THE ARMY HOESE. 11 



It must not be supposed that trans- Atlantic nations (certainly not 

 France and Germany) are looking to this or any other country to 

 supply them with army horses in time of peace; on the contrary, their 

 policy is to encourage and develop horse breeding at home, so that 

 there may be no need to look elsewhere even in time of war for the 

 necessary horseflesh to mount their cavalry, draw their artillery, or 

 move baggage trains. Nor do these Governments send agents over 

 here to buy horses for their armies. The foreign buyers actually here 

 are simply horse dealers who buy what they believe they can dispose of 

 with profit to themselves. Nevertheless, there is no law, rule, or regu- 

 lation which interferes with the sale of American horses for military 

 uses, in any European country. 



The general outline of methods of purchasing horses for the army 

 is the same in both Prance and Germany, two of the largest users of 

 army horses. A remount commission, consisting of officers and a 

 veterinarian, have full powers and discretion, limited only to the des- 

 ignated number of horses and to the average price per capita to be 

 paid. 



These boards sit at stipulated times and places, and all those having 

 horses to offer are free to bring the same for inspection. The officers 

 decide what price the3 T will offer for each individual horse, subject to 

 a satisfactory report from the veterinarian, and the owner can refuse 

 or accept, as he sees fit, and on acceptance the sum agreed upon is 

 paid in cash to the owner. 



There are six of these remount commissions in Germany, three of 

 them buying in eastern Prussia most of the cavalry horses, and the 

 other three paying more attention to draft animals for artillery and 

 baggage trains, purchasing something over 10,000 horses annually in 

 north Prussia. In France the number of horses purchased may be 

 slightly more or less than 10,000, but definite information as to that 

 is not at hand. 



The cavalry of those two nations is divided into classes, which in 

 each country are very similarly mounted. For instance, in Germany 

 the minimum height for light dragoons and hussars is 14 hands; for 

 uhlans, dragoons, and hussars of the guard the minimum height is 14rJ 

 hands, and for cuirassiers the minimum height is 15 hands; while in 

 France the minimum height for light cavalry is about 15| hands; 

 minimum height for dragoons between 15£ and 15| hands, and for 

 cuirassiers between 15f and 16 hands. 



All these must be over 3 and under 5 years old, sound and gentle. 

 The first class must weigh from 775 to 880 pounds; the second class, 

 880 to 1,000 pounds, and the third class, 1,050 to 1,150 pounds. The 

 artillery and baggage-train horse is required to be about 14£ hands 

 high in Germany, weighing 900 to 1,050 pounds, and 15| hands high 

 in France, weighing 990 to 1,100 pounds. 



Horses to be accepted in the army service must of course be per- 

 fectly sound and not vicious, of solid dark colors, without prominent 



