August, 1906 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



99 



Training the Cavalry of the United States 



By Benjamin Winslow 



ONTRARY to popular belief the United 

 States regular army is an organization of 

 hard-working men. Although the term "sol- 

 diering" has come to mean the act of loaf- 

 ing, real soldiering has an entirely different 

 meaning for the real soldier. Army routine, 

 with its rigid disciplinary rules, does not afford the soldier 

 much chance to "soldier." Especially is this true of the 

 cavalry branch of the army, which might be called an organ- 

 ization of the hardest working hard-worked men. Still the 

 American cavalryman has his recreation and his sport. In 

 his sport, which consists principally of feats of horsemanship, 

 he has no equal on earth. 



At each cavalry post frequent exhibitions are given which 

 show, by the daring feats performed by the cavalrymen, the 



result of the careful training given the men and their horses. 

 The training begins with the horses. To become a cavalry 

 horse the animal must be a male, sound, kind, of good con- 

 formation, not too large, without vicious traits and not a 

 thoroughbred. This last requirement is important, for it 

 has been found that a thoroughbred is too sensitive and not 

 quick to learn his duties. The horses are purchased through 

 a board of expert officers, and come principally from Ken- 

 tucky or Tennessee stock. Usually they are sent to a depot 

 maintained by the government ajid thence to a cavalry post. 

 They are sometimes transported directly from the place where 

 they are purchased to the nearest post. At the post his train- 

 ing begins in a fenced ring, called the "schute." Here he is 

 taught the three cavalry gaits — walk, trot and gallop. The 

 teaching of these is often quite difficult, for the animal usually 





As the Two Horses Take the Hurdle the Trooper Leaps from the 



Ground Over the Back of One Horse and Upon 



the Back of the Other 



The Three Men Seated on their Respective Horses are Safe Enough, 



But the Man Carried on the Shoulders of His Two Standing 



Comrades is Dependent Upon Them for His Security 



