THIRD ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VI. 853 



CAVALRY HORSES. 



Troopers. — At uncertain intervals the market calls for horses to fill con- 

 tracts with army authorities. The demand is not exceedingly large at any- 

 time and at no time is it steady. As a general rule, these horses are se- 

 lected from the various classes of light horses. Foreign governments havo 

 executed orders to some extent for army stock, most horses that are regu- 

 larly bought for this purpose going to England; and within the past two 

 years immense numbers of animals have been purchased by British 

 agents for use in South Africa, swelling the exports last year by over 

 30,000. Under no circumstances, however, can the army demand be looked 

 upon as of such character as to affect the market steadily. 



The best horses bought for army purposes in this country are for the 

 United States army, those bought for home use by the British army next, 

 and the stock for South Africa fall to the bottom of the scale. The United 

 States army demands a practically sound and unblemished horse. The 

 specifications for the cavalry horse follow: 



(Article 1142, United States Army Regulations, 1901.) 

 "The cavalry horse must be sound and well bred; gentle under the 

 saddle; free from vicious habits; with free and prompt action at the walk, 

 trot and gallop; without blemish or defect; of a kind disposition; with 

 easy mouth and gait; and otherwise to conform to the following descrip- 

 tion: 



"A gelding of uniform and hardy color; in good condition; from lSVi 

 to 16 hands high; weight not less than 950 nor more than 1,150 pounds: 

 from four to eight years old ; head and ears small ; forehead broad ; eyes 

 large and prominent; vision perfect in every respect; shoulders long and 

 sloping well back; chest full, broad, and deep; fore legs staight and stand- 

 ing well under; barrel large and increasing from girth toward flank; 

 withers elevated; back short and straight; loins and haunches broad and 

 muscular; hocks well bent and under the horse; pasterns slanting, and 

 feet small and sound. 



"Each horse will be subjected to a rigid inspection, and any animal 

 that does not meet the above requirements in every respect must be re- 

 jected. 



"A horse under five years old should not be accepted unless a spe- 

 cially fine, well-developed animal." 



MINOR CLASSES. 



Strictly speaking, the horses mentioned below are not in market de- 

 mand. They s< 11, however, if the price is low enough, and follow the 

 natural result of such a condition of being dangerously near a losing 

 investment to the seller. 



GENERAL-PURPOSE HORSES. 



A very large proportion of the horses on the market are what are 

 known in stock yards reports and market quotations as "general purpose" 

 animals. They are horses without any particular type, embracing misfits 



