The Lamar register., 1915-01-13
HORSE ENJOYS COMBAT
sTEEo AS EAGER FOR BATTLE AS
is HIS RIDER.
Also Knows the Call of the 5uale, lr
Many Cases Better Than the Soldier
Who Is Supposed to Guide
Him Into Action.

IL VIII prODdDly SURPRISE tHe puDHo
said a retired colonel of hussars. to
learn that a cavalry horse usually en-
joys battle at least as much as his
rider and displays as much courage
in It. He will chafe and stamp with
Impotence while waiting for the order
TO charge, and at the signal Will dash
forward like a greyhound released
from the leash, full of fire and fury.
and often neighing mildly At the mo.
ment Of contact with the enemy he
will rear, striking and biting savage
~ at the opposing horses and tram.
ping down the infantry.
When his rider falls he will dash
along with his fellows and crash as
CALAMITY into the foe In the famous
charge OF the Light Brigade scores Of
riderless horses swept down the val
ley OF death. numbering through the
smoke onto the Russian guns. and gal.
Hoped back to safety with the shat.
tered remnant of the brigade Five
horses raced neck and neck with
Lord Alfred Paget, who rode in ad-
vance Of the line. so eager were they
w btA ~ Aht
And not only is the welltrained
charger as brave as his rider; he is
often as intelligent He knows the
bugle calls Just as well. and answers
them as promptly. In fact, cases are
proved in which a horse has put his
rider right when he has mistaken an
order. and has gone faultlessly through
~ anita ~ the aHnrfa nf
his mistaken master to make him do
the wrong thing
No, the process of training is neither
long nor difficult. The first step is to
Accustom the horse to the sound OF
firing at close quarters. With this OBJ
1ect he Is put on the ground with legs
tied. and while in this position a pts
toll is fred close to his ears, over his
back. between his legs. and so on. I'M
Ill his fear is overcome. After few
such lessons It is safe to mount him
with a bride furnished with a curb
bit. and under this control he is taught
to stand sull While q pistol or carbine
is fred from his bRck-the latter nat
urally coming last, as both hands are
required in using this weapon.
Then follows saber practice on sim
liar lines. until the horse is as intif
ferent to the whirl and slash OF a
sword above his head as to the explo-
sion Of a carbine above IT. Within a
few weeks the horse not only loses all
traces OF nervousness: he really en-
Joys the experience and enters enthusi
astically into It. In battle the cavalry
horse faces even a greater risk OF
death or disablement than his rider
although the gallant animal rarely gets
any Of the laurels OF war. His dan
ger, however, is by no means so great
as II was.
In the eighteenth century 15C
horses fell in battle to every 100 men
from 1900 to 1868 the proportion had
fallen to 100: and in more recent
wars the ratio has been approximate
~ ll2 horses to 100 men. In some
charges. however. the proportion has
been greater. as In that of the Light
Brigade. in which so more horses
than men sacrificed their lives.
But while the war horse seldom gets
credit Tor his prowess and devotion
there have been. happily. a few cases
in which he has shared his masters
glories-among them Lord Roberts
pretty little Arab. volonei, who car
ried him in the famous march from
Kabul to Randahar. and round whose
neck, at Queen Victoria's expresi
wish. he hung the Kabul medal with
four clasps.
Tho Sleeper.