Hints for Mounted Office: 



CAVALRY EQUIPMENT. The following extract from the 

 Admiralty and Horse Guards Gazette will interest many- 

 officers : — 



The Kabul Committee on Equipment particularly recom- 

 mended that every mounted officer and man should have on 

 service a chin head-stall and chain reins, so that they cannot be 

 cut through, and as cruppers and breastplates are only necessary 

 with badly-shaped horses, they ought only to be allowed when 

 the shape of the horse requires them. The English saddle is too 

 heavy, and is not strong enough, as the front arch of the iron 

 tree is apt to splay out with tha weight of a heavy man and 

 touch the horse's spine; but it is not too much to expect, with 

 the perfection that has now been arrived at in the manufacture 

 of steel, that a far lighter and stronger saddle will soon be forth- 

 coming. The Cape girth is a superior one to ours, and our 

 present surcingle is, perhaps, too wide for its purpose. The 

 present system in England is to have the panels of the saddle 

 with a serge lining, and to stuff them with horsehair. There is 

 no objection to this as long as the present numnah is used, 

 which to a great extent protects and preserves the serge from 

 wear and tear. But the weight of the numnah can be saved 

 by following the plan in universal use in Australia — the 

 country of horses — which is to have the lining of soft pliable 

 leather, and to stuff it with strips of felt cut to the shape of 

 the panel; the panel is so made that a lacing opens, and the 

 stuffing can be introduced or reduced by adding or withdraw- 

 ing strips of felt. This can be done for both Cavalry and pack- 

 saddles, and the importance of this system can hardly be exag- 

 gerated when it is pointed out that any man can stuff his 

 saddle by this means to suit the ever-altering condition of 

 his horse or pack animals on service, while with the present 

 system it requires trained men to do so. Nothing on service is 

 so common or so productive of sore backs as ill-fitting saddles, 

 which can hardly be helped from the rapidity with which the 

 animals change condition. The usual fault is, that too much 

 weight is carried behind the saddle, and thus the valise should 

 be abolished for Cavalry, and the article carried in a kit-bag 

 instead. The question of carrying the kit of all arms on 

 wheeled or pack transport applies equally well to Cavalry. 

 As the weight carried by Cavalry horses should be reduced 

 as much as possible, nothing should be carried on the horse 

 which is not in constant and immediate demand. Such things 

 are a horse-brush, a cloth rubber, and an oil tin only, for 

 which ample room is to be found in the wallets. On service 

 all animals suffer from sickness if over-groomed, or if groomed 

 as much as in peace time, when they are picketed out in the 

 open. The articles named are ample to keep the horse and 



