100 THE HORSE AND THE WAR 



may make the animal more susceptible to those pernicious diseases of the 

 skin ; it may affect respiratory and digestive organs ; and, though the imme- 

 diate cause of the prevalence of ophthalmia in our horses and mules is not 

 known, debility is not unlikely to be partially responsible in the sense that it 

 must predispose to any other forms of sickness. Naturally, reduced vitality 

 means less resistance to contagious maladies and the hardships of piercing 

 winds and horrible clinging mud. 



Only those who have seen the awful state of roads and a country which 

 has been scarred and lacerated out of recognition by artillery fire can truly 

 understand what is at times required of those animals that must be close on 

 the heels of the troops holding the line. I have especially in mind the light 

 draught horses and mules for the field guns and the animals used for pack 

 purposes when the haulage of wagons in bringing up supplies and ammunition 

 is quite out of the question. War as such is a stern and remorseless tyrant, 

 and the toll it exacts is reflected in the temporarily " broken " animals that 

 are humanely evacuated with the utmost speed. That toll has to be paid, 

 and it is in the paying of it that the Remount Service comes in with its replace- 

 ment of casualties. It is a Service which has never once failed to maintain 

 our strength in horses and mules. 



Obviously it is wise in bringing about the release of debilitated and ex- 

 hausted animals at the front to see to it that they are not allowed to get too 

 low in condition. Advanced cases must take a long time to bring back to 

 the full vigour of health in the rest camps, and especially is this so where aged 

 animals are concerned. We must not overlook the fact that the war has now 

 been going on for over four years, and that animals which had to be mobi- 

 lized in 1914 are nearing the time when they are necessarily failing from 

 natural causes, apart altogether from the terrific strain of w^ar conditions. 

 And in this connection I may point out that about 10 per cent, of the horses 

 now passing into veterinary hospitals are fifteen years old and over. It then 

 becomes a question whether they can be retained with advantage to the Forces 

 in the field, whether, in fact, it is good finance and sound policy to persevere 

 with them in their reduced and worn condition. It is here that the Veterinary 

 Service also comes in. Their primary objective is to cure and restore ; but 

 hard facts have to be faced, and more often than not our gallant aUies, thus 

 permanently impaired, have to be given their discharge. They may be sold 

 for the easier and quieter life on the land with French agriculturists, or, if 

 they are past that, they are humanely slaughtered for food in the abattoirs 

 of Paris and other cities and towns. 



There are times, of course, when debility sickness is more marked than 

 at others, as, for instance, in wet and cold weather, and after a " push," when 

 animals must advance after fighting forces over what was once a " No Man's 

 Land." Thus in the spring of 1917, when the weather was exceptionally severe 

 and military operations were intense, the wastage from debility and exhaus- 

 tion rose to a marked extent, but happily this did not last long. 



Let me further catalogue the sickness. There is that ophthalmia to which 

 I have alluded. It is a serious trouble and on that account is causing anxiety 

 both inside and outside the Veterinary Service. The first sjrmptoms are what 



