82 THE BRIDLE BITS. 



Persian to give them that compact form and wiry hmb 

 that they need. The fine Irish troop horses, formerly so 

 sought for, are not now (1853) to be procured in the 

 market. Instead of the long, low, deej^-chested, short- 

 backed, strong-boned horse of former days, yon find 

 nothing now but long-iegged, straight-shouldered* ani- 

 mals, prone to disease from the time they are foaled, and 

 whose legs grease after a common field day. These ani- 

 mals form the staple of our remounts. 



^' The English cavalry are not what they should be. If 

 brought fresh into the field of battle, the speed of the 

 horses and the pluck of the men would doubtless achieve 

 great things for the moment ; but they could not endure, 

 they could not follow up, they could not come again. 

 All other reforms in our cavalry will be useless unless 

 this important point be looked to. It is building a house 

 on the sand to organize cavalry without good horses. 

 Government alone could work the necessary reform by 

 importing stallions and mares of Eastern blood for the 

 purpose of breeding troop horses and chargers for the 

 cavalry of England. I had heard of fine horses in Rus- 

 sia, but I complacently said to myself, '^ Whatever they 

 are they cannot be as good as the English.' However, 1 

 went to Eussia, and seeing is believing. Their horse- 

 artillery and cavalry are far better mounted than ours ; 

 and their horses are immeasurably superior in those qual- 

 ities which constitute the true war-horse, namely, cour- 

 age, constitutional vigor, strength of limb and great 

 power of endurance under fatigue and privation." 



It would certainly be very hard to reconcile these two 

 opinions as coming from the same writer. It goes to 

 show how prematurely a man can make up his mind to 

 become an author on the strength of his theories or par- 



*No straight-slionldered horse could he a successful racer or steeple-chaser, 

 for it is one of the most indispensable formations in a fast horse or jumper lo 

 have an oblique shoulder, A straight shoulder means a short stride, and racers 

 with short strides are distanced aud get run off the turf. — [Authob. 



