The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1883-05-23
rhe Cavalryman and Els Horse

tLieut. Robertson, in the United Seryice.l
A horse is assigned to troop. Nothing is
known of him except that he has been rid
den, and appeared sound to the purchase
board when bought. He is assigned to a
trooper, possibly recruit To this man has
been issued bride. 1t may have No. /,
or No. q or, for all that he generally
knows, No 10 bit. 1t don't matter; in it
goes without reference to the size of the ami
mails mouth, perhaps without even adjust
ing the check-pieee so as to place il at the
proper height in the mouth, few men know
this height anyhowa he leads the poor brute
with its checks pinehed. or possibly its
tongue nearly cut in two by narrow part,
out to drill Is 1t any wonder that the horse
becomes unmanageable, or that he IS known
in week or so as The champion bucker, of
the tfoop2 The man fingers on, dreading
every shoots and saddles" as call from the
lower regions themselves, bound to crea-
ture which he can neither ride nor manage,
until finally the poor animal goes the way Of
nearly all such horsetesh, aud is condemned
for his Immature or some curb or SPAWN
which the torture inflicted on him had pro-
duced. The result, of course, is brought on
in many eases by some other species of ig-
A0AdAiNS Au<tll mat AisptdNtu III DaI nlIttlN,
but the illustration chosen represents many
actual cases, and shows the necessity OF
know ledge on some points. The non-com-
mssioned officers who are the drill-masters
of recruits have learned In the same school
as the latter, and consequently know
nothing more than they, except the few
things thai longer experience-not instruc-
tion--in the service has taught them. Were
there skillful horsemen among the officers Of
OIL xxst.s ..,A Al
oughly this portion OF their profession, aud
who made il their business to see that the
men under them were intelligently taught
how to handle their horses and become good
riders themselves, then, Indeed, and not till
then, would we be, in the true sense of the
word, cayalrymen. Foreign nations consid-
er the smallest details of all this instruction
as necessary for the education Of both off
GERS and men. In the French school Of cav
airy at Saunur, where the writer had the
privilege OF spending nearly a year, he has
seen class of officers kept for days in reei-
tation upon the single subject just referred
to-hitting; aud be has seen the same class
stand TO horse for nearly three-quarters
OF an hour in the riding-hall until every bit,
euro, and strap about their horses heads
was placed TO the instructors satisfaction.
Any Bit that did not fit, whose mouth-piece
was too narrow or too thick or the reverse,
or whose bars we're too powerful tor par
ticularly tender mouth, or which had some
other defect discernible only 10 his practiced
eye, was either exchanged for another or
turned over TO the armorer for alteration
The idea of fitting bits, saddles, or other
gear ind'scriminate'y 10 their animals would
De TO them pfeposterous. They may appear
az n-st glance oyerscrnpnlous in their atten-
ton to these things, but the result iustliies
them, for theis horses are magnihceutly
dressed aid their mouths, In most in
stances, simply perfect The animals thus
trained were no more doeile than our own
usually are on entering the service, yet their
education for the ranks by the employment
Of these careful and judicious methods was
in most cases fully completed in two OF
three months.