The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1890-04-18
CAVALRY TACTICS.
How Horses Arc Trained to Lilo Down NJ
the DuRlo Call.

i How Horses Aro Trained to Lilo Down NJ
the lluglo Call.
i Troop II, of tho Third United States Cav
airy, stationed ut Fort Mcintosh, Tex, has,
according to the st. Louis Globe Democrat
correspondent, won 80 much praise for its
/ unique exhibitions of drill, in which the
horses seem rs much interested as the men,
that it is frequently referred to as the .fa-
nous circus troop of cavalry." It goes
through what is sometimes called the
amounted infantry drill'' with great precis-
ion and invariably attracts quite exception
al notice. Thrco score sleek sorrel horses
display an amount of equine Intelligence
that is at first almost bewiilcrfng, obey ing
tho bugle calls with the promptncss aud &C.
! curacy of old soldiers. The work of tram
ing commenced about the middle of Novcm-
Der, 1887, the drills being for four hours
daily, two in the morning and two in the
afternoon.
The modus operandi was as follows: The
horses all appeared fitted with surcin ..es
and watering brides only, each trooper be-
ing provided with two leather straps, ono
about two feet and the other about ten foot
long. AT q given signal each man led his
morse TO q short distance from tue others
and fastened the long strap to the horsc's
right fore leg, just above the llcof, aud car
cingle and over the horsc's back, so that the
end traiicd Oh the ground of tho hurse's
left side. He then fastened the short strap
10 the horses LEFT fore leg, just above the
hoof, then raising this !ioof tho strap WIS
earned over lie lcs, of the horse. above the
Knee a'id firmly l,uk.ed, thus leaving tho
astomisi!ed a::i,nal standing on three legs
and wondering what on c;,rth his rider
meant. ct th. hex. signal tho troorcr
seized HE bride of the animal IN his left
ha'i.t aid ..::pins. the long strap close to
'ne ho:sr' $ hi''.l commenced to pull upon
'iils s'ra3; ;.:tae same time pressing against
Tie lett sie:c of tho animal with his right
shcr!'lcr Tie resutof this artificc was in
ai cases, except with the most vicious
horses (of Which there We're not u fcw), to
bring te.n down with both knees on tho
ground, as the strap pulled up the right
hoof witlii jerk.
"A firm and sustained pressure with the
shoulder then brought the horse over 30
that lie li,yai fall length on his right side,
whereulmn, after quoting him both by the
vuitc and By stro!i:ng him, n car!,inc was
he'd i'll front of Inn, rubbed against him
;;ii' held so tia. lie could smell il, and then
discharged. With the minority of the
horses this, OF course, produced an amount
OF terror and tugging and snorting,
that, like tho scene between the
parrot and the monkey, can be moro
easily imagined than described. This
was repeated during each drill until horse
and man were fatigucd. In 81 week at least
ten horses would lie down at the buyle-rull
without straps by simply pat,ing tho hoof
with the hand and telling them what was
wanted. The real work of perseverance,
and patience lay with the remaining less
brilliant horses. There were at least a
dozen which had apparently como to tho
iirm conclusion that nothing would ever in
duce them to submit to tho indignity of
lying down at full length N the dust
With these animals force was used, it is
true, but it WAS done in such a way that the
horse WAS not terrified, but was made to
understand that his trooper was his
master, whom he must in all things obey
II may be said, cn passant, that the trooper
| III certain c;lscs found out this fact only at
this drill With these high-sttung and
sometimes vicious horses four men were
necessary, using two long straps to throw
them, and these were necessarily aided by
The lash OF t.e troop colli1anuer. In Sir
weeks the horses would all lie down, without
| straps, at tho sound of the buge with tho
exception of possibly six or seven, with
which straps We're necessary, aud one or
two which still required the heroic treat
incnt. While lying down single shots and
voicvs were discharged by the men firing
over the horses as rests. Two or three of
,iic most stubborn brutes were conquered
'N sheer patience and perseverance,. Ono
little sorrel bronco, in particular, was so
wild and vicious that his hind feet had
never been shod, nor had he ever been rid
den without serious accident. He was
literally "wild. woolly, and hard to curry.,,
The trouble with this imp in equine form
was putting the straps on him in the first
place. 1t was like the mice agreeing that
under the circumstances the best thing to
be done was to put bell on collar and nut
the collar on the cats neck But no yolun
teers appeared to putthe collar on the cat.
10 accomplish the strapping g strategy was
used, and for long time without success.
The strap WAS laid in Il moose on the ground
and the horse was led artfully SO that one
of his fore feet would be i'll the moose, then
with quick jerk an attempt was made to
catch his hoof, but the imp was too quick
and would IL YER walk into any such trap
again willingly. Six powerful men with
straps finally threw him one day and held
him down. Then his protests commenced.
| Ills hind feet flew out, aud continued to fly
out, with a velocity and power that were
wonderful and in the highest degree exhil-
arasing. And the writer AYERS solemnly
that if there had been any shoes on that
horses hind feet, no matter how tightly
nailed on, they would have flown off and
landed probably somewhere across the
river in Mexico. Kind measures were
used, however, q long time, and the INN
was finally apparently quieted and allowed
to rise.
After time an attempt was made to throw
him again, which was an exact duplicate of
the other. This time, after throwing him.
the lash was applied with singing cut to
his legs at every kick, and this finally tri-
Imphed In u half hour he lay quito still,
and submitted to pntting on every part of
ilis body, including his feet. In ten days he
was gentle as any horse in the troop. By
the last of January, 1SSS, every horsen the
command would lie down ut the bugle call.
allow firing over him in any position, and
arise at the call for rising. The best result
of the training was the establishment of
q complete understanding between the
horse and his rider, SO that the latter
had perfect confidence in. his own abil-
ity to ride and Manages the former, and
the former, while feeling that tho rider was
his master, was not cowed by cruelty or
brutality.
Wanted the Credit Of His Work.
An aspiring young man who had written
yards of verses for the paper published in
his native town at firstused his initials,
~. r. ." for signature. Later, however.
l,x, Or,;tte7 tho v,,;1l1o Latte. :.