The Austrian cavalry batteries were not designed to support cavalry, but had to be supported by them. The gun crews rode on the gun trails and were not individually mounted. Further, they were not specifically trained or selected for the cavalry batteries as they were in the RHA or the French horse artillery, both of which were superior.

The cavalry batteries had only one caisson per piece, and a considerable amount of ammunition was carried on pack horses which would be difficult to control under fire. The overriding Austrian consideration was expense, not efficiency.

The cavalry batteries were mobile artillery, but not horse artillery.