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1 I I ■ i I . ! I ! » I i i I I I I 1 r 1 i i » 8 I 1 I 1 » THOROUGHBRED EFFICIENCY IN WAR. I was talking lo an old cavalry officer the other day and he said iii.it in his opinion the reason that the allies did not do better in the Ralkans was that they wen*, there prepared for the same kind of lighting as thev are having in Frauce and Belgium. and at GaUipoli. Had they had more horse- ami more horse-soldiers, they would have done infinitely better was his way of looking at things. It was not trench-lighting that was required in Serbia, but dash and vigor! For that style of warfare in a hilly country horses are of the first importaace, and the allies sent infantry and artillery almost exclusively. Neither could move with that celerity that was r- quired, ami the mounted troops of Austria-Hungary principally, and Bulgaria, overwhelmed the opposing forces, in this gentleman* urns it is one more blunder that has to be put down to the allied Chiefs, Then I said, von dont think the day of the horse in war has pa»sedl "Passed," be replied. "No. it is more Important than ever. Mobility has given the Gel main succeaa in Europe, and aided the Turks in Arabia. It also made possible the march through Serbia, and it will enable the Russians to come back. And in no ease N this mobility due eatireiy to the motor car and the railways. The greater use of horses would have checked the Cerman advance in the first instance. A- things are on the western front and the uselulcess of the horse for the 1110- nient is lost in a measure, but it will return, while elsewhere he is as valuable as ever. When the history of the war comes to be comprehensively written it will be found that horsemanship was a UfC factor in the Italian advance into Austria." The foregoing conversation led lo a discussion as to whv more horses had not been bought in Canada. My cavalry friend said at once that this wa- he- eaaae the right sort ofl horses was not to be found in the country. The work hor.-e wa- fairly numer- ous, but the proper sort of animal for mounted I s 1 I i i 1 1 1 ] 1 1 1 1 troops was decidedly scarce. We did not make sufficient use of the thoroughbred. I suggested that then- should be many animals with thoroughbred blood in them. "Yea," he replied, "plenty of racing of a sort: but three-fourths of the competitors are either owned or have been bred abroad, and are raced and hawked about until they become shadows, and are of no earthly value when they come to be retired." In answer to a request as to what remedy ho would suggest for this state of things, my friend said: "Prohibit t no-year old racing until the autumn: limit the sprints and the number of times a horse may start in a season; curtail the half-milers and compel the associations to give more races for home-bred and home-owned horses." Returning lo the niatter of the war-horse, I remarked. "Then you think thoroughbred blood ig a necessity to the charger." "Beyond doubt," wats the reply, "he will rush into danger and face the battle where colder-blooded animals will turn tall and stampede. They face danger with greater determination and by proper handling can be better instructed in the duties required of them." And then the gentleman turned his batteries on me by asking what had become of the project mooted before the war lo establish a big remount de|M t. with breeding and educating facilities, in the northwest. My ignorance in the niatter being profound. I answered accordingly, but I also agreed that there could be no better or more fitting time for getting the enterprise under way. — II. P. Good in Montreal Mail.
