!68 



ANIMAL MANAGEMENT. 



Harness 



on 



journeys. 



Horse- 

 boxes. 



Mules. 



Camels. 



Watering. 



great thing" is to take it all quietly and without upsetting animals by noise 

 and violence. Keep troublesome ones till last. With adequate training 

 they will generally walk in and out like sheep. Sand should be used on 

 the floor of the truck to prevent slipping. 



Harness on journeys. — It may be necessary to keep harness on during 

 raibvay journeys ; but if it is not essential for operations, it should be 

 removed and loaded in separate trucks, as the animals travel better 

 stripped, and the gear is less liable to damage. In any case, care must be 

 taken to remove bits and slacken all girths and surcingles, neglect of 

 which latter precaution has been known to cause severe injuries from long- 

 continued pressure. 



Horse-boxes are constructed to hold three animals in separate padded 

 compartments, parallel to the line of rails. When loaded, the horses, 

 should be tied short by the head to prevent accidents from their trying to 

 turn in the stall or getting their forelegs up in the manger. Owing to 

 the shortness of these stalls, knees and tails are liable to get bruised, and 

 kneecaps and a tail guard are advisible. When a tail is bandaged to 

 prevent its being rubbed, it must not be wrapped too tightly, or the pressure 

 may cause the hair to fall out ; a better method is to encase the tail in a 

 leather sheath which buckles or laces like a legging and is kept in position 

 by a strap leading from the top to the roller pad. 



Mules. — The habit these animals possessof gnawing woodwork should 

 not be forgotten when they are tied to truck sides ; a smearing of soft- 

 soap will prevent it. 



Camels. — The height of the camel necessitates his being carried in a 

 sitting position. They may be made to squat on the platform, the fore 

 and hind legs tied, and then be hoisted on to a truck, or they may, if 

 space permit, step on to the truck previous to squatting. They should, of 

 course, be unloaded and allowed exercise as often as possible, and as they 

 are invariably very cramped at the end of a railway journey, should be 

 given time to recover the use of their limbs thoroughly before marching or 

 embarking for oversea transport. 



Watering. — Adequate arrangements for water are necessary, and must 

 be thought out beforehand. In properly fitted trucks and horse-boxes it 

 offers no difficulty, but with large numbers in cattle trucks it is often 

 difficult to water satisfactorily. Water may be given from buckets or the 

 animals taken out of the trucks, the latter being by far the best if the 

 horses are trained, troughs handy, and time permits. Horses known 

 to be troublesome should not be detrained, but watered by hand. If 

 watering by buckets has to be adopted, the best method is to put one man 

 in the truck and pass buckets to him. In hot climates, watering becomes 



