FRANCE. 255 



Gray horses are ridden by officers of tlie noucombatant 

 category — surgeons, quartermasters, commissaries, etc. 



Under no circumstances is an officer allowed to sell a horse 

 obtained from the state, directly either to a civilian or to an- 

 other officer ; the sale must be effected through the remount 

 service. 



A horse, after having been once, assigned, is rarely taken 

 from the trooper without his consent. 



About 250 thoroughbred horses are bought by the remount 

 service each year for delivery to officers. 



In mounted regiments the extra horses, subject to sale or 

 assignment to officers, are divided into five classes. 



1. Those to remount the officers of the command. 



2. Those to remount officers of the general staff and of en- 

 gineer troops, besides ten horses of the lots pertaining to the 

 cuirassiers and the dragoons (extra-heavy animals) reserved 

 every quarter to remount officers of the gendarmerie. 



3. Those to remount infantry officers (of the rank of cap- 

 tain and above), intendance officers, surgeons, administration 

 officers, all at the rate of ten horses per regiment of the light 

 cavalry (chasseurs a cheval and hussars). 



4. Those specially selected for general officers, the cavalry 

 schools, and the superior war school. 



5. Those intended for the enlisted men of the gendarmerie 

 being aged horses of 12 years or more and not possessing the 

 necessary aptitude for war service in their arm (cavalry), but 

 still susceptible of good use in time of peace, particularly for 

 the gendarmerie (mounted military policemen). The horses 

 of class 5 are never, for any reason, again given out to cav- 

 alrymen. 



These classes are made up and their numbers completed 

 every quarter. Horses turned in by officers 'aot belonging to 

 a regiment are classed with those of the category to which 

 they properly belong. In giving out horses from any of the 

 classes, priority of the applications is observed. 



Officers who are required to own their mounts, particularly 

 majors and those of higher rank, with the exception of general 

 officers, are granted, besides forage, shoeing, and veterinary 

 expenses, an extra allowance at the rate of from $G to $12 per 

 month. In addition to this allowance for horses owned, all 

 officers who are required to be mounted, whether they draw 

 their mounts from the state or purchase them, are allowed 



