968 VETEEINAEY HYGIENE 



Crimea, and the ' Death Eide ' at Mars-la-Tour, the per- 

 centage loss is known. The mean cavahy loss in horses at 

 Waterloo was 38 per cent., in the cavalry charges 54 per 

 cent.; at Balaclava 50 per cent., at Mars-la-Tour 51 per 

 cent. ; these three charges agree very closely in the number 

 lost under concentrated fire, though historically they lie so 

 far apart. 



In the field veterinary hospitals will be found a certain 

 number of cases of bullet wounds ; only those situated 

 deeply in the muscles of the quarters are likely to give 

 trouble. Many of the wounds received on the field kill 

 outright, or inflict such considerable injury that the animals 

 never leave the field, so that a veterinary hospital in war 

 contains a minimum number of injuries specially due to 

 fighting, and a maximum of those which are generally 

 regarded as preventable. 



Defective Shoeing has always been a serious source of in- 

 efficiency ; it is impossible to keep horses shod up on service 

 that are moving daily, and the system whereby farriers 

 and shoeing-smiths have to take their place in the ranks 

 as ordinary trained soldiers, and then set to work to shoe 

 at the first halt while the other men are resting, is not 

 a very helpful one to keep horses' feet in order. The 

 farriers and shoeing-smiths should move with the baggage, 

 and be kept as fresh as possible, so that on arrival in camp 

 they are moderately fit for work, for all marching is tiring. 

 Shoes lost while the regiment is on the move should be 

 replaced by the ' cold shoers,' of which there are a certain 

 number in each squadron. 



It seems a most extraordinary system to expect farriers 

 and shoeing-smiths to do their work in the ranks as 

 soldiers, and then set to work shoeing when they need rest. 

 The farrier is a valuable man in the care of horses' feet, 

 and should have his strength and energy conserved for 

 the work which awaits him at every halt. 



In every campaign the cry is for farriers, yet the system 

 we adopt is one which uses them up. It was the same in 

 the Peninsula, the farriers could not do the amount of 



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