108 ANIMALS USED IN WAR. 



fact that there are resident in that country regular exporters of 

 animals to India who not only know Army standards perfectly, 

 but who are tutors towards suitable production in their own 

 country. It only remains to remember that Australian horses, 

 coming from a Southern Zone with reverse seasons, require in 

 India a period of acclimatisation, and this is more necessary in 

 the lethargic heavier types than in the light horses for Cavalry. 



Suffolk Punch. 



The number of this Class of Heavy Draught Horse employed 

 during the War in France was relatively very small, and experi- 

 ence of them was limited. Inconsequence, opinion was varied 

 amounting to diverseness, some officers reporting extremely well 

 on them, and others condemning them as unsuitable for Army 

 work by reason of their being "top-heavy," and therefore 

 subject to lameness in the feet when called on to perform hard 

 road work. They certainly had two outstanding merits for 

 Service on the Continent — an ability to maintain a round stout 

 condition, amounting to fatness, on a shorter ration than other 

 Heavy Draught types ; and their clean legs in muddy circum- 

 stances — two assets which commended them highly in the eyes 

 of Commanding Officers in the Field. The evidence which I 

 gathered from Veterinary Hospitals pointed to weakness of the 

 feet as the chief demerit of this breed of heavy horse. The 

 remarks of one Veterinary Hospital Commander who was not 

 only a very knowledgeable Civil Practitioner, but who had had 

 considerable experience both with units in the Field and in 

 Veterinary Hospitals, are worth quoting : — 



"The Suffolk Punch suffered from foot trouble owing to more 

 or less standing on feet and joints defective in shape and make. 

 This animal kept condition well, but as at home, is unsuitable 

 for hard road work." 



On the other hand an officer whose powers of observation and 

 opinion I rate highly, and who had a considerable pre-war 

 experience in the purchase of draught remounts, reported on the 

 Suffolk Punch as follows : — 



" Is a very useful horse but inclined to be a little over-topped. 

 I have had four or j&ve of this breed during the War, and my 

 opinion has entirely changed. I used to think they were soft 



