U.S. troops train on horseback for modern warfare

A member of U.S. Special Forces readies his mount. U.S. forces train to be combat-ready on horseback, if necessary, as it was in Afghanistan.

U.S. forces train in the Pickel Meadows area of the Sierra Nevada mountains south of Lake Tahoe.

At this remote training area high in the Sierra, the U.S. Marine Corps is reviving the horsemanship skills that were once a key part of the nation's armed forces but were cast aside when tanks and armored vehicles replaced them.

Anthony Parkhurst, left, the director of Horsemanship and Animal Packing on the trail with Major General Lawrence D. Nicholson, Commanding General, 1st Marine Division.

The need to bring these skills back was driven home in Afghanistan in 2001, when the first Special Forces soldiers to arrive found themselves fighting on horseback alongside tribesmen in rugged terrain without roads. Many had never ridden a horse before.

Marine instructors are teaching the students, most of them Army Special Forces soldiers, how to control horses, care for them and load packs.

The students are also taught how to calculate routes and distances for rides and what to look for when purchasing horses from locals. For example, checking teeth is a good way to determine age and avoid getting ripped off by a local farmer trying to pass off an ancient mule or horse.

No one is talking about bringing back the cavalry, but horses are an effective way for Special Forces and other small units to move around the battlefield, instructors say. They can travel long distances quietly and don't require the gasoline and massive logistics train that encumber motorized forces.

Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division care for pack mules following a long push into the mountains during the animal packing course at the United States Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center.

For all its advantages in technology, the U.S. military has been dragged into the most primitive of fights in Iraq and Afghanistan, driving home the point that technology isn't always the answer.

Tony Parkhurst, director of the horsemanship and mule packing course, built the curriculum by delving into old cavalry manuals and studying American Indian tactics and techniques.