Cavalry complex offers an equine adventure
A group of reporters was recently invited by the Boca Pirento travel agency to inspect a new tourist site in Lembang, West Java: a cavalry complex. The Jakarta Post reporter A'an Suryana went on the two-day tour.
LEMBANG, West Java (JP): Throughout history horses have served vital functions in transportation, warfare and farming.
But the gigantic inroads of industrialization blocked their advancement. Technology literally put a cramp in their step.
Still, most armies around the world still rely on horses for uses such as transporting soldiers and in the supply of logistics to rugged war zones, inaccessible by sophisticated but bulky tanks or armored vehicles. They also are mainstays in military parades and ceremonies.
They are called the cavalry, a word rooted in the Latin caballus for horses and the Italian cavalliera for chivalry.
"Horses are very effective for observing enemy camps in all areas which could not be reached by vehicles, such as in the jungle," Lt. Col. Supriyadi, commander of the Indonesian Army's Cavalry Detachment, told The Jakarta Post at his office here late last month.
The cavalry, with 100 civilians among its 300 staff, is one of two detachments of the Army's Armored Cavalry Center Division (Pussenkav) commanded by Brig. Gen. Nandang Herawan.
The other is the Mechanical Detachment with 6,000 personnel.
Supriyadi said horses still could be used for military operations during peacetime, such as in crowd control.
"Demonstrators or rioters are scared of horses, so we could localize them to the spots we want." He added that they also could be used at sports events.
The headquarters is located in Parongpong village in Lembang district, an hour-long drive from the West Java capital of Bandung. The detachment occupies 101 hectares about 750 meters above sea level, nestled against the spectacular backdrop of Mt. Tangkuban Perahu, Mt. Burangrang and the sprawling green tablecloth of the Sukawana tea plantation.
Only about one fifth of the land has been utilized for the detachment's office, training fields and farming.
Income
Nandang proposed last year that the cavalry center be opened for local and foreign tourists in an effort to raise the income of his staff and local residents.
His superior, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Soebagyo Hadisiswoyo, wholeheartedly supported the proposal.
"Such a cavalry tour has never existed here, which makes it unique in the eyes of the tourists," Nandang told the visiting group of reporters at the detachment's complex.
"The program is also expected to increase the locals' earnings through their setting up canteens and selling souvenirs near the detachment complex."
Support for Nandang's idea also came from the West Java tourism, arts and culture office head Titin Sukarya, who invited Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Marzuki Usman to visit and watch a horse performance at the site two months ago.
The cavalry tour is managed by Pussenkav-run Tridaya Cakti Foundation and under the assistance of Boca Pirento tours and travel agency, which was appointed as the official sales agent for the unusual tour.
Tourist school students from Bandung have been hired as guides for English-speaking foreign tourists.
The opening of the military complex was a business opportunity not to be missed for Boca.
"People's curiosity about 'contents' of a military complex is, of course, great ... and it's advantageous if we're able to manage this," said Boca managing director Arievaldy Khumarga.
According to Capt. Abdul Haris Napoleon, deputy commander of the cavalry detachment, the unit has 310 horses from various countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Australia and Pakistan. They have been bred since 1953 from only 24 horses.
Dozens of the mammals, after enduring tough training, are promoted to become combat horses.
"At the moment we have 152 horses aged over three years which are ready to be trained," Napoleon said.
The training includes basic training in the first nine months to break the horses in and another nine months to ready them for combat purposes.
Training for the horsemen selected from 10 military battalions throughout the country also takes place at the detachment over eight months, Napoleon added.
The detachment trains about 30 horses plus 60 horsemen per year.
The training also takes place in Bandung.
"The horses, for example, also undergo water training in the nearby Ciburuy River," he said.
Programs
But tourists interested in the cavalry programs are not invited to see a rustic scene of horses taking a dip.
They are instead led on a hike of a dusty pathway to a warehouse where about 30 horseshoes are made daily.
Chaidir, a staff member of the Pembesi workshop, said the building served around 15 horses per day.
"It takes 40 days before a new horseshoe is needed." He said it was particularly difficult to put new shoes on recently arrived or wild horses.
"We use a wooden pole to tie up wild horses to avoid accidents," Chaidir said.
Tourists observe the treatment and upkeep of the horses.
"The horses are bathed once a week. We also cut their mane once every three weeks to lessen the smell," said Darmawan, a groom.
The visitors also see the feeding routine.
"We give them food here three times a day," groom Capt. Uli Sihombing explained.
An alumni of the School of Nutrition and Food for Livestock of the Bogor Institute of Agriculture said the horses at the detachment ate seven different foods, including chicken eggs and carrots.
The detachment spends at least Rp 15,000 per day per horse on feed, Uli added.
Feeding is an important time for the riders and grooms to develop their closeness with the animals.
The horses, he said, later would immediately approach their masters when their names were called.
Live show
Visitors are taken on a cavalry ride before being invited to an up-close and personal look at horses mating.
Featured for the journalists was a Refelrex Australian stallion called Kinibalu, 13, and a Sigla Vizueka Australian mare named Salem, 14.
"The copulation should be carried out through cross-breeding to prevent physical defects in the breed," said First Lt. Benjamin, also an IPB's graduate of the School of Animal Husbandry.
The sight of the animals mating left some visitors crying out and shouting.
The tour ended with a show of the skills of 30 riders and their mounts at a soccer field in the complex.
The horsemen their remarkable talents in hitting targets with weapons, such as knives and axes.
Word of the opportunity to ride with the cavalry has yet to reach many tourists. The complex has only played host to a couple of tourist groups in recent months.
Memet H. Hamdan, head of West Java's Tourism Office, commented: "Boca Pirento should therefore increase its attempts to promote the site to prospective customers."
Memet promised that the Lembang Cavalry tourist site would not descend into a place of prostitution, a problem at many hotels and resorts in West Java.
Yachya Machmud, the chairman of West Java's Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies, advised the Tridaya Cakti Foundation to repair the roads to the complex.
"The roads are too dusty," he said.