7 2 OBSERVATIONS ON INJURIES* ETC.* AMONG ARMY HORSES. 
sometimes they are only partially unfiitched* and there the 
poor animal may stand for hours* almost unable to reach his 
feed* excepting out of a nose bag. 
It is quite painful to look down a line of horses when they 
are feeding out of earthen vessels set in the walls in front of 
them. They are compelled to extend themselves to the 
utmost* often standing on their hind toes* or with one hind- 
leg elevated. Where there are no stables* our troop horses 
are exposed to the intense heat of the sun* without a chance 
of altering their positions ; those standing with their heads 
to the sun must remain so. We have seen their skins blis- 
tered by such exposure. 
Heel-ropes* as experience has proved* can be dispensed 
with to a great extent* especially if the regulated interval 
between horses be sacrificed* and a little more room allowed. 
Inveterate kickers, and animals otherwise vicious* may be 
considered exceptional cases* and be secured by heel-ropes* as 
is the case in a battery we had under our charge. Amongst 
its 110 horses* injuries of every description were fewer than 
amongst the same number in four other batteries. There 
was not a single case of fracture in two years from kicks, 
but in the other cases there were. Almost all the troop 
horses are geldings at the present time. In former days this 
was not so* and heel-ropes were indispensable. 
Horses never stand in their places as we would fix them ; 
they dispose themselves with regard to their own comfort. 
It is bad enough to be tied by the head from morning to 
night and from night till morning* but it is worse to have 
the legs tied down as well. The limited space of our horse 
infirmaries ‘compels us to countenance the practice we are 
decrying. The infirmary at this station will shelter nineteen 
horses. There are only four boxes* of all shapes and sizes* 
which are quite inadequate for the comfort of the sick and 
lame out of 466 troopers* the complement of two batteries 
of horse and one of field artillery, exclusive of head-quarters** 
staff* and other horses. We have found heel-ropes of service 
in affording the operator a certain amount of protection. 
When horses are secured by one or both heels* they acquire 
the habit of kicking upwards with the hind quarters for the 
purpose of liberating themselves by drawing the peg. A 
succession of arrestations in this movement and jerks down- 
wards has produced injuries of various descriptions* particu- 
larly to the legs. If a horse succeeds in drawing the hind 
peg, he will sometimes rein back and draw the head-rope peg, 
and break away with all these ropes or chains and pegs flying 
about his body and legs. Should he escape a fall* he is 
