APPENDIX I 



THE BREEDING IN CANADA OF HORSES FOR 

 ARMY USE 



By the kindness of J. G. RUTHERFORD, Chief Veterinary 

 Inspector 



WHILE the supply of horses suitable for military use has 

 always, even in times of peace, been a serious question, the 

 experience of our South African troubles has given it an impor- 

 tance altogether new and somewhat startling. It has now been 

 clearly shown that troops under modern conditions of warfare 

 must be able to move rapidly from place to place, and that the 

 mounted soldier has thus an immense advantage over the less 

 mobile infantry man. 



This development has led to the purchase by the British Gov- 

 ernment, during the present campaign, of a very much larger 

 number of horses than would otherwise have been required. Nor 

 has the lesson been learned by Britain alone; all military nations 

 have been closely watching the operations in South Africa, and 

 there is no room for doubt that the general demand for horses 

 suitable for army purposes will be much greater in the future 

 than in the past. Of the horses purchased for use in Africa 

 the Dominion has by no means furnished her fair share, although, 

 in addition to those taken by our own contingents, a considerable 

 number have been picked up in Eastern Canada by Lt.-Col. Dent, 

 of the Eemount Department of the British Army. It is not, how- 

 ever, an easy matter at present to obtain in this country any large 

 number of horses altogether suitable for army use. No encourage- 

 ment to produce them has, until very recently, been shown to 

 breeders, and, there being no very active home demand for any 

 but the very best of the sorts now asked for, they have not beeji 

 bred to anything like the extent of which the country is capable. 



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