Horsing Around

Today's topic in the cube was horses and horsemanship. Looking into the question "why Custer organized his companies each with a different colored horse" led to a host of new information on the web. The ancient Greek, Xenophon, wrote the first known book on Horsemanship, which can still be found in print (although Mid-Continent Library fails to carry it). His ideas were the basis of all that followed, from the Romans, through the Crusades and into the 19th century. Many of his ideas are incorporated in what the French formalized into dressage. I learned about warm blooded breeds (high-spirited) and cold blooded breeds (more docile, saddle-types). Grey horses are more prone to tumors, and in general have a shorter life span. Light-colored horse, such as grey and white horses, can sunburn. I found a Lord of the Rings chat room that discussed the differences between a war horse (typically raised and trained by one person and taught many fighting moves so they are an active part of the battle, very loyal and protective of their master), cavalry horse (calm under fire, trained in some battle formations but not considered a weapon in and of themselves) and saddle horse (could be taken out of the barn and ridden by anyone), and read the opinions of several gamesters on how these differences could be applied to upcoming versions of a LOTR video game. Fort Riley has a research library dedicated to the Cavalry, which is open to the public. Sounds like a great day trip to me. Of course, none of this really answers my original question, so I will be working more on my search!