128 ANIMALS USED IN WAR. 



However, the account is now squared. The Austrahan riding 

 horse at war in the various theatres during the past six years^ 

 whether in France, in Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, East 

 Africa, or on the Frontiers of India, has not only travelled 

 farther than any other animal, but he has held his own against 

 all comers. The best of them are superb ; the second raters 

 have acquitted themselves with distinction. 



Argentine Riding Horses. 



Under the heading of Light draught-horses, I mentioned 

 that the majority of horses in the Argentine were riding horses 

 In the main there are Crillio, or native-bred, height from 13'3 

 to 14' 3, suitable only for Mounted Infantry and Light Cavahy. 

 Others are crossed Crillio mares with European Stallions and 

 are larger, but these are limited in number. The Crillio, small 

 horse or pony, (a gelding — the mares not being used) is a 

 wonderful animal in his own country. He will canter along for 

 80 miles in a day with comparative ease, carrying a huge saddle 

 or recado weighing over 60 lb. weight ; and he turns out to be 

 a remarkably good polo pony. Yet no name was bad enough 

 for him in South Africa during the Boer War, in fact his 

 purchase was absolutely stopped. In common with others he 

 shared the fate of being drafted into work immediately after 

 landing. He, above all other animals, requires time to acquire 

 military ways. He is a very home-sick animal, sadly misses 

 his friends of his tropilla, grieves and sulks for days, and in the 

 process of breaking-in he often has had the stuffing knocked out 

 of him. He is grass-fed in his own country, and one cannot 

 expect anything but disaster to overtake an animal so fed when 

 invited to eat grain — which he has not been accustomed to, and 

 out of a nosebag the like of which he has never before seen. 

 The iron enters into his soul, his soft spirit is broken, and he 

 gives up the ghost. Such is hardly his fault, but at the same 

 time his appearance, with ,his blazed face and his white legs, is 

 indicative of a softness of constitution which is not in keeping 

 with the requirements of a war animal. 



The Hungarian, also a grass-fed animal, failed in like manner 

 in South Africa. Moreover, Hungarian peasants do not ride> 

 their animals as a rule being yoked together as a pair in a hght 

 four-wheeled vehicle. 



