Ismael López, historian: ‘It can’t be ruled out that armed forces will have to go back to riding horses’

In today’s landscape of warfare, where drones and missiles play such a decisive role, and as we await the arrival of robot soldiers on the battlefield, studying cavalry seems like an exercise in military archaeology tinged with romantic nostalgia for a vanished world of lancers, hussars, uhlans, and dragoons. Apart from the fact that the countless horsemen slaughtered on horseback throughout history would hardly have seen the romance in it — let alone their poor mounts — cavalry not only remained in effective military use for much longer than is commonly thought, but could once again play a role in warfare in a world that has run out of the fuel or electricity that power modern military machinery. This is the view of the young military historian Ismael López (Valdeobispo, Cáceres, 31 years old), author of the monumental 800-page Sables al viento (Sabers in the Wind), an exhaustive history of modern cavalry between 1860 and 1945, from Custer’s horsemen to those of the Waffen-SS, and full of incredible episodes (published in Spain by Ático de los Libros, 2026).

Question. How does one begin to write a history of cavalry?

Answer. I considered this while writing my previous book on the First World War, La guerra de las trincheras (Trench Warfare, Ático, 2024). It has always been said that this conflict marked the end of cavalry, but I saw that this was far from the truth, and that there were many stories to tell about what happened afterward. In my research, I also discovered surprising earlier episodes.

Q. Didn’t the machine gun finish off the cavalry?

A. Not at all, nor the cannons; in fact, it opened up other possibilities. The cavalry itself incorporated machine guns to increase its offensive power. The Bolshevik cavalry mounted their Maxim machine guns on horse-drawn wagons — the famous tachankas — attached to the 1st Cavalry Army. The cavalry, despite its reputation for being conservative, has never hesitated to employ modern weaponry. In the Second World War, Selivanov’s Cossacks (it should be remembered that the Soviet Union had 36 cavalry divisions at the start of the war) became great destroyers of panzers using bazookas, and the German Kavalleriekorps in 1944 was equipped with the state-of-the-art Sturmgewehr 44 assault rifle.

Q. I knew a German cavalry officer who fought on the Russian front; he was rather old-fashioned, and even tried to kill Hitler.

A. There was cavalry from both sides on all fronts and in all battles. Even at Kursk, which was the height of the tank confrontation.

Q. Were there horses in Kursk, beyond the 700 hp of the Tiger tank engines?

A. Yes, the Soviet cavalry was holding back, waiting for the German offensive to fail, and then slipped into the gaps.

Q. You begin your book, after a brief overview of the history of cavalry (involving Numidians, Gauls, and cataphracts), with the day after the disastrous charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava, Crimea (1856). But you leave out the Napoleonic Wars.

A. To be honest, I’m more interested in operational cavalry than in the kind used for charges and frontal assaults. Its strategic role in threatening supply lines.

Q. There is an aspect of military cavalry that offends modern sensibilities: the use of animals in combat. The wars you discuss in the book were veritable horse massacres. Nearly 10 million horses died in the First World War. The horses weren’t told why they were fighting, as Tennyson would say.

A. I have mixed feelings about that. The bond between the riders and their mounts was, in many cases, very intense, almost symbiotic. They shared the same hardships. They were both forced into battle; neither could walk away.

I don’t harbour any romantic notions about cavalry; after the clashes, the scene was horrific, with horses neighing in agony, their bodies torn apart by artillery fire. It was appalling

Q. But humans could at least understand what it was all about, while horses…

A. It’s true, it’s terrible. I have the utmost respect for horses and their suffering. I don’t harbour any romantic notions about cavalry; after the clashes, the scene was horrific, with horses neighing in agony, their bodies torn apart by artillery fire. It was appalling.

Q. Will we stop using horses? There are people who can no longer watch a Western or Yellowstone without thinking about the subjugation and suffering of horses.

A. It’s possible, but right now the horse is still extremely important in many areas.

Q. Do you ride?

A. No, but my family has owned horses; in the countryside, horses are still a common sight.

Q. In the book you address episodes such as the use of cavalry in the American Civil War — Jeb Stuart, Sheridan, J. O. Shelby — the pursuit of Pancho Villa, the Turkish cavalry of Fahrettin Altay in the Greco-Turkish War, the Italian cavalry in the USSR, the Polish charges... which is your favorite?

A. The Greco-Turkish War, for some reason, and I find the war against the Native American peoples — the Sioux, Comanches and Kiowas — particularly moving and fascinating, especially the slaughter of their horses.

Q. In that context, is Custer overrated?

A. Above all, he was obsessed with himself. A colorful character. He believed his own hype, and that led to his downfall. He fell into his own trap.

Q. Is there an episode that particularly horrifies you?

A. The involvement of the SS cavalry in extermination operations. War has its dark sides, but this is truly appalling.

Q. A military horseman who stands out?

A. Semyon Budyonny, the leader of the Red Cavalry, the legendary Konarmiya, celebrated by Isaac Babel, and the aforementioned 1st Cavalry Army. Trotsky himself was a champion of mounted forces, exclaiming, “Proletarians, to horseback!”

Q. You devote some space to the cavalry in the Spanish Civil War, looking beyond the famous charge at Monasterio in Alfambra and Queipo del Llano’s exclamation, “My cavalry is about to mutiny!”

A. Most of the regiments defected to [Francisco Franco’s] rebels; the Republicans had to start almost from scratch. Its use was very limited in the war, at the crossing of the Jarama, in small engagements; it could have been more decisive had more trust been placed in it.

Q. Will the cavalry return?

A. It can’t be ruled out; horses are still around — horse breeding continues, according to the Ministry of Defense’s website — and if there is a shortage of fossil fuels and electric batteries fail, perhaps the armed forces will have to go back to riding horses.

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