The troop horse, which is the constitutive element of the cavalry, ought to have certain qualities, of which the principal are soundness and hardiness. With him it is not a question of fine handling or scientific movements. He has to carry his man safely and for a long distance, and by the strength of his constitution he has to bear fatigue and all the miseries of a campaign.

Also, he must not cost too much, because money is the chief sinew of war, despite progress and innovations.

A horse does not cost merely the sum paid to his owner, to which has to be added all the money spent on him from the day of his purchase to the time he is really fit for work. A horse bought for forty pounds, which has to be looked after and fed for a year at a remount depot, before being sent to his regiment, will really cost eighty pounds up to the day he takes his place in the ranks.

I have not the presumption to discuss financial and military questions, which are entirely beyond my province. I reason only as a horseman. I say with respect to remounts, that we should consider their necessary qualifications and net cost at the same time. If I occupied myself with their qualifications without touching on the subject of price, my theory might appear useless, but I have the one firm ambition to give only practical advice.

We all know how horses are bought for the army. Remount

fatigue better than any other. In a charge he has marvellous and incomparable dash ; but how will he bear all the privations and miseries of a campaign ?

In the Crimea, the English lost the majority of their thorough-breds, but the Normans, Percherons, Bretons and Auvergnans held out admirably. The war horse ought to remain serviceable under conditions of hunger, cold, rain, snow and nights without shelter or covering. I do not think that the thorough-bred is capable of this form of endurance.

A breed which has not been hardened may yield capital horses for ordinary work, but they will not be hardy and enduring enough for warfare.

To make use of a thoroughbred, one must know more than ordinary cavalrymen do about riding.