126 
OUR' WORKING- HORSES. 
not have seen. Their chief complaints are lung disease among the 
young horses, and bowel complaint amongst the older ones. I am 
convinced however of one thing, namely, that a considerable proportion 
of our lameness in and out of the stable is due to insufficient exercise, 
rather than too much work. 
One thing one cannot help noticing going round these stables, and 
that is the quite marked difference between the condition of horses 
in various stables of the same yard, horses of exactly the same stamp, 
kept under precisely similar circumstances as regards housing, feeding 
and work. One man would have his twelve horses looking pounds 
better than his next door neighbour. However zealous the foreman, 
in a stud of over 100 horses much has to be left to the individuality of 
the horse-keeper, and anyone interested in horses could almost sort 
these men according to their merits by going round the various stables. 
A fair level of health and usefulness can be attained by following a 
rule of thumb, by obeying, in our case, the rules on stable manage¬ 
ment given in the Queen's Regulations, but to get the most out of our 
horses, more than this is required. It is necessary for all concerned, 
from the Major of the battery down to the team driver to closely 
observe every small point which bears on the comfort and well-being 
of their charges, and to study as far as possible their individual 
characteristics, especially in the case of the better bred and more 
highly strung animals. With some men this is a gift, but it can be 
acquired by all of us, if we are really fond of “ the noble animal." 
There is nothing that makes a young officer take an interest in these 
things so much as the possession and care of a horse of his own, and 
for this reason, if for no other, I am convinced that it will be a bad 
day for the mounted branches of our service, if the young officers are 
not encouraged in every possible way to go in for those sports which 
induce them to keep up a stable, however modest. I know there are 
some people who think that this subject, that of stable management, 
is beneath the notice of educated minds. I hope our young fellows 
will never be taught to think so, and if I may venture to offer advice, 
I would urge them to lose no opportunity of getting instruction in 
this most fascinating subject. If a man gets keen on it the midday 
stable hour, instead of being an hour of drudgery with intervals of 
coffee-housing, will become an unfailing source of interest ana he will 
find if he keeps his eyes open that he is daily learning something new, 
to the great advantage of his horses and himself. Whatever other 
claims we Artillerymen have on our time, and in these days they are 
great and increasing, I hope we shall never go back in our attention 
and zeal for our horses, or we shall throw away a quality of almost 
equal importance to good shooting, a quality in which I believe we 
have always been pre-eminent, the mobility of our batteries. 
