Thats “herd-type” … I swear I deleted that “a”. Who put it back?
This is also the thesis of J.F.Verbruggen, The Art of Warfare in Western Europe During the Middle Ages, 2nd Ed. Eng. Trans 1997, ISBN 0 851156404.
A cavalry charge will not break well-trained, confident, properly armed infantry in good order. A good example is the Battle of Courtrai, July 11, 1302:
[QUOTE]
Verbruggen
Then the bravest knights had to ride their horses at the Flemish lines. Some hesitated and slackened their pace, but the majority were swept along in their close formations, or bravely carried on the attack. Then came the frightful impact against the heavy pikes, with earsplitting noise, but on the Flemish right the men of Bruges withstood the charge, and inflicted heavy losses on the French nobles
So if you have cavalry (real cavalry, that is, not police horses) and are facing such an enemy you have to break it up first … arrows are good and so is pretending to run away (Hastings, 1066). Then, when the infantry has become sufficiently disordered, then you charge. If it’s done right, with good timing, your cavalry can rout them … but you only get to charge once!
But sure, properly trained horses are actual fighters in battle, not mere transport. trampling, kicking and biting. They had to start training as foals, one reason why they were so expensive.
I can’t provide a cite because I don’t recall the specifics, but there was some less-than-lovable ruler back in the old days who would put people to death by riding horses over them.
I think the person would be tied up, or perhaps even to stakes in the ground. Then a big carpet would be laid over top of them. The parade would go through, and voila, one less political enemy.
dqa - "but there was some less-than-lovable ruler back in the old days who would put people to death by riding horses over them. "
from the movie, “Guns of the Magnificient Seven” .
I’d have to agree with the posters who say it’s all in how the horse’s (and riders) were trained. So if police horses, trained to wear gas masks and walk sideways into a crowd like bulldozers while their rides shot rubber bullets and sprayed mace, were suddenly confronted by a bunch of protesters (some of whom might even bring air matresses), they might be initally confused. But it would only require further training to counter this new tactic. (So, this WTO bring an air matress, but next time bring caltrops)
The battle of Courtrai that jiHymas cites above is impressive, because European armored cavalry in the middle ages depended on massive shock, and standing up to its momentum, back in 1302 before everyone understood that a pike was reliable insurance, took guts.
Central Asian cavalry used harassment instead of shock, but the psychological effect was still decisive. 100 years after Courtrai, when Tamerlane defeated the Turkish sultan Bayazid, the Turks almost won the battle when Bayazid’s janissaries held ranks in the face of Tamerlane’s Mongol horsemen. Unfortunately, the bulk of the Turkish army didn’t have the janissaries’ discipline, broke ranks, and Tamerlane took Bayazid back home in an iron box.
But in either battle, laying down and placing their lives in the innate gentle nature of their enemies horses would have been suicide. The Flemish would have been flattened, and the Turks would have been shot full of arrows.