Antique Imperial Japanese Army Cavalry Horse Training Manuals Meiji 1891-1898 For Sale

DescriptionThis is a set of three original Meiji-era Imperial Japanese Army manuals related to military horsemanship and horse science, issued through the Army Riding School.The three volumes are:1. “Horse Science – Conformation”
Dated Meiji 24 (1891) inside the book.2. “Summary of Equine Conformation”
Dated Meiji 31 (1898) on the cover.3. “Longeing and Obstacle Jumping Training”
Dated Meiji 31 (1898) on the cover.Together, these manuals cover the knowledge and practical skills required for understanding, handling, and training military horses.The contents include horse anatomy and conformation, identification of different parts of the body, riding posture, longeing, obstacle training, and other practical equestrian subjects. Numerous illustrations were included so that students could learn visually as well as through written instruction.The Imperial Japanese Army Riding School was a specialist institution responsible for military horsemanship and the study of army horses during the Meiji period. It later developed into the Army Cavalry School, which became an important center for cavalry education and mounted warfare training.These books date from a particularly important period in Japanese military history.During the late 19th century, the Japanese Army was actively adopting European military systems, including Western cavalry doctrine and equestrian training. These manuals show how that knowledge was adapted into practical instruction for Japanese military personnel.The volume dealing with longeing and obstacle jumping is especially interesting because it shows the influence of Western-style military horse training.What makes this set uncommon is not simply its age.The earliest volume dates from 1891, making it more than 130 years old. Military instructional books were working materials that were often heavily used, worn out, discarded, or replaced by later editions. Early surviving examples are therefore much less commonly encountered than later wartime manuals.It is also significant that three related Army Riding School manuals have remained together as a group.Taken together, they show several stages of military horse education: understanding the horse’s body, evaluating its physical form, and training it for practical military use.Some period handwritten notes and annotations are also visible, showing that the books were actively studied and used.There is age-related toning, staining, wear, soiling, handwritten annotations, and other deterioration consistent with books dating from the 1890s. Please examine all photographs carefully for condition.For collectors and researchers of Imperial Japanese Army history, cavalry, military horses, Meiji-era modernization, equestrian history, and early Japanese military education, this is a particularly interesting group of original instructional materials.These three manuals preserve a direct record of how the Japanese Army learned to understand, handle, and train its military horses during the period when modern Japanese cavalry was being established.Own a Piece of History.Shipping

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