198 



for such work. Ordinary troop horses are generally 

 a very moderate class, as the Government regulation 

 price renders anything better impossible. An addi- 

 tional ;^io per horse would soon raise the standard 

 of the British cavalry, and, according to the profes- 

 sional opinion of certain critics, the sooner this is 

 done the better it will be. At the same time, it 

 would be a great advantage to breeders if the Govern- 

 ment would purchase colts at three and four years 

 old, and establish a system of depots where they 

 could be trained. Imperial horse farms might also 

 be established in the Colonies with great advantage 

 to the Government in time of war. The small horses 

 used in the Transvaal War, averaging about fourteen 

 hands two inches, answered very well for the rough 

 nature and mode of warfare of that country, but it 

 does not follow that they would be suitable for cam- 

 paigning in other countries. Generally speaking, 

 British horses stood the work better than Argentine 

 and other horses, therefore, British breeders may find 

 a better market for hunter " misfits " in future. 



THE REGULATION LONG SQUARED TAIL. 



The chief difference which marks the military 

 charger from the ordinary three-parts bred horse is 

 the unusual length of his tail, which, in accordance 

 with an absurd regulation of the British cavalry, is 

 worn long and cut squarely across, reaching nearly 

 to the hocks ; and no horse that is docked — no matter 

 how good looking and suitable he may be — is per- 



