MARCHING AT HOME AND ABROAD. 569 
parade, or when clear of the town, a halt should be made to tighten 
up girths, and look round; horses invariably empty themselves at first 
when coming out of stables; also when their backs are cold, will not 
allow themselves to be properly girthed; again, some of the men may 
have been late and hurried, and their kits and gear a bit askew in 
consequence ; but remember on girthing up not to over girth, a tight 
girth is as bad for a horse or a deal worse than a loose one; I have 
seen horses swell up terribly from overtight girthing, and it takes 
days sometimes for the swelling to go down. 
A cavalry regiment or battery R.H.A. should travel at the rate of 5 Pace. 
miles an hour including halts; a field battery about 4milesan hour. ‘To 
manage this you will have to shove along, and not waste much time ; 
a twenty minutes halt to water and lunch; and a five minutes halt 
every hour is all that is wanted on an ordinary march. For the first 
two days the pace should be a bit slow, about 4 miles an hour, the 
horses must be accustomed gradually to the work, on a long march 
about half way before the mid-day halt, I recommend a long trot of 3 
to 5 miles at a stretch, and a little longer halt, say half-an-hour to 35 
minutes, every advantage should be taken of the road and the state 
that it is in. ‘To avoid dust, and crowding and checking in rear, 
sections and squadrons should march independently with an interval 
of two or three hundred yards, nothing distresses horses more than an 
uneven pace, which is hard to avoid when in rear of a long column. 
When guns are halted for watering or feeding for any length of Watering. 
time, put on the drag-shoes, it prevents accidents. I once knew of a 
case where three teams got away, and some horses were badly injured ; 
this was not in my own battery. Do not let the horses drink too 
much, a few goes down, and a wash out of the nostrils is all they 
should get. 
If the march be over 20 miles I recommend a half feed being carried Feeding. 
and given on the road, but if under that distance this is not necessary ; 
far better for the horses to eat it in the stables where there is less 
waste. 
On arriving at the place appointed for parade or gun-park, usually Billets. 
the market place, the Nos. 1 or sergeants should distribute the billet 
papers to the men, and direct them as far as possible to where they 
have to go; the men when broken off will file away at a walk. The 
guard should mount at once, a guard-room having been rented close 
to the gun-park or parade. In a battery, the Wheeler should with the 
limber-gunners see that the guns and carriages are all lined and 
dressed immediately, you cannot be too particular about this being 
well done, the limber-gunners should take all kits off, and file off to 
their billets, returning after dinner to wash the guns. The Wheeler 
will be in charge of the gun-park, and should look to all wheels and 
fittings daily. The time of arrival is generally between 12 and 2 p.m., the 
officers having given orders to the sergeants or Nos. 1 where, and at 
what time to meet them, will go to the hotel where they are billeted, 
and the Sergeant-Major and Pay-Sergeant having received orders as to 
what time the C.O. will go round billets, can do the same. The officers 
should start round their billets about two hours or so after marching 
