356 THE HORSE 



in fairly fast work. He should stand from fifteen and two -tenths 

 to sixteen hands, weigh not less than 1,300 pounds, and measure at 

 least eight inches below the knee and seventy-two inches in girth. 

 Considerable variation in type is permissible, the work of the 

 horse artillery demanding greater speed and therefore more warm 

 blood than are necessary for ordinary field artillery, while in all 

 batteries properly horsed, the lead and center pairs are slightly 

 taller and more rangy than the wheelers, the latter requiring 

 greater strength and substance. The first prize entry at Toronto 

 last spring was of the lighter sort, being, in fact, the pure -bred 

 hackney mare 'Cassandra.' She stood 16 hands, weighed 1,325 

 pounds and girthed 76 inches. She measured 8% inches below 

 the knee and 20% inches round the arm ; from crest to withers 36 

 inches, withers to croup 29 inches, croup to tail, an important 

 point in all military horses, 19 inches. Although in this particu- 

 lar instance the prize went to a hackney, it does not, by any 

 means, follow that gun -horses should be either wholly or partly 

 of that breed. They may be obtained by the judicious use of the 

 thoroughbred horse on mares of size, substance and action, or by 

 stinting good half-bred or strong roadster mares to a biggish 

 hackney or breedy coach sire. So long as they show sufficient 

 quality to ensure activity and endurance, and at the same time 

 meet the requirements as to size and substance, the question of 

 pedigree is of secondary importance. 



THE CAVALRY -HORSE 



The cavalry-horse is of a somewhat different type, and one at 

 present too rare in Canada, owing to the preference shown by 

 many light horse breeders for the American trotting sire, an ani- 

 mal possessing but few of the qualities and characteristics of the 

 riding horse. 



Colonel Ravenhill, in his report, says: "A malformation in the 

 Canadian horses which might advantageously be brought to the 

 notice of breeders is that their quarters are short and very droop- 

 ing, a serious defect in a military horse. Indeed, we had to reject 

 as unsuitable a considerable proportion on this account j this is 



