The Prussian, Polish and French cavalry were considered the best on any field. At Waterloo, the French made repeated charges upon British Squares at the trot (as was their custom). The British were highly impressed by the precision at which they maintained line integrity and uniformity of gait, and it is said that a few British officers remarked that the French died in an orderly fashion.
Quadrille training taught man and horse to work in the same tempo as the next man and horse. This allowed for the unit to advance at any gait (in theory) and keep each trooper and horse aligned or dressed with the ones left and right of him. With enough practice, a group of horsemen up to 100 wide can walk, trot, hand gallop or canter and maintain a boot-to-boot position.
A sergeant in the Coast Guard, Ron Smith has been riding dressage for 20 years. He is a founding member of the Conclave of Cavalry Historians and is an amateur military historian. He has done quadrille clinics all over the country, for both dressage riders and the military law enforcement. He was on the United States Dressage Federation quadrille committee in 2005 and has also trained riders and horses for the United States military.
Read more about creating and riding a modern quadrille in the August 2006 issue of Dressage Today magazine.
