TRAINING REMOUNTS. 289 



rider makes but a poor trainer, as he endeavours to teach a 

 horse to trot before he can walk collectedly, and in his 

 anxiety to show how quickly he can break a horse, he ends 

 by entirely spoiling the animal's temper and rendering him 

 shifty and unreliable for the ranks. A horse has such a 

 retentive memory that the importance of patiently and 

 quietly teaching him each of his early lessons, until he 

 thoroughly understands one lesson before he is made to work 

 at another, cannot be over-estimated. 



Of course, the best riders are chosen to train remounts, 

 men who thoroughly understand how to apply the aids and 

 to render the troop horse capable of fulfilling all his duties. 

 An intelligent and experienced trainer will think out and 

 teach the horse many other exercises and aids than those 

 laid down in the cavalry drill book, being guided by the 

 temperament of his pupil, which, as in man, varies with each 

 individual. No remount, whether trooper or charger, can be 

 considered properly trained until he can fulfil the following 

 qualifications : 



A. He must be able to do a figure 8 correctly, passage, 

 rein back, and change the leading leg at a canter. 



B. He must be a good jumper over all kinds of obstacles, 

 and a safe conveyance over every description of rough 

 country. 



C. He must be steady on parade. 



D. He must be well balanced. 



E. He must be instantly obedient to the correct aids, and 

 lastly, the perfectly broken troop horse must go, alone or in 

 company, at any pace required of him without pulling or 

 otherwise displaying irritation. 



This list of requirements does not include many others 

 that the well-trained troop horse must possess. He must get 

 accustomed to firing ; to men practising mounted swordsman- 

 ship ; to carrying full kit ; crowded streets ; bands playing ; 



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