^8 THE HORSE AND THE WAR 



his, the dealer's cCgis, the small man having to pay the dealer so much on every 

 horse bought by the (government inspector. Such horses are known as subject 

 horses. This latter method, though in man\' ways undesirable, cannot be 

 entirely eliminated. When it has been arranged with a dealer to show horses 

 to one of our purchasers he is given a description of the class of animal required 

 — height, weight, etc. After a few days' experience with the purchaser the 

 dealer gets to know the type of horse that will be taken, and tells his buyers 

 accordingly ; and very soon, if he is a good dealer, the " rejects " should be few 

 and far between. 



Dealers do not find it worth while to keep horses a day longer than neces- 

 sary before they show them to the purchaser. I have often known horses taken 

 off the train by the dealer in the morning and shown for purchase in the 

 -afternoon. In this way purchasers are confronted with the task of selecting 

 suitable horses from animals in every sort of condition — some over-fat and 

 -soft, others hard and fit, while many are in very poor condition. This brings 

 us to the actual method of purchase — our purchasers have ah, or nearly all, 

 been selected from men who have had hfelong experience in buying and hand- 

 ling horses. Each buying centre has its allotted one or more purchasers, each 

 purchaser buying from one or more dealers, and each having his own veterinary 

 •officer. The procedure is always substantially the same, differing only in 

 matters of detail. 



At a suitable place in the dealer's yard there is a " show alley " where the 

 purchaser stands. Each horse is walked up to him. Unless immediately 

 rejected, it is then walked away and trotted, and if passed by the purchaser 

 as desirable as regards conformation, it is handed on to the veterinary officer 

 -to be examined for soundness — including being galloped (cavalry horses 

 ridden, draught horses driven) for wind. If passed by the veterinary officer it 

 is put in a pen alongside — under the eye of both purchaser and veterinary 

 offixer — until the pen contains seven or ten horses, when the lot are branded 

 with a broad arrow, purchaser's brand, etc. Manes of draught horses are 

 hogged, tails trimmed, shoes, if any, removed ; after which the animals are put 

 in the pens reserved for purchased animals. No animal is considered actually 

 bought until it is branded ; and, in the case of heavy horses, the formality of 

 weighing is insisted on before branding. 



It may be interesting here to touch on the much debated question as to 

 the number of horses one man can buy in a day before he loses his " eye." Few 

 men agree on this point, and no doubt some men can buy more than others ; 

 but after seeing many thousands of horses and mules purchased the writer is 

 strongly of opinion that, as regards horses at any rate, there are few men who 

 can buy more than loo a day without laying themselves open to a strong 

 probability of their " form " deteriorating. 



Having now got to the period when the animal has become the property 

 of the British Government, we come next to that stage of his existence which 

 includes safe transportation to the Atlantic seaport, and all the machinery of 

 organization which this entails. Before entering on such a descriptive itinerary 

 it will be as well to discuss briefly two main principles, either of which it has 

 ;been possible to adopt. 



