22 THE HORSE AND THE WAR 



activity for his size and weight — these are characteristics that have impressed 

 themselves for all time on all who have had to do with him. The riding-horse 

 from America is on the whole deceptive. He is usually high in the withers, 

 suggesting that the shoulders are sloping and that he must carry the saddle in 

 the right place. The truth is that the shoulder is straight more often than 

 not, and the scapula narrow with a consequent loss of freedom in 

 action which the riding man perfectly well understands. There are, of course, 

 exceptions, and, perhaps, what is lost in positive correctness of action is 

 compensated for by that measure of comfort to be derived from the " lope " or 

 " tittupping " gait of the Yankee saddle horse. 



But, whatever the class of horse, the fact remains that when they arrive 

 in this country they come to us raw and rough to a degree, unkempt, ragged 

 and mere caricatures of horses. We may pass over the time they spend in 

 the large reception and " Seasoning " Depots in America- — that period during 

 which they are brought together for inspection and purchase by the accredited 

 buyers of the Remount Service, with their subsequent rail journey to a port 

 of embarkation on the east coast of the United States — and introduce ourselves 

 to them as they are first met on the transport which has brought them to the 

 English port of disembarkation. As the war has gone on the arrangements 

 on shipboard have improved with experience ; and we may be sure that 

 everything possible has been done to make the voyage as bearable as possible 

 for the animals, so that loss should be avoided if humanly possible. Such 

 minimum loss has been made possible, we may take it, through the employment 

 of painstaking, conscientious and intelligent individuals in charge, judicious 

 feeding to suit the unnatural conditions, and the observance of sanitary and 

 hygienic conditions. 



The results in such cases have been splendid. Take a recent example 

 which came within the personal experience of the writer. A ship arrived 

 from a port in the United States, having occupied about twenty days on the 

 voyage. She had sailed with 1,270 animals, including nearly 1,000 mules, 

 and some very bad weather had been experienced. Only one animal was lost 

 on the voyage, through a sudden seizure which could not be combated. Let 

 us, for example's sake, take note of these 1,269 animals, for they are typical 

 of the war-horse in the rough state, before the horse-masters of the Remount 

 Service have " ironed " them out for their work in France. 



She is a big ship, and her length, except for the interval occupied by her 

 engines and boilers, is used to accommodate the live cargo. The great thing is 

 that she has come safely through danger zones and that she is at last alongside 

 the berth at her destination with the welcome aliens ready for immediate 

 disembarkation. There is no time lost. " You can begin to unload now," 

 says the naval officer to the Remount Officer, and the latter's men are on 

 board and leading off the iirst horses and mules in less time than it takes 

 to write this. The ship has been about twenty days on the journey, and bad 

 weather has been experienced, necessitating the closing down of hatches. 

 Moreover, the cleaning-out has had to be carried out under difficulties which 

 have grown more formidable as the voyage has lengthened. Below decks the 

 atmosphere is heavy and unhealthy, and the fumes of the disinfectants mingle 



