THE ARMY HORSE. 215 



officers go to the different breeding centres, examine the horses 

 from three to four years old, and make purchases. These 

 visits are necessarily foreseen. Dealers of all nationalities, 

 and especially foreigners, take the precaution to come prior 

 to the arrival of the remount officers, and buy the best they 

 can find, which is easy for them, because they give a better 

 price. The remount people choose the best of what is left. 

 These horses, which are considered too young for any work, 

 are sent to the remount depots, where they are kept until 

 they are five years old. Sometimes they are put out to grass 

 with farmers at a moderate cost. 



I set aside all details to arrive at the principal point, 

 namely, the age at which remounts should be bought ; taking 

 for granted that they are not fit for work until five years old.* 

 Only at that age they are begun to be exercised and are put 

 to more or less appropriate regular work, in other words, they 

 are broken in. This system is a tradition and a principle ; 

 but at the risk of running against all accepted ideas, I say 

 that the tradition is an error, the principle false and the 

 system bad. 



It is a loss of precious time to keep a horse until he is five 

 years old before exercising, breaking and training him for 

 military purposes. Besides, this delay doubles his first cost 

 and deteriorates his physical organs, which suffer atrophy, on 

 account of insufficient feeding and work. 



At three years and a half, a well-shaped horsef which has 



* Technically, the horses are five years old, because they take their age from 

 the first of January ; but really they are only four years and nine months, 

 because they are born in the spring. They go to their regiments in the first 

 half of the October of their fourth year, and are then four years and six months old. 



They are put in the squadron of the depot to have the rough edge taken off 

 them, and are accustomed to the stable, saddle, weight of a man, and external 

 objects. In the first half of January, that is to say, when they are four years 

 and nine months old, they are sent to their respective regiments, and their 

 breaking commences. 



f I mean a French horse, from whatever part he may come. 



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