''Riding The Sawbuck''

By Crusader1307

A Military punishment first used in The British Cavalry and then migrating to The United States in the 19^th Century AD, ‘’Riding The Sawbuck’’ was seen as a punishment for Cavalrymen who failed to follow orders or did some infraction (often repeatedly). A wooded pole was erected twin ‘’A’’-Frames on front and back (to simulate the legs of a Horse). The whole affair was capped off with a wooden Horse Head. Elevated roughly 6 to 8-feet off the ground, the errant Soldier was tied (legs) to the center pole in such a way that He had to maintain His balance, or fall over – hanging upside down. This was made more so difficult by the fact that the pole dug into the poor unfortunate’s groin, causing pain fairly quickly. Made to ‘’ride’’ for many hours – should He fall and hang, He was left their to do so. This often caused Him to either pass out or He was revived again and forced to ‘’re-mount’’ (as it were). The end result was that after so many hours in this position, the ability to stand  or even walk for many weeks – was final verdict. The punishment would be discontinued (in America) in the 1880s.