ARAB EQUITATION

About the Book

Written as a guide to help native (Spahi) non-commissioned officers incorporate new recruits, and newly acquired horses, into effective cavalry units, this book presents a method formed around the Arab (North-African) style of riding. While indicating its limitations, he stresses its benefits: the ease with which it can be acquired, the confidence which the native saddle imparts upon the rider, and the constant impulsion it imparts upon the horse. General Decoins also explains the principles of the Arab bit, removing some of the mystery that has surrounded this elegant instrument. It is a fitting companion to Daumas’ Horses of the Sahara, written by another French General half a century later

About the Author

About the Author Eduard Descoins (1869-1928) was a general in the French army and the author of several books on military history, tactics, and theory. A master of European equitation, while in command of the native cavalry in Algeria, he was nonetheless open-minded enough to realize the benefits which Arab equitation could confer. When the “big tents” no longer supplied a sufficient number of officers to train the native cavalry, he wrote this book as a manual to help native officers train their troops. Although certain European influences are noticeable, Descoins was uncompromising in maintaining Arab equitation as an integral whole, rather than adapting certain of its elements to European equitation.