70 Scats and Saddles. 



time."* "Ay," say the opponents, ''but the man 

 covers himself up and leaves his horse to shiver." There 

 is probably some truth in this ; and, at all events, the 

 man is kept w^arm, whereas the felt can never be mis- 

 appropriated in this way. The advocates of the felt 

 say, farther, in cases of alarm the horses can be saddled 

 quicker, which is indisputable to a certain extent; for 

 whether the blanket be used as a covering for the horse 

 or man, it takes some time and two men to fold it 

 properly if once unfolded. The result is this : if the 

 felt happens to fit, the horse will be quickly and -well 

 saddled — if not, quickly and badly ; on the other hand, 

 two or three minutes more rnay ensure all the horses 

 being well saddled, provided the men know how to fold 

 their blankets, and are made to do so. Two or three 

 minutes may be, however, of great importance ; let us 

 endeavor to estimate their precise value. Cavalry on 

 outpost duty never unsaddles, therefore it can suffer 

 no loss of time on account of the blanket ; and cavalry 

 in camp or bivouac is, or at least should be, always 

 covered by outposts, and is therefore scarcely liable to 

 surprise, and two or three minutes can make no possible 

 difference where it is a question of preserving the effi- 

 ciency of the horses for weeks, months and years. But 

 the superior officers are impatient, their personal credit 

 is involved in the turning out rapidly ; ay, that's it. Let 

 the blankets be properly folded at daybreak regularly ; 

 and let the horses be saddled too with loose girths, 

 whether you know if you are to turn out or not, and 

 there is an end of the blanket difficulty and of many 

 others too. 



With regard to the crupper. If your saddle fit prop- 

 erly, and if you sit in the proper way, you don't need 



* The greatest possible luxury in the matter of blankets is, how- 

 ever, powerless to keep horses alive whose rations consist of their 

 neighbors' tails, as in the Crimea. 



