The Centurion and his horse questions.

[D B Campbell]

Apparently it was not uncommon for regular Legionaries in Caesar's time to know how to ride.

Of course, the point is not whether centurions knew how to ride. We've already cited cases of centurions who must have known how to ride in order to perform their particular functions (e.g. the man temporarily seconded to command a cavalry regiment). Presumably, when Caesar mounted men from the Tenth legion, he dismounted an equal number of cavalry in order to provide the horses.

However, the question is: when he sent scouts and centurions forward to reconnoitre the camp site, were the centurions obliged to scamper alongside the scouts, because they were infantry officers and lacked horses? Did they borrow horses from someone? Or were they already mounted for the march? (Or were the scouts on foot, which seems the least likely scenario to me.)