THE ARMY REMOUNT PROBLEM. Ill 



Limbs : Forearm large, long, heavily muscled ; hind quarters wide, thick, very 

 long, full, and rounded externally; stifle large and well muscled, and hocks 

 lean, large, wide from front to rear, and well situated ; pasterns strong, medium 

 length, not too oblique, and well directed. 



Feet medium size, circular in shape, sound, of fine texture, sole concave, frog 

 well developed, sound, firm, and healthy. 



Each horse will be subjected to a rigid inspection, and any animal that does 

 not meet the above requirements will be rejected. 



The fact that the police departments of our cities are able to mount 

 their men without resort to any plan to encourage the breeding of 

 horses of the particular type desired has no bearing on the Army 

 remount problem, on account of the small number required for the 

 police. The Army could, by using a plan similar to that of the New 

 York police, place men in various parts of the country to pick up 

 desirable horses as opportunity offered, and this is practically what 

 is now being done in supplying the remount depots. On account of 

 the larger numbers required and the inevitable necessity of keeping 

 in mind the supply of good horses in case of war, these officers are 

 strongly impressed with the desirability of educating horse. raisers 

 to breed intelligently and to use methods which will insure as much 

 as possible reasonably profitable results. -As Congress has expressly 

 forbidden the War Department to expend any of its appropriation 

 for breeding purposes, the dilemma in which officers find themselves 

 may readily be seen. 



MOUNTED SERVICE IN THE MILITIA. 



Next to the police in intimacy of contact with the public is the 

 mounted militia, and this subject may be passed briefly. If it is 

 difficult to obtain the proper horses for the mounted police and the 

 Regular Army, it is many times more so to get satisfactory mounts 

 for the militia cavalry and artillery. 



Squadron C (Brooklyn), New York National Guard, has taken 

 quite a step toward solving this problem by maintaining a breeding 

 farm, where some of the remounts needed are bred, and where horses 

 owned by the squadron may be turned out if necessary. Squadron 

 A occupies an armory in Manhattan, where the horses it owns are 

 kept, but these represent only a part of the horses needed by the 

 squadron ; some are owned by the members, but many more are rented 

 as needed. 



The rented militia horse is not only a source of pain and discom- 

 fort to his rider, but is an expense to the State, which is usually out 

 of proportion to the service rendered. When the encampment is 

 over, the horse goes back to his owner and the Government has no 

 claim on him if he is needed again. These horses are frequently poor 

 livery hacks, untrained to work in mounted organizations, and would 

 be decidedly unsatisfactory in real warfare. Further, it is only by 



