by DAVID AXE

In the early days of the Afghanistan war, U.S. Special Forces famously rode horses into battle. In Logar province this fall, the U.S. Army hired mule handlers to help haul cargo up mountainsides. The horse and its relatives still makes sense on modern battlefields. “The most responsive and reliable form of sustainment I had in Afghanistan was hiring local animals,” said Patrick Kinser, a trainer at the Marine Corps’ Mountain Warfare Training Center in California. The Marines have reinvigorated training for handling horses and pack animals.

That’s a skill the Chinese military never lost. At an outpost in Mongolia, the People’s Liberation Army maintains a cavalry squadron with around 150 horses, pictured. During the winter, six keepers mind the beasts until the weather warms up. It’s hard work. “Most of the soldiers suffer from arthritis, because of the cold and humid weather in [the] prairie,” Global Times reported. Soldier Liu Yuankuan “also said that horses are timid animals that are easily frightened by red plastic bags.”

(Photo: Global Post)