214 THE ARMY HORSE. 



The troop horse, which is the constitutive element of the 

 cavalry, ought to have certain qualities, of which the principal 

 are soundness and hardiness. With him it is not a question of 

 fine handling or scientific movements. He has to carry his 

 man safely and for a long distance, and by the strength of his 

 constitution he has to bear fatigue and all the miseries of a 

 campaign. 



Also, he must not cost too much, because money is the chief 

 sinew of war, despite progress and innovations. 



A horse does not cost merely the sum paid to his owner, to 

 which has to be added all the money spent on him from the 

 day of his purchase to the time he is really fit for work. A 

 horse bought for forty pounds, which has to be looked after 

 and fed for a year at a remount depot, before being sent to his 

 regiment, will really cost eighty pounds up to the day he takes 

 his place in the ranks. 



I have not the presumption to discuss financial and military 

 questions, which are entirely beyond my province. I reason 

 only as a horseman. I say with respect to remounts, that we 

 should consider their necessary qualifications and net cost at 

 the same time. If I occupied myself with their qualifications 

 without touching on the subject of price, my theory might 

 appear useless, but I have the one firm ambition to give only 

 practical advice. 



We all know how horses are bought for the army. Remount 



only desirable ones in an army horse. The thorough-bred will perhaps stand 

 fatigue better than any other. In a charge he has marvellous and incomparable 

 dash ; but how will he bear all the privations and miseries of a campaign ? 



In the Crimea, the English lost the majority of their thorough-breds, but the 

 Normans, Percherons, Bretons and Auvergnans held out admirably. The war 

 horse ought to remain serviceable under conditions of hunger, cold, rain, snow 

 and nights without shelter or covering. I do not think that the thorough-bred is 

 capable of this form of endurance. 



A breed which has not been hardened may yield capital horses for ordinary work, 

 but they will not be hardy and enduring enough for warfare. 



To make use of a thoroughbred, one must know more than ordinary cavalry 

 men do about riding. 



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