159 
SYNOPTICAL OBSERVATIONS ON INJURIES, 
ETC., OCCURRING AMONGST ARMY HORSES. 
By “ Hippogriff," Royal Horse Artillery, India. 
(Continued from p. 75.) 
Three years ago we were marching in medical charge of 
the horses of a cavalry regiment ; each had a native groom 
who rode his charge march after march without a saddle (the 
saddles and other horse appointments had been sold when 
the regiment left for England), for which he substituted a 
folded blanket, part of the horse's clothing. After a while 
it was found necessary to cause every horse to be dismounted 
on account of the prevalence of contused and tender backs, 
resulting from this style of riding. It is a well-known fact 
that sore backs invariably follow where horses have been 
ridden either barebacked or with the blanket. Eor the rest 
of the march the horses that would be led were led, and the 
mischief was soon remedied. 
When cholera drove every regiment out of the station, 
we were encamped on an arid and sandy plain, which was in- 
tersected by the dry bed of a deep and wide watercourse. The 
horses had to cross this bed, which was composed principally 
of large loose boulders to the depth of one foot or more, 
three times a day for water and once for parade purposes 
with or without the guns. During the two months we were 
at this place a great number of shoes were bent, broken 
and wrenched off. As the ground could not be easily 
altered for the better, we were compelled to increase the 
number of nails, and prevent, as far as practicable, the 
reapplication of shoes; and as it just occurs to us, we may 
mention, that 90 per cent, of horses wear their shoes two 
months, and many as long as three months, of course, with 
monthly removes. Knowing this, we have endeavoured to 
get the shoes made lighter in the first instance — we need not 
say whether we succeed in a trifling matter like this, or 
whether we do not, “ units" are not so powerful as “ tens" — 
for our opinion is that horses travel with much more ease and 
comfort to themselves, and safety to their riders, when they 
wear shoes that are only just strong enough to prevent their 
bending and to protect the crust of the hoof, that is, pre- 
suming the feet are not mutilated or diseased. When insti- 
tuting some experiments on “ shoeing," we had one horse 
shod with a pair of fore shoes that weighed, with the nails > 
