i62 THE HORSE 



back, well ribbed-up, the best of legs and feet, a fairly 

 sloping shoulder, a neck of good length, and a head 

 carried high, and showing intelligence, docility and 

 energy. 



The Cossacks, as everybody knows, are famous 

 cavalrymen, and Mr. A. B. Maclay, an authority on 

 this subject, says: 



I never saw a Cossack riding what we call a big horse, but 

 plenty of them ride " big little horses." That is to say, sturdy, 

 thick-set horses with great depth of body set upon short legs. 



How can such horses be bred? There is much dif- 

 ference of opinion upon this point, even among officers 

 of the United States cavalry. The following breeds or 

 cross-breeds all have their advocates : the thorough- 

 bred, the thoroughbred crossed with other horses, the 

 Arab, the Kentucky saddle-bred horse, the Morgan, 

 the trotter. 



The thoroughbred Is probably the least adapted of 

 all for cavalry purposes. He is a racing machine, and 

 too thin-skinned, nervous, and irritable to make a good 

 campaigner. On this subject Francis M. Ware states 

 his experience as follows: 



In keeping riding schools in Boston, Newport, and New York 

 for about twelve years, I tried in vain to make the thoroughbred 

 a useful horse. I used from fifty to seventy horses generally. 

 Riding-school work is not unlike active campaigning. The 

 horses must do all they can do, day in and day out, often 

 thirty and forty miles a day under heavy weights. Not a 

 thoroughbred did I ever find out of hundreds of them that 

 would stand the work for any extended period. They would 

 not endure such work as any ordinary school horse w^ould. 



