<P> The British Army's 2nd Dragoons in 1813 had 340 ponies of 14.2 hands (58 inches, 147 cm) and 55 ponies of 14 hands (56 inches, 142 cm); the Lovat Scouts, formed in 1899, were mounted on Highland ponies; the British Army recruited 200 Dales ponies in World War II for use as pack and artillery animals; and the British Territorial Army experimented with the use of Dartmoor ponies as pack animals in 1935, finding them to be better than mules for the job . </P> <P> Horses were not the only equids used to support human warfare . Donkeys have been used as pack animals from antiquity to the present . Mules were also commonly used, especially as pack animals and to pull wagons, but also occasionally for riding . Because mules are often both calmer and hardier than horses, they were particularly useful for strenuous support tasks, such as hauling supplies over difficult terrain . However, under gunfire, they were less cooperative than horses, so were generally not used to haul artillery on battlefields . The size of a mule and work to which it was put depended largely on the breeding of the mare that produced the mule . Mules could be lightweight, medium weight, or even, when produced from draught horse mares, of moderate heavy weight . </P> <P> The oldest known manual on training horses for chariot warfare was written c. 1350 BC by the Hittite horsemaster, Kikkuli . An ancient manual on the subject of training riding horses, particularly for the Ancient Greek cavalry is Hippike (On Horsemanship) written about 360 BC by the Greek cavalry officer Xenophon . One of the earliest texts from Asia was that of Kautilya, written about 323 BC . </P> <P> Whether horses were trained to pull chariots, to be ridden as light or heavy cavalry, or to carry the armoured knight, much training was required to overcome the horse's natural instinct to flee from noise, the smell of blood, and the confusion of combat . They also learned to accept any sudden or unusual movements of humans while using a weapon or avoiding one . Horses used in close combat may have been taught, or at least permitted, to kick, strike, and even bite, thus becoming weapons themselves for the warriors they carried . </P>

When did horses stop being used in war