The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1897-08-05
HORSES IN OUR ARMY.

Perhaps few persons are on more in
innate terms with the horse family in
general than some old cavalry soldiers.
To be the friend of his horse the SOL
dier must be good one; a horse was
never known to favor a bad one with
his confidence, for horses are infallible
judges of soldiers. An old cavalry cap
tain whom l know used to say, 81
judge of the characters of my men by
the way they get along with their
horses"
In the old frontier days cavalry sol
diers thought far more of their horses
than they do now, for their lives often
depended on them, and if a man neg
lected his horse he was sure to have to
march on foot before long, which is
very distasteful to n cavalryman. In
deed, it was necessary to guard the for
age wagon and the water holes to pre-
vent men stealing more than their al
lowance for their horses. Even now,
if you watch some old gray-haired fell
lows at the STABLES" of a cavalry
troop, you will see they have not for
gotten to be greedy on behalf of their
mounts.
A recruit horse is like 4 recruit sol
dier, apt to be clumsy, unevenly gated,
saucy and conceited. The old horses
in the stable yard treat him exactly as
old soldiers treat recruit. They at
tempt to frighten him by biting at him,
kicking him, chasing him from one
corner of the yard to another, pulling
his name and ears; in fact, they try to
make his life miserable in every way.
This lasts for few days only; then
the new horse gets chum, and they
make an agreement TO stand by each
other. This offensive and defensive
alliance prevents the rest of the herd
from taking any more liberties with
the recruit.
The "chum business" is one of the
most remarkable features of horse life
in the army. The 'chums" are insep-
arabic; as soon as the herd is turned
out into the yard the chums seek out
each other, as il for n morning CON
fab" and remain together. all day
Looking into the yard at any time, one
can see them rubbing noses, blinking
at one another, or following each other
around the yard. Take new horse
away from his chum, and he will great
fy resent it. Tie him near the stables.
he will whinny plaintively to his chum,
who will answer from the corral.
All horses in our service are taught
10, A
thrown in the riding-stall, with straps
the use of which he little suspects. is
greatly surprised. This painless throw
ing of horses is very effective in dis
ciplining morally, for the horse soon
realizes that he is completely mastered.
of times marked change takes place
in his temperament.
Soldiers who abuse their horses i'm |
any way are severely punished. There
is, indeed, no sight more obnoxious to |
Il good cavalryman than to see horse |
abused.
The old cavalry horse seems to have
n great dsdain for new soldier When |
ridden hy 4 recruit he appears as if a |
little insulted. and / am sure that some |
of these old horses can tell a recruit. |
from Il veteran as quickly as can the |
adiutant ut "guard-mounting"
1t is customary to turn all the horses !
out to graze-or "to herd" rs it is call |
ed-under a guard whenever the grass
is good and the weather pleasant. The
horses regard "herd time" as a proper |
occasion for fun and frolic. They en-
icy the herd as much as lot of school
boys do their recess.
In every troop are some old horses
that are full of mischief on herd, and ,
are invetcrate stampeders. If they
can only get the rest of the herd to fol-
low them and run ahead of the herd
ers, they are delighted. The herd
guards have to watch these old rogues
for once they obtain a start,
a stampede is sure to follow. Then, if |
no obstacle prevents, the herd will run
for hours-they have been known to
run forty miles before they could be