The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1898-01-08
CHOOSING CAVALRY HORSES.
Great Care Taken by Experts in
Their Selection.
!. e. Walsh in Country Gentleman. /

HOI1G SuAVR8u sAO P0POA0AAsy "a AA0 IA
cycle aud electric cars, Uncle Sam must
have bis full quota of good cavalry horses
every year, and he will not retire from the
business until some fertile Drained inven-
tor finds q good mechanical substitute
that will accomplish ait that the intelli-
gent brutes are credited with. Our cav
Airy horses are potcd for their achieve
ments ON the plains and in battles, and il
would require some invention possessing
an intelligence little short of human to
replace them satisfactorily.
Every large breeder of good horses, in
oidentally keeps the United States cavalry
service in view, for it is possible hs will
find in Uncle Sam 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
Inferior horses, but the needs of the cav
airy service are very peculiar. A horse
that is useless for breeding purposes, and
not fast enough as trotter to. make .
race horse. may yet be eminently fitted
for the cavalry. It is for this reason that
the breeders remember Uncle Sam when
they have failed to develop racers out of
some of their stock.
The cavalry service needs about 700 new
horses every year, and prices varying
from $125 to $3.50 are paid for these. A
few years ago these prices were considered
90 low 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 advertise for the horses and the
different lots offered were Of such an in
ferior order that not one in fifteen would
suit the needs of the Government.
. But to day there has been radical
change inaugurated, and Uncle Sam never
had such an opportunity for selecting fine
horses at his own price. The price of horse
flesh has dropped to such point that 5000
is now considered fair sum for some
pretty fine animals, racers as well as road
sters and work horses. When the Quar-
termaster 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 noblest
blood of the leading racers of past
generation; sleek, we'll fOrmed animals,
whose slender, rounded limbs and intelli
gent eyes and gracefully curved necks
betray their Arabian ancestry; and pedi-
greed stock whose aristocratic lineage
goes back to the days of the Normans
and Romans. The work of choosing from
such stock becomes pleasure rather than
q duty, and the only regret is that so many
finely bred animals are going begging.
For the cavalry service certain type
of horse, however, must be selected, and
the claims of others cannot be listened to,
no matter what they may be. The animal
must be gentle and free from all vicious
habits, and fair, nimble trotter. Each
one offered must pass rigid examination
before veterinary experts, who test every
part of his body and limbs for defects or
blemishes. Even the mouth must be mod
erately sensitive, and not so hardened to
the bit that rider could not turn him
without running :nto stone wall.
The color has something to do with the
selection. White horses have been seen
In the cavalry service, but as u rule they
are not allowed there. The object is to
get q uniform color that will wear we'll
and not require too much grooming to
make it look presentable. Sorrel, black
and bay are the ,colors chiefly desired.
Every animal must be q gelding, and
from Is to Is hands high, and the weight
ranging somewhere between $50 and /, $50
pounds. Horses under years will not
be taken, nor those over eight. The aver
age life of the horse IN the cavalry service
IS Is years, and to stand the rough and
fancy riding required of them they must
be in the prime of life when selected and
Next to being perfectly sound and free
rom all defects, the general intelligence
and brightness of the horses largely de-
Tide the officers who choose them for the
'ervice. The ideal cavalry horse is kind,
animal, but withal SO intelli-
gent that he can all but guess the thoughts
md wishes of the rider and owner. When
he horses are chosen they are sent to the
different forts or to West Point, where
he soldiers begin to break them in. :
AS one man has full charge of each
animal the two soon become fast friends,
md the horse, if at all intelligent, soon
earns to love his master. Sometimes the
oidiers get choice animals, and after
'ears of training and close association
heir mpanionship is almost human.
There are over 1000 horses in use in
he United States cavalry, and about 10
yer cent of these die or are discarded
ach year. To fill up this annual gap the
luartermaster and his assistants make +,
heir purchases, selecting promiscuously
II candidates that pass the examinations.
dany of the horses come from the West
m plains, and are easily adapted to their
ew lite; others come from the large
;astern breeding establishments and from
he farms; but probably the largest per-
entage of them come from Central Ken
ncky, where the strains of both the
thoroughbred and trotting horses have
cen blended through many years of care
vi breeding.
The cavalry horses, when first purchased,
re branded with the letters "U. s." on
ne side or shoulder, and number is {
urned into the hoof of one of their feet. {
he same number is recorded in book
ept for this purpose, with full descrip-
on OF the animals appearance opposite.
1hen this has been performed the animal
regularly established in the United {
tates cavalry service. and the next step /,
to pick out master for him. His fu-
ire owner may be some fresh young
udent at West Point, an officer in the
sryice, or some common cavalryrhan sta 9
oned at far Western fort There is no :
iscrlmination shown in the matter. The
svalryman 1000 or 1000 miles away
ON Washington stands as good q chance
getting prize as West Point student. j