228 HORSEMANSHIP FOR WAR 



habit of thinking, knew many years ago that 

 mechanical transport would carry and haul 

 men and supplies much quicker than horses 

 could upon a highway. But we also observed 

 that war destroys the road, and that campaign- 

 ing is a cross-country exercise wherein the 

 horse can hold his own against the car. 



In the same way we knew as far back as 

 1 896 that aerial warfare would evolve in three 

 phases : reconnaissance, fleet engagements, 

 and occupations in force with aerial transport. 



Yet, while the car and the aircraft have been 

 foreseen by everybody who took the trouble to 

 think, we have to deal in fact with present 

 needs for troops transported by horses, for 

 whom the word mobility means rapid and 

 sustained haulage and carriage of weight. 

 It is not the art of jumping hedges, because 

 they do not exist in any probable terrain of war. 



What then, are the factors for mobility ? 



Breeding. In the throes of war for our 

 existence, while every luxury must be dis- 

 pensed with and every available man called to 

 the colours, the British Government is solicit- 

 ous to preserve hunting and racing. The 

 authorities would preserve the trade of horse- 

 breeding lest there be scarcity of army re- 

 mounts. Let us breed pleasure-horses, they 



