WWI Italian Cavalry

I can't tell you how many books I have read about the Italian/Southern Front in WWI, but it's a lot. Over the last six years now, I've read books both lengthy and all too brief. One oft repeated mention is that the cavalry gave up their horses and fought as infantry from early in Italy's entrance into the war.

This, it turns out, is not entirely accurate.

While reading through some Wikipedia articles on the battles of the front (I am reading Asiago, by Francis Mackay, and I was struck by the need to look up something or other), I ended up on the page for Caporetto and  stumbled upon reference to the "Battle of Pozzuolo". This was a battle that I had either not heard of or had forgotten. 

The article was brief, but included this sentence:

The cavalry brigade that fought at Pozzuolo was renamed the Pozzuolo del Friuli Cavalry Brigade and a detailed history of the battle can be found in the brigade's article.

Well, it never hurts to read up on the specific units in an action. My world was about to turn upside down.

With the "Genova Cavalleria" under heavy attack the lancers of the "Lancieri di Novara" began to harass the left flank of the enemy in repeated cavalry charges.

Say what????

uncredited painting from https://www.reddit.com/r/wwi/comments/dp9wqg/a_painting_depicting_the_battle_of_pozzuolo_del/

Apparently, the cavalry did fight dismounted for a time in 1916, but by the end of that year, they were back on horseback. Both the Wikipedia entry for the unit and the Reddit link above give descriptions of their actions in October 1917 (Caporetto/Pozzuolo).

There is a picture floating around on the web (and on sale on eBay) of Italian cavalry in pursuit of Austrians in late 1918 - either as part of the 2nd Battle of the Piave in June or during/in the aftermath of the Battle of Vittorio Veneto:

https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en-US/noartistknown/wwi-italian-cavalry-squadron-of-italian-lancers-starting-in-pursuit-of-the-retreating-austrian-army/nomedium/asset/3130683

Also, feel free to Google the Italian cavalry in 1918 - you'll get plenty of photos and illustrations of lancers on horseback. All of my reading and I feel like I missed something crucial!

In any case, I think it's obvious what all of this means: I need cavalry now!

Of course, finding purpose made Italian cavalry in this scale is a difficult task. However, the Armies in Plastic WWI British lancer uniforms are close enough for me - a paint conversion should handle it. A head swap with the Adrian-helmeted WWI French figures will complete the ensemble.

Since I decided on using One Hour Wargames "Machine Age"  with reduced base size or maybe The Portable Wargame at some point, as well as Trench Hammer, a few two-cavalry figure units is more than enough.