The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1896-04-10
CAVALRY HORSES
Those In Uncle Sans Service Mod
els Of Equine Excellence.
They Are Taught Many Difficult
And Interesting Maneuvera

There are over sixteen millions Of
horses in the United States, and yet,
according 70 Captain J. j. Aleshare,
Assistant Quartormaster. q. S, A., the
Government finds IL difficult 70 pro-
cure the seven hundred to a thousand
animals needed every year f6e the
cavalry service.
The model cavalry horse is, IN color,
either bay, sorrel, black or gray,
sound, we'll bred and Of superior class,
gentle under the saddle, free from
vicious habits, with free and prompt
action ut the walk, trot aud gallop;
without blemish or defect; OF kind
disposition and with easy mouth and
gait He must be a "gelding" lmares
are not taken under any circum-
stances), 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 1900 pounds; forehead broad,
eyes large and prominent; from four
to eight years old; head and ears
small, vision perfect in every respect;
shoulders long and sloping well back
chest full, broad and deep; forelegs
straight aud standing we'll under ;'nJar-
rel" large and increasing from girth
toward flank withers elevated; back
short and straight; loins and launches
broad and muscular; hooks we'll bent
and under the horse; pasterns slant
ing, and feet small and sound A
horse under five years old will not be
purchased unless 10 is an especially
fine animal, we'll developed. A horse
which meets the cayalryman's fastidi-
GUS taste must indeed be n model OF
equine excellence Much stress is
placed upon the intelligence manifest
ed by the candidate, both in express
sion and action, and there are certain
! peculiarities in the fuce and eyes of a
horse, which, to the expert, denote
the fool, the stubborn brute, and the
skitish animal. Another singular
phase of the system is, that while the
cavalry horse must be of perfect shape
and faultless conformation, he is pur-
chased at from $125 to $780, compare
lively small sums for even desirable
roadsters. This, however, is explained
in a measure by the fact that the cav
airy horse is useless for breeding pur-
poses.
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 Is years,
and about ten per cent of
those in the service die or are dis
carded every year. The horses bought
every year are sent at once to the diff
ferent forts and stations, and to the
riding school at West Point, where
rough and fancy riding is taught, and
they are put to work without delay, the
soldier taking the green animal and
commencing its education. Each
cavalryman trains and cares for his
own horse, and no discrimination is
made in the distribution, the soldier
boy out on the plains getting just as
good a mount as the dandy who
parades the gay thoroughfares OF the
capital.
The most difficult thing to teach
horses is to become accustomed to fire.
arms Every evening as they pass from
one part of their quarters to another
to be fed carbine is fired near the
the head of every animal, and in this
way they are finally made so familiar
with the noise of musketry that il
fails to attract their attention, and
during the rapid firing and confusion
of a skirmish with Indians they will
browse along calmly and compla.
Gently.
When the cavalry horse is pur.
chased he is branded with the familiar
"U. s." on his side or shoulder, ant
with certain mineral on one of hi
hoofs The agent records his number
in a book provided for the purpose