Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1890-02-11
CAVALRY TACTICS.
How Horses Are Trained To Lie Down a
the HuRlo Gail


airy, stationed at Fort Mcintosh, Tex, has,
according to the st. Louis Globe Democrat
correspondent, won 90 much praise for its
unique exhibitions Of drill, in which the
norses seem as much interested As the men,
that 1t Is frequently referred TO as the "fa-
nous circus troop Of cavalry" It goes
through what IL sometimes called the
mounted infantry drill" with great precis-
ION and invariably attracts quite exception
al notice. Three score sleek sorrel horses
display an amount Of equine intelligence
that is at first almost bewildering, obeyinR
the bugle calls with the promptness and &C
curacy OF old soldiers. The work Of tram
ing commenced about the middle of Novem-
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 surcingles
ana watering brides only, each trooper be-
ing provided with two leather straps, one
about two feet and the other about ten feet
long. At a given signal each man led his
horse to short distance from tue others
and fastened the long strap to the horses
right fore leg, just above the hoof, and car
ried the end Of the strap under the sur
clnRle and over the horses back, so that the
end trailed on the ground of the horses
lett side. He then fastened the short strap
TO the horses left fore leg, Just above the
hoof, then raising this hoof the strap was
carried over the leg Of the horse, above the
knee and firmly buckled, thus leaving the
astonished animal standing on three leRs
and wondering what on earth his rider
meant. At the next signal the trooper
seized the bride of the animal In his left
hand and grasping the long strap close to
the horses back commenced to pull upon
this strap, at the same time pressing against
the left side Of the animal with his right
shoulder. The result of this artiflce was in
all cases, except with the most vicious
horses (of which there were not q few, to
bring them down with both knees on the
ground, as the strap pulled up the right
hoof with a jerk
A firm and sustained pressure with the
shoulder then brought the horse over SO
that he lay at full length on his right side,
whereupon, after quieting him both by the
voice and by stroklng him, a carbine was
held in front of HIM, rubbed against him
and held 80 that he could smell it, and then
discharged With the majority Of the
horses this, OF course, produced an amount
OF terror and tugging and snorting,
that, like the scene between the
parrot and the monkey, can be more
easily imagined than described. This
was repeated during each drill until horse
and man were fatigued. In week at least
ten horses would lie down at the bugle-call
without straps by simply patting the 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 q
dozen which had apparently como to the
In ali hot
duce them to submit to the indignity Of
lying down at full length in the dust
With these animals force was used, 1t is
true, but it was done in such 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.
1t may be said, en- passant, that the trooper
In certain c,Lses found out this fact only Mt
this drill With these high-strung and
sometimes vicious horses four men were
necessary, using two long straps to throw
them, and these were necessarily aided by
the lash Of the troop commander. In SIX
weeks the horses would allie down, without
straps, at the sound of the bugle, with the
exception Of possibly six or seven, with
which straps were necessary, and one or
two which still required the heroic treat
ment While lying down single shots and
over the horses as rests. Two or three Of
.he most stubborn brutes were conquered
oy sheer patience and perseverance. One
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 put
the collar on the cats neck. But no volun-
teers appeared to put the collar on the cat.
To accomplish the strapping strategy was
used, and for long time without success
The strap was laid in moose on the ground
and the horse was led artfully so that one
of his fore feet would be in the moose, then
with quick jerk an attempt was made to
catch his hoof, but the imp was too quick
and would n 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.
His hind feet few out, and continued to fly
out, with a velocity and power that were
wonderful and in the highest degree exhil-
arating. 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 OF and
landed probably somewhere across the
river in Mexico. Kind measures were
used, however, long time, and the imp
was finally apparently quieted and allowed
to rise.
After q 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-
umphed. In half hour he lay quite still,
and submitted to patting on every part Of
his body, including his feet. In ten days he
was gentle as any horse in the troop BY
the last Of January, 1888, every horsein the
command would lie down at 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 a perfect confidence in his own abil-
ity to ride and manage the former, and
the former, while feeling that the rider was
his master, was not cowed by cruelty or
hx,,taIftu