Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-08-06


| Officers Who Visit 1t.
Gen. Felix Arnus in the Rider and Driver
| The war horse does not exist on this CONT
nent. The real cavalry or artillery horse is not
known in America. Those of my readers who
have been abroad and who have attended the
grand maneuver Of the German or French army
will understand what mean. When they saw
the long lines of superb animals. uniform in
height and general size. and as obedient to the
commands the soldiers themselves and con-
trasted them with the irregular and unrespon-
sive horses of our own cavalry. they appre-
ciated the difference between real breeding for
definite service and an aggregation of raw
material picked out of all sorts of breeds
1t is easy to explain the reasons OF Europe's
superiority. The larger countries make this
superiority a business. In the military districts
of Prussia. France and Austria there are sus-
tanned AT the governments expense extensive
| studs. Every stallion has to pass through a
/ severe veterinary inspection. Everything is
! done to keep up the standards OF course the
cost is heavy. and vet some of the studs, of
/ which there are thousands in Europe, are a
large source Of income. The stations are
| rented TO the farmers and breeders, to be used
| only on approved mares and no horse il bought
/ by the government officials except they come
| from such a. have been bred to the govern
breeder wishes his animal to be marketable at
the best prices he seeks the register of the dis
| trict official. Ii thus happens that the stand
ards are more than maintained and that the re-
suits are admirable in every way. The best Of
| care is taken with the colts. They have warm
stables and are fed on good grain and hay. OF
course they grow to be fine animals.
Here IN America we have not learned these
lessons. For the many breeding farms that have
/ been started 1 have nothing but the warmest
/ II shasr
the country! But they represent only small
| fraction of the horse owners of the United
States, and it il this great. careless. short
| sighted majority that / refer to when saw that
| they have yet to treat the horse with decent
respect for his present condition or with fair
intelligence for his development. While this
country has outstripped all achievements in
civilization II has, in its horses. neglected the
| first principles that combine the best qualities
of animals and produce a breed of higher and
| better class The rats that are hitched TO
many Of your carriages and landaus. strapped
by the neck and cruppered TO death TO make
them look au fait, tell sad story. The Ameri-
can needs more care both in the raising and the
feeding of his horses.
But as to that peculiar and varying animal
the American cavalry horse, His origin is not
mystery. man goes west and buys a ranch.
! He sets loose some passably bred stud with a
bunch of mares. They are left out Of doors.
In the winter they are half starved and in sum-
they simply grow. and when they four or
five years old they are driven to Kansas City.
| st. Joseph, st. Louis or Chicago. They are
thin, gawky, awkward and wild. The quarter
master general gets his pick at from Sl25 to
| $50 each From these places those selected
are distributed. according to requisition. to the
| different regiments. The best of them are
sent to West Point. They vary in size from
| 141a to 16l5 hands high and in weight from
$50 to 800 pounds. 1t requires no imagina-
IN
of such a variety when drawn up in line Of
battle, especially when il is known that all sorts
OF color from gray to deep black are repre-
scented.
As member of the board Of visitors to the
United States Military Academy, in June, had
full opportunity to see the American cavalry
horse at his best, and, to tell the truth.
| the American cavalry horse at his best
is bad. But at West Point he is
worse than he ought to be. For some in
| scrutable reason this great government COM
pels the horses to be used both for light battery
and cavalry drills You would Just as well use
your fox hunter to haul dray when he is not
otherwise engaged. 1t would be as sensible toput
your racer to q pillow q matter of economy.
OF course. you would lose his value as a racer
and you wouldn't gain good pillow horse, but
you would be "economizing." Every board
of visitors for years has denounced the
folly of this system at West Point, but their
opinions have done no good. The horses still
| -
world to the ridicule Of every foreign officer
| who visits il.
At best, the average American horse cannot
be developed into q first-class cavalry horse.
If he is compelled to pull a gun carriage in his
of hours, he cannot be developed into fourth
class cavalry horse. As far as horses con-
cerned, the artillery and cavalry are entirely
different and distinct services. At the artillery
he Is called upon to pull from the shoulder, and
you can never make good saddle horse of an
animal that has that sort of work to do. The
double service units the horse for both services
The cavalry horse needs to be sensitive
mouthed and responsive immediately to the
rein and bit. He must understand the calls
and must become 30 intelligently trained - 10
be ~ quick and as eager the man who rides
him. No horse that spends q part Of his time
| in harness can do thia.
What our cavalry needs d q higher grade Of
horses and new system which will not call
upon them for any service except that which
properly belongs 10 them- Until We get thst
We shall NOS DO able TO point with pride 10 the