256 



ANIMAL jVIANAGEMENT. 



Arrange- 

 ments for 



hand in case of breakdown. The quantity allowable for each horse is ten 

 gallons daily, and each ship is required to possess a distil capable of 

 producing this amount ; in addition, water sufficient for two-thirds the 

 estimated time of the journey is carried in iron tanks. 



Arrangements for exercise. — If military horses required for war on 

 landing are to be of any use when they arrive at their destination, they 

 must be exercised, and provision for this should be made on all ships 

 which carry mounted troops. It is not, of course, possible with unbroken 

 horses and a small staff, but for fighting units which may be required the 

 moment they step ashore, special arrangements should be made to allow 

 them to exercise every horse every day the weather permits. For this 

 purpose a portion of one deck should have a track wide enough for two 

 or three abreast, laid with suitable matting, and accessible, by means of 

 brows, from both or all horse decks ; should this plan not be feasible, all 

 passages between stalls should be wide enough and so arranged as to 

 admit of exercise round the deck when feed boxes are removed. To 

 secure this some room should be sacrificed if necessary, as the military 

 efficiency obtainable by this means, and not otherwise, is invaluable. 

 An exposed deck is naturally the best for exercise. 



Short of this ideal, every effort should be made to move each horse 

 every day weather permits, if only a few yards. Constant standing with- 

 out movement has such an injurious effect on the circulation of the legs 

 and feet that the slightest amount of exercise is beneficial ; and the more 

 the better. 



Embarkation. 



It is necessary to distinguish sharply between two classes of animals 

 embarked for oversea service, the first comprising trained, well-conditioned, 

 corn-fed troop-horses which accompany their units, and the second con- 

 sisting of remounts despatched subsequently, accompanied by very small 

 staffs, possibly untrained, and occasionally grass-fed till they embark. The 

 conditioning of this latter class must be undertaken when they land, they 

 cannot arrive fit for immediate work ; but the troop-horse may be required 

 the moment he steps ashore, and therefore his condition should be main- 

 tained in every way possible. The first step towards this end is that he 

 should embark thoroughly fit. It is inevitable that he will lose some 

 condition en route ; this cannot be prevented under the most favourable 

 circumstances, but the fitter he is for general purpose work when he steps 

 on board, the fitter will he land if properly taken care of. Troop-horses 

 should not therefore be let down in condition before they embark ; they 

 should be hard and fit; but their bowels should not be constipated, and to 



