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Really cool! I didnāt realize those horses worked so long. Good to see they get great retirement.
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Thank you! They DO have a very good āafter-lifeā!
When I was a kid, in the '60s, we took a lesson pony for the winter. He had a US brand on his shoulder, which I assumed was US army. (We were outside of Washington, d.c., which was full of military everything.) He was about 14 hands, solid black, with floppy ears like a mule, and looked older than dirt. He was a pretty sour pony, and when my little brothers went to catch him, he would charge them at a shambling trot, sending them running. That didnāt work on me, Iād carry small rocks from the driveway and throw them at the pony.
I called him a World War II veteran.
Wonder if he really was?
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He could have been. That would be so cool.
My father was in WWII and used to love riding the horses stabled at the various forts where he was training officers here. I still have his Field Artillery manual with the chapters on Equitation, and on the equipment for the horses who pulled the caissons.
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I bet that manual on equitation is really interesting.
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It is. The Equitation chapter has photos as well as line drawings, e.g., How to Saddle - McClellan Saddle, how to fold the saddle blanket, how to mount - Stand to Horse, Prepare to Mount, Mount; ā¦ how to bridle with snaffle bridle and with bit and bridoon; how to fit a lunging cavesson, how to ride the near horse of the caisson team ā¦
itās the first horsemanship manual I ever read as a child. 
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My first riding instructor was a retired lieutenant colonel from Ft. Riley. He had us polish our horsesā hooves w a cut onion.
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Yuck.
Hopefully he didnāt pick on yāall when you cried! Iāve heard of polishing patent leather with a cold biscuit, but never hooves with an onion.
I wish my father were here to ask if he had his soldiers do that!
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Ooh, ooh, I just checked! That crabby ancient lesson pony WAS wearing a US army brand and, unless he was used for just āceremonial purposes,ā is really a WW II veteran, like my dad and everyone else around us at the time! Poor old thing.
I also checked on horsemanship manuals, and I can have a cavalry reprint for the low, low price of $60. Have to pass on that, and be content with MY first manual, āLearning to Ride, Hunt, and Show.ā Sighā¦
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He actually started an English 4-H club. In my area, they were all western when I was a kid. The club fell apart but I continued to ride w himš.
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I bet you got some pretty good instruction.
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Is that the book by Gordon Wright? (Illustrations by Sam Savitt, maybe?)
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Yay! I would have loved to ride with someone like him. It must have been awesome.
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P.S. one of the most comfortable saddles Iāve ever ridden was an old McClellan saddle. I had plenty of padding even then (early 20s) but I donāt think Iād find it quite so comfortable now.
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Yes, yes! Thatās the book! I loved those illustrations; Sam Savitt illustrated most of my absolute favorite horse books back then. I remember seeing one horse book and being disappointed that it had a different illustrator. We lived close enough to the Fairfax County library main branch that I got to see a LOT of horse booksā¦
And Gordon Wright edited the US cavalry horsemanship manual revised for āciviliansā so maybe he knew what he was talking about. Anyway, his book and William Steinkrauseās A Horse of your Own were my bibles.
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I remember both of those books. Sam Savitt was one of my favorite horse artists too, along with Paul Brown and C.W. Anderson. And of course Thelwell!
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Oh yes, all three. And it took a while for me to notice, but Thelwellās books actually were full of information. My brother gave a book report on a Thelwell book at one of our 4H meetings, saying the book was only good for a laugh. Not soā¦
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Your Lt. Col instructor, wasnāt Ft. Riley the cavalry fort? And a Colonel. No sergeant or lieutenant. He was probably pretty goodā¦
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Hmmm ā¦ I better go back and have another look at Thelwell ā¦
Hi! He was wonderful. I was only 10, and the thing I most remember about him was how important your horse and the care you provide is. The horse ALWAYS came first, ALWAYS!
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