Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-04
CHOOSING CAVALRY HORSES
Great Care Taken by Experts in Their
Selection. -
Must Have Good Size and Solid Color,
With Intelligent and Do
cile Disposition.
6. E. Wslsh in County Gentleman.

G. E. Walsh in County Gentleman.
Notwithstanding the decline Of the horse
through the popularity Of the bicycle and
electric cars. Uncle Sam must have his full
quota Of good cavalry horses every year,
and he will not retire from the business
until some fertile-brained inventor finds
good mechanical substitute that will &C
complish all that the intelligent brutes are
credited with. Our cavalry horses are not
ed for their achievements on the plains
and In battles. and 1t would require some
invention possessing an intelligence little
short Of human to replace them satisfac-
torily.
Every large breeder of good horses Incl
dentally keeps the United States cavalry
service In view, for it Is possible he will
find in Uncle Sam a good purchaser for
many of his horses that fail to come up to
the required standard in other fields Not
that the quartermaster Of the army, or his
assistants, are deceived into buying in
ferfor horses, but the needs of the cavalry
service are very peculiar. A horse that is
useless for breeding purposes, and not fast
enough trotter to make a race horse,
may yet be eminently fitted for the caval-
ry. 1t is for this reason that the breeders
remember Uncle Sam when they have fail
GU " ueNelOp racers OUT OIL some OF their
stock.
The cavalry service needs about 100 new
horses every year. and prices varying from
S125 to $3.50 are paid for these. A few years
that the offers of fine horses were not very
numerous. Good horses brought double
these sums in those palmy days of horse
breeding: The quartermaster would ad-
Vert1se for the horses, and the different
lots offered were of such an inferior order
that not one in fifteen would suit the needs
OF the government.
But today there has been a radical
cnange 1naugurated, and Uncle Sam never
mad such an opportunity for selecting fine
horses at his own price. The price of horse
mesh has dropped to such a point that 5000
is now considered fair sum for some pref
W nne ANIMALS, racers as we'll as roadsters
and work horses. When the uuartermaster
goes into the field to select his horses to-
day he is deluged with Offers and such fine
animals. too! There are trotters in whose
VEINS courses the nobest blood of the lead
Ing racers of a past generation sleek we'll
formed animals, whose slender rounded
limbs and intelligent eyes and gracefully
curved recks betray their Arabian ances-
Try ana pedigreed stock whose aristocratic
lineage goes back to the days of the Nor
mans and Romans. The work of choosing
rom such stock becomes a pleasure rather
.han outy, and the only regret is that so
ging. eo 'ee
FOR the cavalry service certain type Of
morse, however. must be selected and the
claims of others cannot be listened to no
matter what they NAV be The animal
must De gentle and free from all vicious
habits. and fair. nimble trotter Each
Iiie o1ered must pass a rigid examination
before veterinary experts, who test every
Fart of the body and limbs for defects ar
plenshes Even the mouth must be mod
a'.iy sensitive, and not so hardened TO
Inc Inc Dlt that rider could not turn him
"rIout running into a stone wall
ne Color has something To do with tho
sslectloh; White horses have been seen in
rilt cavalry service, but as a rule they are
~ MI ailo"ed there. The object is to get
UNIFORM color that will wear well and NOT
require 100 much grooming to make If look
presehtable: Sorrel, black and bay are the
Ioiors chiefly desired. Every animal must
De a gAlding. and from fifteen to sixteen
hands high, and the weight ranp;,,r so,,,a 80
where oetWeen 300 and 11JO pounds Horses
under five years will not be taken nor
nose over eight. The average life of the
Hol III the cavalry service is fifteen Years
and to stand the rough and fancy ridiys "a
CURED or them they must be In the prime
OF lie when selected and trained.
10y NeAt 10 being perfectly sound aud free
IioIn al defects, the general Intelligence
ana brightness of the horses largely decide
me onlcers who choose them for the SER
vice: The ideal cavalry horse is a kind. af-
1ectionate animal but withal so inteIiipent
that he can all but guess the thoughts snG
wishes OF the rider and owner When the
horses are chosen they are sent to the dir
Ieient loTts or to West Point, where the
soluiers pegin to break them In. AS one
man has full charge of each animal tho
two soon become fest friends, and The
morse, II at all intelligent, soon learns to
loFe ms master. Sometimes the soldiers
get cholce animals, and after years of
training and close association their com
partnership is almost human
mere are over 1000 horses in use in the
Chlted states cavalry, and about 10 nar
cent OF these die or are discarded each wear
10 MI up this annual gap the quarter
MASTER ana MS assistants make their MIR
grasses selecting promiscuously all candi-
oates that pass the examinations MANY OF
the horses come from the western plains
and are easily adapted to their new life.
Others come from the large eastern hread,
Ing establishments and from the farms.
Out PROBABLY the largest percentage of them
come from central Kentucky where the
strains of both the thoroughbred and trot
ting horses have been blended through
many years OF careful breeding.
The cavalry horses, when first purchase
are branded with the letters ~. s." on Tho
side or shoulder. and a number is burned
INTO the hoof of one of their feet. The same
number Is recorded in a book kept for this
purpose. with full description of the ami
mafs appearance opposite. When this has
been performed the animal Is regularly es-
tablished in the United States cavalry SER
vice. and the next step is to pick ont q
master for him. His future owner NAV be
some fresh young student at West Point
an olncer IN the service, or some common
caValryman stationed at far western fort
There is no discrimination shown IN the
matter. The cavalryman 1000 or 1000
miles away from Washington stands as
good a chance Of getting prize as a West
Point student.
Value of the Mamie Tree