MOUNTED INSTRUCTION 161 



team sharply (more than 90°) away from the carriage and when oppo- 

 site the prolongation of the trail, straightens his team to the rear and 

 halts. The swing driver turns on the same ground as the lead driver. 

 The wheel driver halts his team at the command UMBER HALT 

 given by the gunner or No. 4. He then passes his team in the direction 

 in which the trail points turning" the limber on an imaginary fixed pivot 

 at the center of the limber axle. This method is easy to execute, the 

 horses, except the wheelers, walk to their positions and there is no lost 

 time in the movement. 



RECRUITS 



Recruits can be taught to ride by mounting- them on the gentle 

 horses, and fastening the reins in the halter squares instead of the bits. 

 In this way, the horse's mouth wall not be injured, and the animals will 

 not resent so much having the recruits on their backs. The riding 

 should take place in a corral, which may be improvised with carriages. 

 I believe that with a few experienced men to form a nucleus for the 

 enlisted force, the horse part of a battery can be put in shape to travel 

 on the ordinary road in a month. 



TO CONFIRM IN HORSES A WILLINGNESS TO PULL 



Almost any horse can be trained to be an honest and willing puller. 

 Through ignorance, lack of judgment, bad management, or laziness on 

 the part of the driver he can far more easily be trained to be a shirker 

 and a quitter. A horse will not pull freely or willingly if to do so causes 

 him pain. It is essential, therefore, that his harness, especially his col- 

 lar, fit him with absolute comfort; that his shoulders be hardened 

 through careful conditioning and rational work 'and are therefore not 

 tender or sore ; and that he apply his weight on the collar slowly and 

 gradually, without sudden starts or jerks that would pound and bruise 

 his shoulders. Even though all of the above conditions are favorable. 

 a horse will not pull unless he is confirmed in the belief that when he 

 applies his strength the load behind him will yield. Thus a willing 

 horse may be hitched to an immovable object and within a few minutes, 

 especially if he be yelled at or whipped, be transformed into a sulker 

 and a balker that onl}^ long, patient and careful handling will cure. To 

 allow repeated trials and failures in pulling is the quickest and most 

 effective method of ruining the draft efficiency of any team. It must 

 be borne in mind that there is a limit to the draft power of any Artillery 

 team and that this power, due to the tandem method of hitching is even 

 with perfect driving, from 20 to .SO per cent less than the sum of the 

 powers of the individual horses. A team should never be given deliber- 

 ately a task that is clearly beyond its strength. It is right and proper 

 in order to train a team and to develop its draft power to a maximum, 

 to give it from day to day or week to w^eek tasks that gradually increase 

 in difficulty. Such tasks will occasionally stop the team.. No evil re- 

 sults will follow if the animals, when so stopped, are permitted to rest 



