Antoine Fortuné de Brack - cavalry saddle and its importance

Salve,

Antoine Fortuné de Brack, Napoleonic   cavalryman, officer - hussar (  7e régiment de hussards ) and later  uhlan/lancer of  Le 2e régiment de chevau-légers lanciers de la Garde impériale   , chasseur a cheval and hussar again, finally the commander of l'ecole de cavalerie at Saumur, France, wrote the famous book on the light cavalry tactics based on his military experiences -  Avant-postes de cavalerie légère (Cavalry Outpost Duties),  and luckily to us he begins his book by writing about the cavalry saddle and its importance for the cavalry service:

Q. Why does it often happen that a non-commissioned officer or soldier does 

not receive the promotion, the cross, which he might have obtained? 
  A. Because, instead of continuing with the war squadrons to which 

he belonged,he remained in rear, at one of the small depots. 
Q. Why?
A. Because his horse was injured and unfit for service. 
Q. What injured him ? 
A. The saddle. 
Q. Why did the saddle injure him?
A. Because the chief of squadron in assigning it, and the soldier in 

receiving it,failed to study carefully the proper bearing of the saddle

on the horse's back. 

 The first thing to be done when a saddle is received is to place the naked 

tree on the horse's back to see that the bars fit properly; that they are 

parallel to the surface on which they are placed; to judge beforehand the 

changes of position which will be effected in these surfaces by the movements 

of the horse, so that the weightof the saddle may be, as nearly as possible,

distributed over the whole, and not bear upon a portion of the bars only.

The slightly convex form of the bars is given to them for the sole purpose 

of preserving a perfect equilibrium in all possible positions of

the horse and his rider. 
To see that the arch of the pommel does not constrain the withers, either by 

pinching them laterally or compressing them in their upper portion; that the 

arch of the cantle is high enough and the fork sufficiently elevated to 

prevent the valise resting on the loins when it is attached; that the bars

are smooth, so that there may be no rough spots to produce abrasions of the 

skin; that the pegs, made of green wood, and afterward dried,

do not project from their holes in a way to produce injury; 

that the saddle seat is not so low as to throw the rider on the backbone of

the horse, instead of keeping him away from it, thus producing pressure and 

dangerous chafing; that the saddle seat is not raised too high before or behind,

which, by throwing the rider too much to the front or rear, will make

the saddle tilt up, derange the equilibrium, establish a constant, uneven

pressure upon the same place, constrain the horse and rider in their movements, 

and will surely injure both; that the holsters do not close too tightly on 

the shoulders, which will constrain their movements and surely wound them. 

The only way of judging perfectly of the fit of a saddle is, as I have already 

said, to place the bare tree upon the horse's back, then to mount the man upon 

the tree and see how the pressure acts. 

 If, in every movement, the bars are not parallel to the horse's sides, the 

pressure will be irregular; for either the tree is too wide, and the bars, 

pressing only from the inside, will injure the backbone of the horse; or the 

tree will be too narrow, and the bars, pressing only diagonally,will soon 

produce sores upon those parts of the sides which they must bear upon 

with all the weight of the rider and his load. 
That having been done, the leather parts belonging to the saddle will be 

attached to it, and it will then be placed carefully upon the folded blanket.

The crupper, breast-strap, and girth will be so arranged that by their united 

action they will hold the saddle securely in the place it should occupy and 

thus prevent, instead of causing, injuries to the horse. 
When a saddle fits a horse properly there is no need of fastening it, in peace,

with either a crupper or breaststrap; which shows plainly that these two pieces

of harness should not be tightly drawn — as this would simply result in 

constraining the movements of the horse,and chafing his skin unnecessarily. 

On the contrary, the girth should be tightened rather more, because by holding 

the blanket in position it prevents its becoming displaced, to the injury of 

the horse, and also keeps the saddle in place. 

 The captain who adjusts a saddle to the back of a horse of his squadron ought 

to see not only the immediate effect it will produce on the back, rounded by rest

in the garrison, but also that which it must produce upon the same back, thinned

and wasted by the fatigues of war, or of a long march. He should be guided then,

not by the fleshy form but by the bony frame of the horse, in forming his opinion. 

When the saddle has been tried as I have just directed, it should then be packed 

and mounted; and, in the alterations which will be suggested by these operations, 
a large margin must be allowed for the changes which will be rendered necessary 

by the thinness of the horse, as mentioned above. 

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In this  series on general de Brack next will be the information on the bridling, curb-bit and cinch...

By the way great reconstructions of 1st lancer regiment uniforms, weapons, and horse tack.

Cavalry horse - notes from Saumur circa 1919

Salve,
 from an instructor at the French Cavalry School at Saumur (now home of Cadre Noir), in the tradition of French XVIII century riding schools, including François Robichon de La Guérinière ), comes this depiction of a cavalry horse, translated into English and published in London in 1919.
Interestingly enough, the publication of this book on cavalry horsemanship coincided with the events of the last true cavalry war (eg Battle of Komarów  between Polish 1st Cavalry Division and Bolsheviks' Budyonny 1st Cavalry Army) that raged between newly restored Republic of Poland and Red Russia, and some fine Frenchmen took part in it on our Polish side, including general Charles de Gaulle:

 Cavalry Horsemanship and Horse Training by Lieut.-Col. Blacque Belair, 

chief instructor at the Cavalry School, Saumur France, London 1919



''THE QUALITIES OF A SADDLE HORSE.— 

The many demands made on an army horse require in him a great 
many different qualities. He has to carry a considerable 
weight,* travel long distances, and often at a fast 
pace ; he has therefore to possess endurance, hardiness, 
and handiness. These qualities are nearly always 
found in a horse which has a naturally good balance, 
good paces, breeding, and conformation. The naturally 
good balance, which is the first quality to look for in 
a riding horse, enables him to have constant control 
of himself, even with the weight of a rider on his 
back, to easily change from a slow pace to a fast one 
and vice versa; to be, in fact, supple in his movements, 
and easy to ride from the first. The theory of balance 
has not up to now been scientifically considered ; 
owing to the rapidity and frequency of a horse's 
movements, the study of balance or of conformation 
is practically limited to the study of the animal at 
rest. Anatomy is nothing but the study of organs 
from which life has been withdrawn. It is therefore 
only by riding a horse, that one can with any certainty 
decide on his merits. Experience, nevertheless, enables 
one to establish certain general rules, which fix the 
good points to be looked for in a young horse, and 
to form an opinion as to what he will grow into. 

If the horse has a wither running well into the back 
and rather higher than the quarters, the chest deep, 
and the girth groove well behind the elbows, the 
saddle will rest in a good position. The rider and his 
equipment being placed between the two ends of 
the balance, near the centre of gravity, will not disturb 
the equilibrium by overweighting the shoulders. This 
conformation, combined with well- shaped hocks, 
causes the horse to be easy to handle and control 
in a fight, and in the daily work the effort is distributed 
over the body, which consequently does not prematurely 
wear out. The paces ought to be such as will enable 
the horse to cover the greatest distance with the 
minimum of effort. This condition excludes high 
action, and places value on the level extended paces, 
which are the least fatiguing for both horse and rider. 

If the trot is more especially the pace for the road, 
the pace for fighting is the gallop. More than ever 
the actual necessities of war require the fast paces 
maintained for long distances. The army horse ought 
therefore to be above everything a galloper, and the 
relative length of the ischium is a characteristic of 
this aptitude. 

Handiness is indispensable in going through 
evolutions in open country, and it is acquired all the 
more promptly and completely in proportion as the 
horse has the necessary conformation, an open angle 
at the junction of the shoulder and arm, and powerful 
hindquarters. If the length and obliquity of the 
shoulder, combined with high withers, assists the 
balance, by enabling the rider's weight to be evenly 
distributed, it is the relative length and vertical 
position of the arm, still more than the direction of 
the shoulder, which gives freedom in the paces and 
handiness. The power of the hindquarters, which 
drive the horse forwards or backwards, gives the horse 
control of himself and of his balance ; it gives him 
the free use of his hocks and enables him to bring 
them more or less under his body ; it enables him to 
pull himself together, or to extend his i^aces according 
to circumstances ; in fact it puts it in his power to 
take any direction or speed he wishes. 

Moreover, if his confidence in his long and oblique 
shoulders enables the horse to land lightly over a 
fence without any apparent effort, it is the contraction 
and thrust from the hindquarters which gives the 
spring that carries him over. The riding horse should 
therefore have a large hip bone, projecting well at the 
side, and extending slightly above the spine, producing 
what is called the jumping bump. 

The perfect shape. — If one adds to the requirements just mentioned,
a forehand formed less by a useless length of neck than by the
addition of cervical vertebrae, and a wither running well into the back, 
one will have the frame of a riding horse in all its 
useful beauty, and in consequence, the type to look 
for. 

 One of the first qualities of a riding horse is, that 
he should carry his saddle in the proper place, that 
is to say, the girths should naturally pass well behind 
the elbows. 

The other points to look for are — 

A broad forehead and a well- set- on head. 

An open, intelligent eye. 

A well-proportioned and well- set -on neck. 

A high wither, running well into the back, and 
slightly higher than the quarters. 

An oblique shoulder. 

A long and straight arm. 

A forearm with large powerful muscles. 

A deep chest. 

A strong back. 

A wide loin with strong muscles behind the saddle. 

Well-shaped long quarters, slightly sloping and 
muscular. 

Large prominent hips. 

The muscles of the thighs and second thighs well 
developed and extending well down towards the 
hocks. 

Short, compact body with well- sprung ribs. 

Knees low down, large, wide, and flat. 

Cannon bones short and strong. 

The hocks large, straight, and low. 

The legs hard and clean, ending in four good 
symmetrical feet. 

A fine skin. 

A horse with these characteristics will not only be 
well balanced, but will move well and possess a free 
striding walk ; a trot starting from the shoulder, 
which is long, easy, and regular ; a gallop which is 
smooth, powerful, and extended. 

Quality. — This results from the constitution or 
power of endurance of the organs with regard to their 
work ; blood, which by the energy it gives enables the 
organism to resist the ordinary causes of collapse ; 
stamina or endurance in any kind of work. 

Courage, however, alone secures the maximum 
advantage of this quality. The horse's quality arises 
from various causes ; it depends upon good food from 
the earliest age, from the soil on which he has been 
reared containing lime, and so developing bone and 
strength of muscle ; but it depends chiefly on the 
breeding of the horse. It is indispensable therefore 
to secure the proper mating of the thoroughbred horse 
with the half-bred mare to transmit the blood, and to 
maintain the size.''

* the British Cavalry a man, weighing 10 stone 7 lbs, 
stripped, rides no less than 21 stone, in full marching order.* 

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Polish cavalry of that war is beautifully described in a book by a Polish scholar and novelist Bohdan Królikowski title  '' Ułańskie lato (Uhlan Summer)'' (needs to be translated into English)