INTRODUCTORY 17 



to the horse. Apart from them we must bear in mind the many thousands 

 which were brought over by the early Canadian Contingents, the thousands 

 that came with the AustraHans and New Zealanders to Egypt, and the thou- 

 sands again that accompanied the Indian Divisions which land(xl in I^'rance 

 late in 1914 and early in IQ15. If I told you of the hundreds of thousands 

 that have crossed the English Channel to France you would be astonished, 

 and yet it follows that the shiploads from the United States and Canada were 

 destined in due course for France. Has it not been the case that for four years 

 past there has been an almost daily stream flowing from England to L'rance — 

 all finished and fit horses and mules ? South Africa sent many thousands of 

 horses, mules, donkeys and oxen to East Africa for the prosecution of that 

 campaign, and India, drawing on Australasia, China and the Argentine, has 

 equipped our Forces in Mesopotamia. 



In England the system instituted at the outset and perfected with time 

 and experience has been to take in the new arrivals from overseas at three 

 large receiving depots. Each was conveniently situated close to an important 

 point of arrival. Remember that these new-comers were unfit, untrained, and 

 " raw " in every sense. The fact is emphasized in a later chapter, and it is 

 merely mentioned now in order to point out that it was the function of these 

 large receiving depots to begin the work of cleaning up, trimming out, and 

 training of the animals. They would then be distributed among smaller 

 Depots, and especially among Reserve Artillery Brigades, and Reserve 

 Batteries. Thus they would take the Light Draught horses and mules, while 

 riding-horses of the trooper class would find their way to Reserve Cavalry 

 Depots. It is the task of these Reserve Units to train both men and horses 

 in order to provide the drafts for overseas. At Depots, which specialized in 

 the interesting work, officers' chargers of the incomparable thoroughbred, 

 hunter, and polo pony breeds, such as no other country in the world can 

 produce, were made to complete their " schooling." 



In meeting the demands from France, therefore, the Remount Directorate 

 at the War Office would call on the Reserve Units to provide each a quota of 

 fit animals in proportion to its total strength in animals. As the fit animals 

 were withdrawn so their places would be filled by unfits. It is the practice 

 to-day, and it is why remount work has extended and expanded from the 

 limits of the Department's own Depots to these important units included 

 among the Forces in Great Britain. A large issuing Depot has been the 

 collecting station of all animals earmarked for France. It, too, is situated 

 close to the port of embarkation and may be well likened to the neck of the 

 bottle through which all our war-horses and mules must pass on this the last 

 stage of their long journey from the Western States of America and Canada to 

 France. 



If I admit at the outset that this book is incomplete and no more than 

 one of impressions, based, however, on first-hand observation, I can at any 

 rate advance the very good excuse that it is being written while we are still 

 at the crisis of the war. There were obvious difficulties confronting any 

 writer undertaking the task. They were difiiculties consequent on not being 

 able to survey the wliole history from start to finish, in having things rather 



B 



