The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-02-19
Uncle Sam Is a Very FaslldIous Pur.
chaser.

peculiarly 2QapCeu 10 Ine SERVICE.
1t has been the custom of the gov.
eminent to buy cavalry horses by con.
tract, but this method has been so I'm.
satisfactory and accompanied by SO
many perplexing difficulties, it is not
unlikely that the purchase will here.
after be made in tho open markets by
agents Of the government. A great
deal Of money has been lost by con-
tractors and their bondsmen on &C
count of the rigid requirements, and
the failure Of bidders to comply with
them. The government would adver-
tise for so many hundreds Of horses,
to be furnished in lots Of different
numbers, and award the contracts to
the lowest bidders. The contractors
would be compelled to give bonds foE
the faithful performance of the obli-
cations, and when the horses were ex-
amined they would be compelled to
pay the difference in cost between the
animals rejected and those bought in
their stead by the government 8 agents.
An idea of the rocky road travelled
by some Of those contractors, as well
az an illustration Of the rigid require
ments upon the part Of the cavalry
service, may be gathered from the fact
that in one consignment by a contrac-
tor in a certain State, only FIVE out Of
a total of 'eighty-nine head delivered
were accepted by the government
veterinary. Thisleft eighty-four head
of horses on the contractors hands,
and he or his bondsmen were COM
PEELED to put up the difference in the
cost between the rejected animals and
the ones bought to complete his con-
tract. Heretofore an average of one
horse in every fifteen inspected has
been accepted, but it is frequently the
case that thirty to forty animals are
passed by in succession. Government
officials on purchasing tours have
sometimes ridden all day through a
fairly populous region and found only
two acceptable animals.
The model cavalry horse is, in color,
either bay, s%orrel, black or gray !;
sound, we'll bred and Of superior class;
gentle under the saddle, free from
vicious habits, with free and prompt
action at the walk, trot and gallop /;
without blemish or defect ; Of a kind
disposition and with easy mouth and
gait. He must be a "gelding,"
(mares not taken under any circum-
s%tances) Of uniform and hardy color,
in good condition, from fifteen and
.one-fourth to sixteen hands high !;
weight not less than $50 nor more than
1,15O pounds from four to eight
years old head and ears small, fore
head broad, eyes large and prominent ;
vision %perfectin every respect; should
ers long and sloping well back; chest
full, broad and deep ; forelegs straight
and standing well under "barrel'
large and increasing from girth toward
flank withers elevated back short
and straight loins and launches
broad and muscular hooks well bent
and under the horse pasterns slant
ing, and feet small and sound. A
horse under FIVE years ole will not be
purchased unless he is an especially
fine animal, well developed. Each
horse is subjected to a rigid -e1amina-
ton, and any animal that does not
meet the requirements in every respect
will not be bought. So it can be seen
that a horse which meets the cavalry
mans fastidious taste must, indeed,
be q model of equine excellence.
Much stress is placed upon the %intelli-
gence manifested by the candidate.
both in expression and action, and
there are certain peculiarities in the
''face" and eyes Of a horse which, to
the expert, denote the fool, the stub
born brute and the devilish animal.
Another singular phase of The sys-
tenn is that while the cavalry horse
must be Of perfect shape and faultless
confirmation, he is purchased at from
SIPS to $3.50, comparatively small
sums for even desirable "roadsters."
This, however, is explained in a meas.
ure by the fact that the cavalry horse
is useless for breeding purposes and,
as a rule, not fast enough as a trotter
to make a race horse.
In the United States cavalry service
there are ten regiments Of twelve
troops each, with sixty men to the
troop, not counting officers, and there
are over seven thousand horses in the
service. The average working life of
the cavalry horse is about fifteen
years, and about 10 per cent. of those
in the service die or are discarded
every year. The horses bought annu.
ally are sent at once to the different
forts and stations, and to the riding
school at West PORT, where rough
and fancy riding is ,aught. and are
put to work without delay. the soldier
taking the green animal and commenc-
ing its education. Each cavalryman
trains aud cares for his own horse and
no discrimination is made in the dis
tribution, the vsoldier boy out on the
plains getting just as good a mount as
the dandy who parades the gay thor
oughfares of the capital.
The horses adapt themselves very
readily to the new condition Of things
and become familiar with all their
duties and the signals in a surprisingly
short time. The most difficult thing
to teach them is to become accustomed
to firearms. Every evening as they
pass from n part of their quarters to
another to be fed a carbine is fred
near the head of every animal, and in
this way they are finally made so
familiar with the noise Of musketry
that it fails to attract their attention,
and during the rapid firing and con-
fusion of a skirmish with the Indians
they will browse along calmly and
complacently. unmindful of whizzing
rife balls or bursting cartridges.
When the cavalry horse is purchas-
ed ne is branded with the familiar
"U. S." on his side or shoulder and
with a certain mineral on one of his
hoofs. The agent records his number
in a book provided for the purpose and
opposite the numeral writes a full de-
scription of the animal, cost, former
owner, condition when shipped, etc.
When the horse arrives at its destina-