264 



The Country Gentlemaiis Magazine 



benefit to the Government, as a measure of 

 improving the horse stock of the nation, and 

 providing a source of pleasure and healthy 

 recreation for the people. What would the 

 British army be without efficient cavalry; and 

 in which of the many battles fought by this 

 arm of the service have they ever " caved in ?" 

 is a question that can always be triumphantly 

 asked by the horse-breeders of this country. 

 These have, in fact, found good horses 

 for the Government to starve them, and 

 thus render both the animals and their 

 riders comparatively useless through imbecile 

 management — as in the Crimea. A number of 

 thoroughbred horses suitable for cavalry 

 remounts could be supplied by English, Irish, 

 and Scotch breeders if the Government 

 would only pay for them. Farmers now find 

 it far more profitable to produce beef and 

 mutton than troop horses, and the Govern- 

 ment will not pay one-hundredth part of the 

 sum for a horse on which to mount the finest 

 cavalry soldier in the army as that which 

 supporters of the turf are constantly " fork- 

 ing out " for the superb animals that win the 

 great races. Our very best horses — and the 

 cream of progeny — have been, generation 

 after generation, kept solely for racing pur- 

 poses, while the refuse of the same stock 

 crossed with mongrel breeds have carried 

 our cavalry through many a wearying cam- 

 paign, and many a hard-fought battle. 

 Thoroughbred sires that travel the country, 

 in some instances serving farmers' mares at 

 one guinea each to such an extent that their 

 powers become ei '"^ebled, are the rejected 

 refuse of the breedinj studs for turf purposes, 

 and may be compared to the quartz from 

 which pure gold is extracted. 



In the (lays of " Brown Bess," when slow 

 infantry soldiers loaded and fired slow 



weapons very slowly indeed, slow horses 

 could get through a slow charge creditably 

 enough, and except in a high wind, when the 

 priming was apt to be blown out of the 

 pans of the old flint locks of their carbines, 

 they managed to skirmish pretty well, but 

 could not hit a haystack in this order except 

 by chance. In these days of improved 

 weapons, and rapid and accurate shooting by 

 the infantry of our probable enemies, our 

 cavalry ought to be mounted on troopers 

 bred from pure blood on both sides. If ever 

 the time arrives when the safety of our 

 country is the stake to be played for, the 

 Government may consider that it would have 

 been quite as good policy to mount our 

 troops on the best horses that could be pro- 

 duced as it is for the supporters of the turf 

 to breed, buy, and train such animals to win 

 the Derby and St Leger, or any other turf 

 prize, the best of which is mere dross as com- 

 pared with the honour of old England. 



By adopting the system of mounting our 

 soldiers on thoroughbreds instead of com- 

 mon cocktails there would be an additional 

 encouragement to breed the former, and on 

 the principle of the demand always regulat- 

 ing the supply for any remarkable com- 

 modity prices would soon come down, and 

 horses for cavalry remounts, racing, and 

 other purposes, would be far more plentiful 

 than they are now. Better pay would also 

 insure the enlistment of more intelligent, if 

 not finer, men in the cavalry. When these 

 ft-ere mounted on strong, sound, and well- 

 built horses of pure blood we should have 

 chargers and men superior to any cavalry we 

 ever had before, and they would soon be- 

 come as notable for quickness in their move 

 ments and efficiency on the battle-field as 

 they would be enduring on the line of march. 



