Remount referred to the provision of fresh

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

s, particularly for military purposes. The word encompasses both the animals themselves and the means by which they were provided. In many cases, remounts were horses provided to replace those killed or injured in battle. The origins of the concept date to the 15th century. Military-based organization of remount programs can be dated to the late 1700s, when both

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and the colonies of what became the United States each created programs for the purchase and training of military animals. The need for remounts for military use declined with the use of

horses in warfare The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equidae, equine War wagon, pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved horse ha ...

generally, particularly following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when both the United States and the United Kingdom disbanded their military remount programs, in some cases reassigning them to agricultural and ceremonial purposes. The concept was expanded in the 20th century by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

to the provisioning of horses and

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...

s for packing in equipment and personnel for fighting forest fires. As road networks expanded and the use of smokejumpers increased, this use of remounts also declined.

References

Warhorses {{horse-stub

See also

References