I have seen several photographs of American soldiers in Afghanistan riding horses. Clearly, these soldiers were not using horses as did Wehrmacht during World War II - that is, as draft animals for artillery (and, perhaps, for other load transportation). Equally clearly, horses were not used by cavalry in a traditional sense. I believe that the last American cavalry was the 26th Philippine Scouts (regiment??) of the American-Philippine army whose animals were slaughtered for food on Bataan in 1942.

What are/were the purposes for use of horses?

What were "horse soldiers" doing that could not be done at least as well by soldiers using machines?

Where were the horses acquired and trained?

How large is/was the contingent using horses?

I read a book afew years back called Horse Soldiers about our first excursion into Afganistan. Our men used horsed quite a bit to get around some real rough country. The horses were obtained in the local areas where they operated.

The horses used in Afghanistan were locally acquired and provided mobility for the troops more like dragoons or mounted infantry than as cavalry (fighting from horseback).