THE CAVALRY HORSE 165 



on short commons. This remark does not by any 

 means apply to all Kentucky saddle horses, for there 

 are many stoutly bred animals among them, but it 

 does apply, I think, to the majority of them. 



The Arab horse has always been used for riding and 

 nothing else. He has very great endurance, intelligence, 

 and docility, can subsist on meagre fare, and is in every 

 respect strong and serviceable. But the poor trotting 

 gait of the Arab must count against him as a cavalry 

 horse. In long or forced marches, an occasional canter 

 is permissible on an up-grade, but the main reliance 

 must be on two gaits only, the walk, and the trot. 

 Now the Arab has never been trained to trot, and is 

 stiff-legged at that gait, with, of course, no speed what- 

 ever. The Arab would be extended at seven or eight 

 miles an hour, whereas the trotting-bred horse, being 

 capable of ten or twelve miles an hour, will do eight 

 miles easily. 



But, whatever the merits of Arab horses, there are 

 so few of them in this country, and so few obtainable, 

 even in Arabia, that for the present, at least, we must 

 look elsewhere for our supply of cavalry horses. 



Much resembling the Arab is the Morgan — and 

 the Morgan horse proved his worth in the Civil War 

 as a cavalry horse. The First Vermont Cavalry, a 

 regiment that was recruited in October, 1861, and 

 served throughout the war, made a remarkable record 

 for efficiency, and all the horses were Morgans bought 

 in the northeastern part of the state, except a few that 

 were procured in New Hampshire on the other side of 

 the Connecticut River. The Newark [New Jersey] 



