82 England's horses, 



"in point of fact the Government would have to pay for the 

 keep of the animal, instead of the breeder, for the additional 

 year." He enforces his point with the following statistics : — 



" 1,624. Could you give the Committee any information as to the expense of 

 a three-year-old, bought at three and kept till four, of course being used 

 merely for the purpose of breaking up to four years of age ? — Yes, I think I 

 could state that. There was a proposal of adding 20 per cent, of three-year- 

 old horses to regiments, and I could state to the Committee exactly what it 

 would cost as regards feeding them, and other incidental expenses. Taking 

 the Cavalry and the Royal Artillery in Great Britain, I have excluded the 

 train of the Royal Engineers, and also the Army Service Corps, but merely 

 taking the Household Brigade, the Cavalry of the Line, and the Artillery, I 

 make it that there are 9,670 horses, and in Ireland, in the Cavalry of the Line, 

 and the Royal Artillery, the number is 3,543 horses. If we add 20 per cent, 

 on the Great Britain establishment, it would make 1,934 horses, and on the 

 Irish establishment it would make 708. giving a total of 2,642 horses. I 

 separate Great Britain from Ireland because the forage is a different price. I 

 make out that the forage of the 1,934 horses in Great Britain would cost 

 £50,001 19s. 2d. a year; and of the 708 in Ireland would cost £'1.5.795 I8s. 5d., 

 which makes a total of ^65,797 17s. 7d. ; and the farriery allowance for 2,645 

 horses would be £2,009 Os. 5d., making a total of i'67,806 18s. That does not 

 include, of course, the cost of the horse, nor the casualties, nor the inci-eased 

 stable accommodation, nor anything like stable implements, such as buckets 

 and things of that sort. Supposing we put the cost price of a three-year-old 

 at ±'35, his value when four years old would be £60 13s. 4d., and his value 

 when five years old would be £86 6s. 8d. 



" There is another question too," he adds, " would have to be 

 considered : — 



" Supposing that we had 20 per cent, added to the Cavalry regiments, I 

 have excluded from that calculation anything about an increased establish- 

 ment as regards those additional liorses. 



" Which you apprehend would be to a certain extent required ? — Yes. The 

 Household Cavalry have 34:i men and 275 horses ; 20 per cent, would be 55 

 horses more, so that there would be 330 horses to 343 men. I apprehend that 

 you would scarcely think that would do. Nine regiments of the line have 

 547 men and 384 horses; adding 20 per cent, would make 778, giving a total of 

 461 horses to 547 men. Then there are ten regiments of the line that have 

 447 men and 320 horses ; adding 64 for the 20 per cent, would give 384 horses 

 to 447 men. In the Royal Artillery the proportions are also pretty much the 

 same ; but I can put that Return in also." 



General Peel, in his turn, has a proposal to make, the very 

 opposite of those to which we have hitherto been listening : — 



" With regard to the Cavalry, I am afraid I should very much astonish His 

 Royal Highness if I were to say that I should strongly recommend, instead of 

 purchasing horses at four years old, purchasing them at a much earlier age. 

 I think there is a great deal of truth in the old saying that most of the good- 

 ness of a horse goes in at his mouth — that is to say, it depends very much 

 upon whether he has been starved or well fed during his youth how he turns 

 out afterwards. However that may be, I am perfectly certain that whatever 

 goodness he has in him will be sooner developed and brought to maturity if 

 he is well fed than if he is starved in the first year or two. If you were to go 

 to Newmarket next December you would be perfectly astonished to see the 

 yearlings that have been recently purchased galloping away there, with heavy 

 weights on their backs, at a good speed; you would hardly know the distinc- 

 tion between them and old horses. Now, I should like to see an experiment 

 of this kind tried ; every Colonel of a cavalry regiment should be allowed to 

 purchase a few two-year-olds in October; he would have a far greater number 



