32 THE HORSE AND THE WAR 



depot may, through force of circumstances, be located a short train journey 

 away. In the latter case the purcliasing officer has to make local arrangements 

 until he has collected a sufficient number to fill a train, which varies from 300 to 

 boo. In either case the animals get a rest for a week to ten days or perhaps a 

 fortnight before starting on their real journey towards the embarkation area. 

 During that time they are malleined in accordance with the glanders test. 

 Those which show any symptoms of sickness are segregated, and from day to 

 day the fittest are cut out and put into pens in which only those fit to travel, 

 colloquially known as " shippers," are kept. 



Every depot has its veterinary hospital and staff, into which serious cases 

 are put. Now let us imagine we are starting off with a trainload of " shippers " 

 from a depot in the purchasing area. First, we note that every horse on our 

 train has had its temperature taken as a final precaution, and any found exceed- 

 ing 101° are rejected and retained till another occasion. We are going on 

 a journey of about thirty-six hours. If in winter, probably in a temperature 

 of 25° below zero ; if in summer, it may be 110° in the shade. We are now 

 entirely in the hands of the railway authorities, but our departure and probable 

 time of arrival, with the numbers and classification of the animals on the train, 

 have been wired on to the commanding officer of the off-loading depot, where w^e 

 are looking forward to having the horses taken off, rested, watered and fed. 



Let us arrive ! We are met by various members of the off-loading depot, 

 probably including the CO. and his veterinary officer. Off-loading is a quick 

 process, and probably in half an hour every horse is out of the train. They are 

 put into pens alongside the railway, when the sick and seedy-looking ones are 

 again segregated from the fit, and hospital cases are taken off to the veterinary 

 hospital. This, I venture to think, gives a general idea of how transportation 

 is organized and carried out. 



The next stage or stages are worked on exactly the same plan ; always 

 remembering that every horse is examined and every horse has his temperature 

 taken before starting on any railway journey. Theoretically this should mean 

 that only fit horses arrive in the depots in the embarkation area. Practically 

 it means that, though it is impossible, or appears impossible, not to receive 

 some sick horses in the embarkation depots, at any rate every possible precau- 

 tion has been taken to make the number of sick as small as possible. No effort 

 is spared to try and keep the embarkation depots free from being clogged with 

 numbers of sick animals. In the embarkation depots the animals get a final 

 rest of several weeks, which, with a system of extensive runs, makes a sort of 

 finishing process before going on board ship. 



Embarkation itself requires little or no description except to remark that 

 the final selection for fitness of animals from the embarkation depots for sending 

 on board ship is made with even greater care than former inspections. In this 

 connection it must be mentioned that the adequaten:ss of the arrangements 

 on board ship, for which the embarkation officer— also a remount official — is 

 responsible, is a priceless factor in the matter of the condition of the animals on 

 their arrival in the United Kingdom. 



So far Httle or no mention has been made of the different types of horses 

 which are purchased for the Army, nor has tlie mule hrcn more than barely 



