598 
CARE OP THE TROOP HORSE. 
Treatment 
on the Field. 
absolutely no clue as to whether he is likely to be of much use; but 
if I find one that can shoe a horse as well as ride one, that can ad¬ 
minister an enema, and mix a colic drink, I at once come to the 
conclusion that I have got a useful man. 
I write of course taking into consideration that both the boys have 
been properly selected as fit for the R.H.A., which should mean that 
they possess all the best qualities a soldier can have. 
Again, recruits on joining are taught to ride mechanically and, as a 
rule, to regard their horses as machines, which are steered and guided by 
aids and pressure of the legs and hands. They go through the regular 
course which has varied but little since I joined, the rough-riders 
make exactly the same remarks and the same old jokes, and the men 
are passed into the ranks as trained horsemen, knowing nothing what¬ 
ever of the treatment or care of their mounts, for the reason that 
the rough-riders, from want of teaching, know but little about it them¬ 
selves, and what they do know they are not as a rule called on or 
expected to impart to recruits. 
If Commanding Officers would lecture to the officers, N.-C.O/s, and 
all ranks at times on the horse, his points, his weaknesses, and how 
to treat him, I feel certain, and I speak from the experience of a 
Commanding Officer who has done so for some years, that both on 
service and on manoeuvres, as well as in barracks, the horse would be 
much fitter, and that there would be fifty per cent, less small casualties 
when in the field or on the march. 
I have always found all ranks take the greatest interest in such 
lectures, and I have noticed wonderful results almost at once in the 
stable management of the men. 
I would have rough-riders so taught to vary their harangues on 
positions and aids, with a few simple hints on the care and management 
of horses, both in and out of. stables ; such as the points of the horse, the 
symptoms of sickness and lameness. The men will pick these things 
up very rapidly, and act on them. I have tried it with my own rough- 
riders for many years. 
It is, I believe, and regret to say notorious that English soldiers are 
the worst horsemasters on service among European troops; this was, I 
am informed, most noticeable, both in the Peninsular and Crimean 
Campaigns. We, Englishmen, pride ourselves on our riding, so, surely, 
we should also pride ourselves on the care of, and turn out of our horses. 
I would, in the first place, most strongly impress on all ranks, to try 
and treat your horses almost as you would treat yourselves, both as 
regards work and feeding. 
Your horses are like boys, they have delicate stomachs, soft bones, 
and flabby sinews ; a horse is not matured until six or seven years old. 
Now boys cannot stand the same amount of work as matured men, 
neither can a four-year-old work like an old horse, yet, how few soldiers 
realize this when mounted on four, or even five-year-olds. 
I would urge on all to spare young horses in every way, take the 
weight off their backs whenever you can by dismounting, and never 
gallop over hard or through deep ground if possible. A few hard days 
on a young and immatured horse may ruin his constitution for ever; 
