420 THE HORSE 



The question, then, is what should be done to provide an 

 ample reserve in time of need, and the only possible answer 

 is that the Government must provide it themselves. 



The next question is how this should be carried out. 



It would never answer for the War Office to attempt to 

 breed troopers for themselves, for it would inevitably turn 

 out a most costly failure if officers were appointed to super- 

 intend the breeding establishments. They have not the 

 necessary experience ; and as, moreover, especial gifts are 

 required to be a successful breeder, the odds would be 

 immense against any officer who possessed them being dis- 

 covered and appointed to the post. Where the blind 

 appoint the blind it is as difficult to avoid falling into the 

 ditch as when the one is a leader of the other. The expe- 

 rience of the remodelling of the Remount Department after 

 the late war is a sufficient case in point. When General 

 Truman, the then Inspector-General of Remounts, was 

 faced with the stupendous task of providing Remounts on a 

 scale that had never been dreamed of by the War Office, and 

 for which no preparations therefore had been made, and 

 found the purchasers appointed unequal to the task, he took 

 a wise step. He placed himself in communication with 

 three retired officers, all of whom had judged for years at 

 such great Shows as Islington, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and 

 elsewhere. One of them had been a Master of Foxhounds 

 for many years ; the second had conducted successfully a 

 large thoroughbred stud farm (where he had bred a winner 

 of the Oaks), and in addition had formed a famous stud of 

 hunter stallions, and had shown a grasp of detail and busi- 

 ness capacity which had insured success ; whilst the third 

 had been a prominent jockey in his day, besides training a 

 considerable number of winners. If such experience was 

 not equal to the job General Truman felt that at any rate he 

 had done his best to secure efficiency, and knew not where 

 else to seek it. 



From the first he was constantly thwarted by higher 

 powers, and the orders for purchasing were frequently 

 changed as to height, ages, and other details without con- 

 sulting him, which caused great confusion, and required 



