at Ft. Riley.

George Morris has always been a believer in that method, and recently I learned Jennifer Bryant is better versed in military horsmanship than I assumed. I know Jennifer reads this Forum so I offer her my regards in her book.

What does puzzle me is how so many "Instructors" do not make referance or usage of such information to thier students. Of course there are so many who do not know anything of this material, but they should.

Thanks Phillip, that took a lot of work.

Regards,
Ron Smith

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Let me echo Ron's thanks. This is very valuable list, thanks for having done this.

Pat

It is interesting to see what horsemanship books cavalrymen were reading. The following is a list of suggested books available for purchase through the Nov-Dec. 1936 Cavalry Journal:

A-HUNTING WE WILL GO, Geoffrey Brooke
AMERICAN METHODS OF HORSESHOEING, Churchill
AMERICAN POLO, Bent
AN ANALYSIS OF HORSEMANSHIP, Lieutenant Colonel H. R. Smalley
ANIMAL MANAGEMENT, Cavalry S.chool
THE ART OF RIDING, Lt. Col. M. F. McTaggart
As To POLO, W. Cameron Forbe.r
BREAKING AND RIDING, James Fillis
BRIDLEWISE, Lt. Col. S. G. Goldschmidt
CROSS SADDLE AND SIDE SADDLE, Christy
DEFENSE OF THE FORWARD SEAT, Littauer and Kournakoff
AN EYE FOR A HORSE, Goldschmidt
EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE, Goubeaux and Barrier
FEEDS AND FEEDING, Henry and Morrison
FELLOWSHIP OF THE HORSE, Goldschmidt
FIRST AIDS FOR HORSE OWNERS, Lyon
FROM COLONEL TO SUBALTERN (letters), McTaggart
FUNDAMENTALS OF HORSEMANSHIP, Rademan
THE GAITS-THE HORSEMAN (translated from the French), Cavalry School
HANDBOOK FOR HORSE OWNERS, McTaggart
HINTS ON HORSEMANSHIP, McTaggart
THE HORSE AND HIS SCHOOLING, McTaggart
HORSE LOVERS, Brooke
HORSE SENSE FOR AMATEURS, King
HORSE SENSE AND HORSEMANSHIP, Brooke
HORSESHOEING, Churchill, 1933
HORSE TRAINING, OUTDOOR AND HIGH SCHOOL, Beudant
IN MY OPINION, Lyon
AN INTRODUCTION TO POLO, Mountbatten
A MANUAL OF EQUITATION (translated front the French), Cavalry School
MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT, Colonel R. S. TfnsmIJ, Royal Canadian Dragoons
MODERN HORSE SERIES, T1mmis
MODERN POLO, Miller
POLO PONIES: THEIR TRAINING AND SCHOOLING, Lt. Paul G. Kendall
MOUNT AND MAN, McTaggart
POLO PONY TRAINING, Ramsay
POSITION AND TEAM PLAY IN POLO, Devereux
PRACTICAL HORSEMANSHIP, Major ]. L. M. Barrett
PRACTICAL JUMPING, Barrett
PRACTICAL LIGHT HORSE BREEDING, Wall
PRINCIPLES OF EQUITATION, de Souza
RIDING AND HUNTING, Hayes
RIDING REFLECTIONS (forward seat), Santini
RIDING AND SCHOOLING, Timmis
RIDING FORWARD, Captain V. S. Littauer
SADDLE UP, Captain F. C. Hitchcock
THE SADDLE HORSE, Taylor
SCHOOL FOR HORSE AND RIDER, Hance
SEATS, GAITS, REACTIONS (translated from the French), Cavalry School
SELECTION AND TRAINING OF THE POLO PONY, Cullum
STABLE AND SADDLE, McTaggart
SABLEWISE, Goldschmidt
TCHIFFELY'S RIDE (Argentine to U. S.)
THOROUGHBREDS AND HUNTERS, Fawcett
WAY OF A MAN WITH A HORSE, Brooke

An excellent bibliography of more general military and cavalry books is contained in "The Patton Mind, The Professional Development of an Extraordinary Leader," by Roger H. Nye. He lists the contents of Patton's personal library. Most of this is now in a special collection of the US Military Academy Library.

Gentlemen, Thanks for posting list. If you were only allow to have 1 book,which one would it be? Tom

Tom:
Pesonally, I would suggest "Training Hunters, Jumpers, and Hacks" by Brig Gen Harry D. Chamberlin. The author was generally considered the Army's best rider. His book is a clear distillation of the Military Seat and is a nice read. His earlier book "Riding and Schooling Horses" concentrates more on the rider aspect than horse training. Both books were republished numerous times and are readily available on the used book market for a modest price.

My second choice would be the Horsemanship and Horsemastership series of the Cavalry School. This was the Cavalry School textbook and is as dry as toast. I believe that it was authored by Chamberlin while Guy Henry, Jr. was commandant at the Cavalry School. It has been republished by the Cavalry Association. Unfortunately for users they chose the first edition and thus miss the subsequent revisions. The horse and rider training sections (parts 1 & 2) are quite useful. I would however, be a bit cautious about the animal management (part 3) advice. There have been a lot of subsequent vet. advancements.

Hm. The desert island question. Just one? Training Hunters Jumpers and Hacks
Sandy

Dang! Philip beat me to it. And my second choice too! Seeing as those are 'gone' I'll take Seunig's 'Horsemanship'

Yes, but if you get to bootleg another one, Analysis of Horsemanship is very worthwhile.

Joe

I have a elderly german friend whom fought in ww2 and after the war took riding lessons from a ex hungarian cav. officer. He was adament about me getting a copy of Hunters and Hacks. He even put out a search and obtained a copy for me. It is getting harder and more expensive to find some these references listed but again thanksfor the list. Also reviewed the list in Patton book and saw a picture of G.S. on a fully load M1917 with the M1916 stirrups. Regards,Tom

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Philip S</i>
<br />Tom:
Pesonally, I would suggest "Training Hunters, Jumpers, and Hacks" by Brig Gen Harry D. Chamberlin. The author was generally considered the Army's best rider. His book is a clear distillation of the Military Seat and is a nice read."
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Hi, I am new to the forum, seems other people are interested in keeping alive Cavalry methods of horse training besides me! Whew!

In regards to the above book for real training of a real horse, which year of publication? edition? I have found publication years of 1946, 1952, 1973 to buy. 1973 is most expensive - why?

Thank you in advance for your reply!

Welcome Roper to our friendly little group. There are indeed a number of us very interested in military horsemanship. Some do so for historical purposes. Others, myself included, just like the gentle natural approach of Chamberlin, Henry, and others of the cavalry's "golden autumn."

"Training Hunters and Hacks" was originally published in 1937. Brig. Gen. Harry Chamberlin died from ilness in 1944. As you noted, his book has been reprinted a number of times. It appears that his text is unchanged but there are different prefaces. If you want a working copy I would recommend a later edition with an updated preface and good binding. Some of the early editions are a bit brittle with age. As always used bookprices vary a lot. Sometimes the bookseller is just a bit too optimistic.

Roper;
I would echo Philips comments only adding that the John Tupper Cole preface, found in most later editions, is worth having. One sturdy buckram reading edition would be the one of the Van Nostrands. Welcome. Sorry for the brevity, I'm running late. Greetings to all.
Sandy

Given the recent discussion of the military seat, I thought I'd bump this up.

Pat

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Philip S</i>
<br />The following is a list of books I have related to the horsemanship program at the Cavalry School at Fort Riley. It may be useful as a bibliography.

The American Jumping Style, George H. Morris, Doubleday, New York, NY, 1993
Sections on the seminal influence of the Cavalry School on the American riding style
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I’m a little surprised by the inclusion of anything by George Morris on such a high quality list. Granted he was successful competitor, but I think he will be best remembered for spawning the American hunter/jumper seat. This seat is flawed by imbalance, being rooted in a misconceived preference for form over balance.

To be fair to Mr. Morris, I am sure his early training that permitted his success was based in the military seat. However, it is my view that he got swept up into the post war “leisure time” phenomenon, and probably with good intentions began to teach short cuts like the crest release. When I was young and learning to ride the crest release had another name, a mistake. Now we have a second generation coming along with children riding over jumps not only with their knuckles on the crest, but their wrists, forearms, and even elbows, thanks to his short cut.

There is no substitute for balance, and what was true in Caprilli’s day, Littauer’s and Chamberlin’s, as well as Mariles’ time, is still true today. Morris has abandon balance in the irons in favor of a “tripod” involving the neck, which results in an off forward balance over any obstacle under 3 1/2 feet high, on a normal size horse. Additionally, his teachings assume a flat sand arena in which his geometry of the hip angle works, but nowhere else.

The sum total of his methods has developed a very commercial American school of riding that is contrary to the military seat, whatever bow he may give to the tradition in his books. For me, he is to the military seat what modern fencing is to combat swordsmanship, a stylized dance of what was once the rule of substance.

I hope this does not offend any Morris advocates, of which there are many. It is merely my opinion gathered over years of teaching his followers how to ride terrain.

I’d add “Riding with Mariles” by M. Cabell Self to a reading list on the military seat. While the book is not a great read, it does document what may be the last true advancements in the military seat, offered by General Humberto Mariles. The essence of his contribution was perhaps more of a return, than an advancement. He advocated riding closer to the saddle, staying with the horse longer into a jump, and returning to the saddle sooner in order to ride more effectively in the approach and landing. He won in competition against the best of the post WW2 military and civilian international riders. He must have known something, and his methods were employed by his country's (Mexico) mounted services, which were too poor to completely mechanize.

Bob