PURCHASE OF HORSES FOR THE ARMY IN INDIA. 545 
“ No man has had more experience, or understands the subject better ; 
and it is most fortunate he was selected for the duty. 
“I stated in my second memorandum that the points of excellence in a 
Cape horse were not those always laid down in books. I did not mean that 
they were wanting in those; but it would have conveyed my meaning bet- 
ter, if I had said that a Cape horse is better than he looks, and that he 
ought not to be judged of by his appearance always, or by books, for very 
many in their endurance would far excel what might be expected from their 
appearance only. 
“ The horses which had hitherto been taken from the colony to India by 
private persons for their use were, I may say, entirely stallions. These 
are in general use in and about Cape Town, as saddle and carriage 
horses. 
“ The officers of the India Service, who used to resort to the Cape in 
large numbers, were the best and chief customers for the handsomest of 
these stallions, and many were taken on to India. 
“ The sleekness of coat, the roundness of shape, the fine appearance, the 
docility and high courage of these stallions, make them very attractive 
to the eye, compared with the rougher coat (particularly in winter), the shy- 
ness and general ruggedness of the geldings, which, although as well bred, 
have not the show 7 and appearance of the stallions. Hence, the gelding was 
a despised and rejected animal among those who looked only to appear- 
ance. 
“ But the rearing and education of the two should be considered, and it 
will, I think, be found that what the gelding loses in appearance he makes 
up for in other excellent qualities, owing to the difference of his early 
rearing and training. 
“ The most promising colts are generally kept as stallions. At two years 
old they are stabled, and never more run loose; they are often insuffi- 
ciently fed while growing, and seldom regularly exercised at the farm- 
houses — merely taken out to water ; hence their muscles are not fully deve- 
loped, nor does their bone increase as it should do, and hence their 
lightness of bone below the knee. 
“ The stallions are round-barreled, and very plump and full about the 
quarters, but they are deficient in depth of chest and ribs — they are low in 
the withers, and when fat, apt to be too heavy in the fore-hand to be 
pleasant, and light in hand as riding horses; but as draught-horses, none 
can surpass, if equal, them. Altogether, the stallion is a handsome and fine 
animal; but he would be far superior to what he is if reared as the geld- 
ings are. 
“ The geldings run in the field all day, breathing the purest and driest 
air, only stabled perhaps at night, if kept for work — their bone and muscle 
increasing and developing as they grow, and they are exposed to all weathers 
and extremes of heat and cold ; consequently, they are extremely hardy, 
and well adapted for service in the army. A stallion is more of a gentle- 
man, and has been accustomed to better treatment, and the fineness of his 
coat makes him feel exposure at night. 
“ The shape of the gelding is better than that of the stallion ; he is deeper 
in the chest, and in the ribs ; broader in the hips, although often ragged ; 
lighter and deeper in the shoulder, and often not so straight ; and he has 
more bone and muscle in his legs, and stronger in the fetlocks and pasterns. 
He is lean, and often wry-necked, which, for endurance, the farmers con- 
sider a symptom or proof of. If well bred, his head is good, and his eye 
and ears game, and intelligent. Although not so showy and handsome as a 
stallion, he will, from his rearing, be found a hardier and more useful animal, 
and of greater strength and substance for the same height. 
