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Agreed, but no DISMOUNTED horse holders, please! They are a toy soldier "ism" with no historical basis in fact (see my above post). These are not to be confused with aides or grooms holding a senior officer's horse while he mounts up - cavalry troopers fighting on foot are a completely different subject.
Agreed, but no DISMOUNTED horse holders, please! They are a toy soldier \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"ism\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" with no historical basis in fact (see my above post). These are not to be confused with aides or grooms holding a senior officer\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s horse while he mounts up - cavalry troopers fighting on foot are a completely different subject.
Hi Stuart,
I watched some scenes on YouTube with US Cavalry skirmishers such as "The Glory Guys" and "Son of Morning Star", plus rifled through Google images for Gettysburg skirmishing, and in both cases there were both mounted and dismounted horse-holders. I'm the last equestrian expert on the planet when it comes to Cavalry regulations. Personally, I'd like to see 1 or 2 standing and 1 or 2 mounted horse holders if Strelets makes such a set. This way they can be used for multiple situations, not just skirmishing as you mention. No matter what, either way, I'd buy them!
By the way, speaking of US Cavalry, before Strelets marvelous sets, IMEX Union Cavalry Set #503 comes with a pose carrying his saddle. He's wearing a kepi, but I've done a couple of conversions with a Stetson and a Dragoons hat. Together with another pose in the set of a Trooper working with a pitchfork and hay, they look really cool in a Stockade or just a camp setting. The real thing looks much better than a digital image. I would never have come up with that idea for a pose to include in a set, but now for me he's/they're must haves for my various US Cavalry collections.
Hi GC! I don't claim to be an equestrian expert either but I did do mounted ACW cavalry for 12 years as a reenactor, so I do have a little experience as well as having studied the all the most commonly used period manuals out of necessity. There was simply no drill where the horse holders dismounted.
Verbal Order: "Prepare to fight - ON FOOT"
..Dismounted Troopers: The dismounted troopers hook up the saber, unsling the carbine, and move to form double ranks 12 paces in front of the linked horses, and come to the position of Carry - ARMS. (The commander may fight dismounted in a double rank formation, or he may advance the dismounted men as skirmishers.) Horse Holders: The commander places a junior officer or NCO in charge of the horse holders, who remain mounted and have control of the linked horses.”
There an absolutely great source for ACW cavalry drill here (I've worked with these guys a lot back before I retired) https://www.secondcavalry.net/drill
'Son of the Morning Star' is one of my all time favorite movies, so realistic for the most part you can almost smell the saddle soap! There is that scene where some warriors try to scare the led horses and the trooper in charge of them dismounts and he's suddenly not a hose holder any more as all four gallop away.....The army doesn't like this happening over much. :face_with_rolling_eyes: But as a rule I would caution against using movie and TV scenes as reference material because those scenes are shot using professional wranglers in uniforms supplied by the wardrobe dept.