CHAPTER 111 



Buying British Remounts in America 

 By Brigadier-General T. R. F. Bate. 



AS quite two-thirds of the horses and practically all the mules used in the 

 British Army in France and the other theatres of war come from the 

 American Continent, it will, perhaps, be of interest to trace the history of the 

 Army horse and mule from its source on the other side of the Atlantic till it 

 reaches the remount depots in the United Kingdom. 



It is interesting to know that the first batch of American and Canadian 

 horses arrived in England in October, 1914. In the early stages of the activities 

 of the British Remount Commission in Canada and U.S.A. practically the whole 

 continent was covered in the search for suitable animals. Later experience 

 proved that it was more profitable from every point of view to centre all 

 activities in the middle western states, which are par excellence the draught 

 horse producing area of the continent. 



The proposition in front of the Commission was to produce a steady flow of 

 horses and mules to England at a rate varying between 25,000 and io,ooq 

 a month. This proposition may roughly be divided under three headings : 

 (i) The actual purchase ; (2) care after purchase, including railway transit ; 

 (3) and embarkation. 



Before describing the actual method of purchase it will be as well to make 

 a brief analysis of the fortunes of the animal before he comes before the ofiicial 

 purchaser. It has been found time and again that in purchasing such large 

 numbers of animals as are in this case involved it is imperative to buy only from 

 well-known and reliable horse dealers. Such dealers have their show-yards in 

 large towns where the livestock business is a big concern. The chief centres 

 used by us are Chicago, St. Paul (in Minnesota), Sioux City and Des Moines in 

 Iowa, St. Louis, Kansas City and also, in the earlier stages, Toronto and 

 Montreal in Canada. In each of these centres one, or perhaps, in some cases, 

 two or three firms of reliable dealers engage to show to our purchaser sa 

 many horses a week. 



Now, the big dealer buys most of the horses he shows, both buying himself 

 and sending out agents among the farmers, among whom he has a regular 

 clientele. The dealer who cannot afford to put down a lot of ready money for 

 purchase outright allows smaller dealers and also farmers to show horses under 



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