Requires
- Arts:
Enables
- Buildings:
- Arts:
Effects
- +5% movement range for armies on the campaign map
Description
Horse mastery is a collection of hard-won lessons in the care and training of horses: it increases the utility of horses in warfare, even allowing horses to cover great distances quickly without risking their health. A horse must also be used to the shock, noise and confusion of battle before it ever faces an enemy. It must have the same steely courage as its rider. It must be trained to obey its rider and ignore its natural instincts to flee from danger.
Historically, samurai began as mounted warriors, much like the knights of western Europe: a man who could afford to risk a horse in war was likely to be one with some social status and wealth. Unlike European knights, the samurai originally fought as mounted archers and spear-armed lancers: the sword was very much an emergency-use weapon. Samurai archery was such that a rider steered his mount with his knees and could shoot with amazing accuracy. All this, of course, required equally good horses. The plains of Kanto were perfect for horse breeding, and the cavalry produced there were among the most experienced, and feared, in Japan.