Dragoons were mounted infantry, just using their poor quality horses to ride to the action but dismounting to fighting on foot. They were equipped like musketeers, though with a flintlock musket carried on a belt over the shoulder. They could move rapidly into action yet their muskets provided more effective fire power than the pistols or carbines typically carried by the cavalry. They could form part of a cavalry deployment but more typically were used for special action such as lining hedgerows to protect from flank attack.