Riding to Arms carefully navigates the complex, sometimes complementary and sometimes contradictory relationship between high school equitation and practical military riding, highlighting and quoting from the works of all the great masters of horsemanship. Taking the reader through the development of the art of the manège style of riding and the technical aspects of military horsemanship, this short history should be on the library shelf of all serious students of riding technique and cavalry.
~Louis A. DiMarco, LTC (Ret.) US Army, author of War Horse: A History of the Military Horse and Rider
This wide-ranging and well-written book offers new insights into the emergence of effective light cavalry in western armies from the eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries. Authored by a lover of horses and of riding, it draws on intellectual, practical, and cultural writings to highlight an increasing understanding of the horse as a living animal and as the key to the mounted warfare and mobility of that era.
~Professor Stephen Badsey, author of Doctrine and Reform in the British Cavalry 1880-1918
Charles Caramello surveys five centuries of equestrian literature from the early works on manège riding (dressage) to those conditioning horse and soldier for modern cavalry warfare. This is a historiography of ideas about horsemanship where proponents of different schools often sparred with one another over training philosophies. Caramello traces the literature from the manège treatises of the 16th–18th century to the cavalry manuals of the long 19th century, culminating in the Great War.
~Elizabeth Tobey, editor and co-translator of Federico Grisone's "The Rules of Riding": An Edited Translation of the First Renaissance Treatise on Classical Horsemanship
The complex relationship between the horseman and the horse, and their important roles in European and American military life, cavalry warfare, and equitation, lie at the heart of this fascinating, useful, and up-to-date book. Charles Caramello offers a thoroughly researched and clear overview, drawing on an impressive array of literary and visual sources to examine the wealth of complex ideas and theories surrounding dressage, equitation, and mounted warfare from the sixteenth century to the end of World War I.
~Professor Mike Huggins, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and author of Horse Racing and British Society in the Long Eighteenth Century
Throughout the history of armed conflict, mobility often decided the outcomes of battle. This meant armed men on horseback, and for battlefield commanders to control their mounted forces, those horses and men required consistently applied principles of horsemanship and equitation. In Riding to Arms, Charles Caramello has produced an authoritative survey of horse cavalry that identifies salient points in history from the Renaissance to World War I. Combined with the keen eye of a horseman, his extensive research will enhance any reader's appreciation for cavalry in warfare. His clear writing, in addition, has a refreshing lack of academic jargon, making Riding to Arms not only a valuable addition to the bookshelves of serious scholars, but an enjoyable read for the public.
~James C. ("Jim") Wofford, Olympic and World Championship medalist and coach, five-time U.S. National Champion, and author of Training the 3-Day Event Horse and Rider
For 'general horse enthusiasts and cavalry buffs,' there is much here that is entertaining and instructive.
~Mark G. Spencer, Washington Independent Review of Books
Riding to Arms is a great read for anyone who is interested in military history and the horse's role in warfare. The book is well-researched and also contains nearly 100 pages of references, postscripts and a bibliography for those wanting to read more on this subject.
~Equiery
