The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-03-21
MAJOR MCDONALD SAYS UNITED STATES
CAVALRY NEEDS ONLY GOOD HORSES

As a United States cavalryman.
with many years of service behind me.
am amazed at the ridiculous pic
lures recently appearing in the news
papers, and alas, also, in some OF the
Service" magazines, anent the
Italian rides over vertical cliffs.
The ordinary young American cav
alryman from West Point, the other
good horsemanship schools, including
the farm and the army itself, can
ride a good, well trained horse over
any go degree incline Offering a prop
er footing. | have chased rabbits
and coyotes in Arizona ard Montana
with grey and Russian wolf-hounds
up and. down many inclines from 45
TO- so degrees. In this 1t is not nee
essary to go straight up or down, but
j have done that also, as has many
an officer of the old Tenth" and 9TH
er cavalry regiments. The taking of
high obstacles with the Mcclellan
saddle and inferior horses cannot be
done by any means as well as with
good horses and English saddles, eth
er by European or other officers.
The late Lieut.. Powhatan Clerke,
who was drowned afterward in the
Little Big Horn, at Fort Custer, Mon
tana. served a year in Hussar Reg
iment of the German army, as an at
tached United States cavalry lieuten-
ant, and his stories of the riding by
those officers and soldiers gave me
the impression that 1t was far in
ferior In every respect as to individ-
ual horsemanship to that which OBJ
talned in the Third and other cavalry
regiments with which we had both
been associated.
He said their drill movements in
line were better because the horses
were far superior to ours, gentler, and
better trained by long continued
exercises in the same movements ev-
cry day. N
If measurements could be made, and
snapshots had some of his feats, and
those of Capt. Carter p. Johnston, OF
the Tenth Cavalry, and many other
Officers in the Geronimo campaign of
1856, the Italians would open their
eyes In as much establishments as we
do at the pictures of their horse de-
scending cliff at an angle of rs de-
grees for his hind feet, and S5 de-
grees for his front ones. throwing his
centre Of gravity 12 inches in front
OF his forefcet, supported as shown
In the pictures, the claim in the text
being for only sixty degree incline.
II will be remembered that all rid
ing by Western wonders, such as
cowboys, herders, packers and others,
was done with one set of reins: by
the Indians with only a rope halter
and single halter shank; packers
with one set of reins and these usually
with both branches on one side of the
neck OF the animal. The Indian could,
and did, ride his pony into herds OF
buffalo and, using both hands to his
bow, send an arrow, shaft and all,
entirely through the body of the buff
falo, and leave 1t sticking on the earth
on the opposite side; this not indlcat-
ing the necessity for double reins and
bits in an emergency.
There are young officers and sold
iers under my command today, who
stand erect ON single barebacked
horse and take hurdles two or three
feet high with ease. There are many
instances OF wonderful things done
In our army, and the men do what is
required OF them so well, that / am
astonished at the fuss made over
foreign cavalry riding. am con-
WINGED that all that Is necessary Is to
state In orders just what is done in
any army in the world, and | will
stake my commission that we can
do It just as well as they can, after
the same amount OF practice with our
poor horses. and | would double the
bet, II possible, that on their horses
we would do II better in two months.
OF course, there are individual feats
of horsemanship peculiar to no army,
and representative OF none, but these
are not In question. My argument
Is that IL our army horsemanship Is
to be compared to that of other arm
les the conditions should in justice be
made the same-equally good horses
and equipments, and the same length
of time applied to similar exer-