Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-04

Of every army horse, walking, trottins and
gsIioping.
Theory and practice cannot always We
made the same. even at an army remcunt
depot. as a naturally vicious horse Is
found occasionally and a good many are
spoiled before they are received at the
depot. Riders are thrown, just as they
are in the range country, and occasionally
an intractabie horse Is subdued by hard
riding.
Training for Artillery.
For vicious horses intended for the ar
tiiiery service q kind OF merry-go-round
Is used. Heavy timbers are fastened to-
gether I'm fhe shape Of the letter a. the
apex Of which is attached to a heavy stake
sunk firmly in the ground. and on the
ends of the side timbers are wheels taken
from a gun carriage. The fractions horse
is tied to one Of the side timbers, the cross
bar Of the latter serving as the inner shaft.
The outer shaft swings on a bolt, with
one end free, and is used to push the
horse against tie other shaft. after which
the free end is bottled into place.
, The tugs are then hooked into heavy
rings and a strong kicking strap drawn
over the horses back. IL he refuses to
move forward a mule is hitched to the
merry-go-round and away they go. The
horse runs in a circle, with a driver in a
scat behind him.
The requirement that army horses shall
be bought by contract has been lifted for
the remount depot and Captain Hardeman
authorized to buy in the open market.
- 49, ,u1- than 2 yaarg ola fa hotoht
and a s-ycar-old must not be less than
fifteen hands high and weigh not less than
$50 pounds. Four years is the minimum
age at which a horse can be put into active
army service.
A total of 900 horses have been bought
Of which 600 are now at the depot, the
others having been shipped to the different
garrisons. The horses came from Mon
tina, Kentucky. Missouri, Colorado. Texas
and oklahoma.
The Oklahoma horse is seldom deslra-
bic because of his small size, due to breed
ing the old-time range ponies. The mis-
souri, horse is looked upon as the best
that comes to the depot. He has more
solidity and strength than the Kentucky
horse, which has a breedy appearance,
but lacks endurance. There is no decry-
Ing Ine hentuCky nuIStf hOWtNbA -
Bluegrass thoroughbred and his close kin
are discernible at a glance among the
hundreds of horses in the corrals. There
are a number of strikingly beautiful Ken
tucky horses at Fort Reno and a number
are being prepared for service at West
Point.
Hospital for the Horse.
The depot has a hospital where all in
/ 3pra1 ar eick horQaq arc treated nv q
veterinarian. Distemper is a common
disease and is resisted by the injection OF
the Pasteur lymph for this ailment. I'm
mediately upon his arrival this lymph is
injected into each horse. 1t seems to have
less merit as a preventive than as a cura-
tive, and for the latter seems to be almost
a specific.
Civilians are employed as riders at $50
a month, together with board and medical
service. There are men here from NORTH
Carolina, Tennessee. Missouri. Oklahoma,
Montana, Colorado, Kansas and California,
and several days ago two from Vermont
pulled off their hats in Captain Harde-
I mans office and asked for employment.
Each man after proving his knowledge
OF handling horses is put in charge Of ten
horses. The men ride at will over the
p~rairies, often in groups, and seem to find
much pleasure I'm their work. There is
chance for promotion to stable boss, with
better pay.
There is no fancy riding of the circus
kind. Each troop captain usually has his
own ideas of what a cavalry horse should
know and do from a drill standpoint, and
this feature OF a horses education is left
to the troop captains and their drill
masters.
Should the experiment at Fort Reno prove
a success other remount depots are to be
established in different states, as a matter
Of economy in freight expenses. the cost
of shipping horses from Fort Reno TO the
Atlantic coast. for instance, being great