Both Sweden and the Soviet Union made plans to develop moose-mounted cavalries!

I’m sure there’s a “Soviet Russia” joke in this fact. How about, in Soviet Russia moose hunts you? Anyways as early as 1869, the Russian zoologist and explorer Alexander von Middendorff wrote to the Tsar’s government about how the moose is an underutilized and unexpected war resource, and suggested that the government invest in domesticating it. 

This idea didn’t go very far at the time, but it resurfaced in the 1930’s Soviet Union. It was suggested that moose cavalry could be efficiently used even in the deep snow. In 1934, the Soviet Government’s Nature Reserve Comittee ordered the creation of moose reserves and breeding centers in support of the effort. 

However, the idea had not materialized by the time WW2 came around, and thus it was swept away. Sweden also engaged and eventually failed in this plan. I guess the moose was just meant to be free.

(Source)