CAKE OE THE TROOP HORSE. 
599 
remember this and treat him accordingly, and he will repay all the care 
when he matures. 
How often have we seen orderlies needlessly galloping young horses 
through ploughed fields and down macadamised roads, also sitting on 
their horses' backs for an hour at a time, when they might dismount, 
and possibly feed; this all comes from the want of teaching, and is 
entirely the fault of the officers. 
Again, it should be borne in mind that horses, when not in regular Condition, 
work, soon get soft and out of condition, and their muscles and sinews 
relax. When in this state a sudden strain or rapid and long work 
quickly lame them. Horses that are fit and hard from regular, long 
and constant exercise, but rarely go lame or break down; thus, before 
going on manoeuvres, on the march, or into strong work, horses should 
gradually be brought into hard condition. In India, after the long hot 
and wet season, it takes some time to recondition horses, so it does 
hunters at home, after a summer's rest. At home, during the winter 
months also, horses get a little soft, though now-a-days, what with short 
service and drafts for India, the troop horse in England gets but little 
change in his work, summer or winter (we work at high pressure in 
these times), at least in regiments and batteries commanded by men 
who wish to keep up to the mark. 
A regimental football team would never think of entering for a cup, 
without long and constant training to get hard and supple, to strengthen 
the sinews and muscles and clear the wind; the same holds good with 
race-horses, and so it does, or should, with troop horses. 
Short, quick work will not put on condition, but it may likely lame 
many horses. 
It is the long, slow trotting and walking, some three to four hours a 
day, that hardens the sinews and puts on muscle, and this is the only 
real way to condition horses; when in hard working condition, horses 
will appear lighter than they really are, from the muscle standing out 
on the quarters and thighs, and from their stomachs running up a 
little; bad judges, and there are very many, will probably say your 
horses are looking too light, never heed them, but, remember the 
great art is to get them big and fit, long slow work will achieve this. 
Above all, never start on a long march or manoeuvres with soft, fat 
horses, otherwise you will soon have them poor and thin and bitterly 
regret it. 
How often have many of us seen a battery coming into a station, 
after a month's march, with a lot of horses looking like rails tied up 
with bits of numnah and sheepskin. 
Horse Artillery and cavalry horses should be able, when at work, to 
move five or six miles at a fast pace, and then gallop half-a-mile at the 
end without any great distress, this cannot be done without long and 
: careful training, it might certainly be done on one day, but the result 
would be disastrous, and probably the horses would feel the effects for 
some days and there would be casualties. 
On the treatment in the stables depends the condition of the horses : Treatment 
careful watering and feeding, with regular and good grooming. stable. 
A horse’s natural food is grass; all dry grains, such as oats, 
