Riding schools

• by kelpie

  Hi
  I've been tagging some of the signals' diaries and there are a lot of references to riding schools which appear to be some form of training as they appear with visual signals and buzzer reading too. Can anyone explain what they are please?

  Thanks

  Posted August 14, 2014 4:07 PM

• by HeatherC moderator

  Exactly what they sound like. Training sessions to improve the men's riding. Units like the RE Signals were incredibly dependent on horses not just to transport the men from place to place but also to pull the carts and wagons with their equipment (cable is heavy stuff!). While officers might have been able to ride pre-war, many of the men would not have been able to. One of the things you do note from these diaries is the large amounts of time spent out of the line (somehow not at all the picture you have in your head of them being continuously in trenches!) and significant amounts of time were spent on training of all types.

  Posted August 15, 2014 8:25 AM

• by kelpie

  Hi
  Thanks for the info.

  Posted August 15, 2014 2:44 PM