92 



THE HORSE AND THE WAR 



A victim of sarcoptic mange. 



What it has had to tackle has been but a part of the products of savagery 

 and the common devastation of war, but the progress would not have been 

 so marked had it not been so. Efficiency has marched with the accumulation 

 of problems and every new anxiety. It is well for our Army and for our 



cause that this is so. 

 One wonders what 

 would have hap- 

 pened had the Ser- 

 vice been beaten by 

 those nefarious and 

 scourging diseases 

 which are the prim- 

 ary result of horses 

 being congregated 

 and handled in large 

 numbers, especially 

 in the open. Sup- 

 posing it had failed 

 to rise to the occa- 

 sion ! Supposing it 

 had failed to win in 

 the fight against the appalling disasters that could follow on widespread 

 mange outbreaks, other contagious diseases, and those ills which are the 

 result of constant work in mud with attendant exposure to the icy winds of 



winter ! Artillery 

 and transport would 

 surely have had their 

 mobility seriously 

 jeopardized. But 

 the Service of which 

 I am writing has 

 done great things, 

 and now, after four 

 years of war and 

 after all that they 

 have taught, it is 

 consoUdating its tri- 

 umphs and facing 

 each new trouble 

 with strengthened 

 assurance and con- 

 fidence. 



It will be in- 

 teresting if at this 

 point I set out the general functions of the Veterinary Service as outlined in 

 Eield Service Regulations. Thus the Service is organized with a view to 

 preserving the efficiency of the animals of the Forces in the field : 



The same horse two montlis after the dip treatment, 

 rapidly becoming healthy and well. 



