116 27TH REPORT, BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



western horses, though in many cases well bred, are not desirable, as they are 

 not broken, gentled, or handled until a week or two before they are offered for 

 sale as Cavalry or Artillery horses, and when purchased many of them are 

 never serviceable. This system will afford time and means to properly handle 

 and break these young horses and to accustom them to man from an earlier 

 age. 



An opportunity will be afforded for a close and careful observance of all 

 horses for several months before issued, and such as are found undesirable or 

 not suited for the service can be disposed of from the depot. The Government 

 would therefore save the freight to posts on such horses, and, since they are 

 young, they should sell at the depot for nearly their first cost. 



Horses will be uniform as to conformation, action, etc., and the special type 

 desired will be standardized and understood by breeders and farmers. 



Horses can be shipped in first-class condition in every respect and in cars 

 that are sanitary; there should therefore be practically no sickness on arrival 

 at posts. 



Requisitions can be filled promptly without waiting for advertising and pur- 

 chase, as at present, and horses of desired color can be sent to a particular 

 troop or battery at no additional expense. 



The Quartermaster General suggested the use of abandoned mili- 

 tary posts, such as Fort Reno, where buildings were already available 

 and the plan could be put into effect without extra expense. His 

 recommendations were approved by Congress in the Army appropri- 

 ation act for the fiscal year 1909, and under General Order No. 59, 

 War Department, 1908, the military post of Fort Reno, Okla., was 

 designated as a general supply depot of the Quartermaster's De- 

 partment, and would thereafter be known as the Fort Reno Remount 

 Depot. A year later General Order No. 80, War Department, 1909, 

 similarly designated Fort Keogh, Mont., as a remount depot. Issues 

 from the Fort Reno depot were commenced during the fiscal year 

 1909. 1 



In the spring of 1910 purchases of horses were begun in Virginia 

 and Kentucky, and an officer was detailed for the purpose, with sta- 

 tion at Front Royal, Va. The horses first purchased in this district 

 were sent to Fort Reno, but in the Army appropriation act for the 

 fiscal year 1912 an item of $200,000 was included for the purchase of 

 land in Virginia for a remount station, where the horses in that dis- 

 trict will be developed in future. The new station is located at Front 

 Royal, on the Blue Ridge. 



The following statement, furnished by the office of the Quarter- 

 master General, United States Army, shows that the horses purchased 

 under the remount system are costing the Government much less than 

 those purchased under contract: 



Fiscal year 1909. 



Cavalry horses, average contract price $160.06 



Artillery horses, average contract price- _ 191.12 



Young horses for remount depots 146. 28 



1 Annual Report, Quartermaster General, War Department, 1909. 



