troop horse

English

Alternative forms

troophorse

Pronunciation

enPR: tro͞op hôrs

Noun

troop horse (plural troop horses)

A cavalry horse.
- 1819, Charles Edwards, “Letters (Posthumous) of Charles Edwards, Esq., No. II.”, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, volume 15, number 87 (April 1824), Edinburgh: William Blackwood, page 391:
  I rode past the gate of Leamington barracks.—Do you recollect anything, Fletcher, here?—I saw the old stables, in which I had fagged over a splashed troop horse for many a weary hour.
- 1871 March 23, Captain Talbot, “Supply–Army Estimates”, in Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, Third Series: Commencing with the Accession of William IV (House of Commons), volume 205, London: Cornelius Buck, published 1871, page 539:
  In speaking of cavalry, he would suggest to those Gentlemen, whose only knowledge of horses was derived from the hunting field, and the usual uses they were put to in civil life, that they could make no comparison between a troop-horse and a hunter. They did not require the former to go at a great speed for mile after mile, jumping fences, probably the greatest strain that could be put upon the powers of a horse. A troop-horse had to carry a great weight often for many hours, but the speed was seldom beyond a good trot, except on occasions and for a comparatively short distance.
- 1886 May, Lieutenant H. Lemly, “The Story of Feather Head”, in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, volume 72, number 432, page 900:
  Feather Head had already righted, and was about to give the finishing touches to this motley pack, when I appeared, and my Kentucky-bred troop-horse, which would never entirely fraternize with these pigmy brothers, gave a startled neigh. A quick snort and a frightened leap followed from the pony, and the pack lay scattered upon the ground, with a ludicrous intermingling of baby brothers and puppies.
- 1894 May, Rudyard Kipling, “Servants of the Queen”, in The Jungle Book, London, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published June 1894, →OCLC, page 188:
  There was a regular beat of hoofs in the darkness, and a big troop-horse cantered up as steadily as though he were on parade, jumped a gun-tail, and landed close to the mule.
- 1899, Will Levington Comfort, “Shadow and the Cherub”, in Trooper Tales: A Series of Sketches of the Real American Private Soldier, New York: Street & Smith, page 128:
  Then the hoisting-gear became very busy, and men grew sick when they heard the rattle of loosening chains and so many loud splashes from the sea below. Five days out, and there was more room in the stables for the suffocating troop horses still on their feet.

Synonyms