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OUR FOUR-FOOTED AUXILIARY TROOPS An officer of the Royal Army Medical Corps, in a letter printed in the London Times, gratifies us with an account of the devotion shown to army horses by their drivers, and the conduct under fire of these brave animals, which may justly be called luiliary troops of "our armies jn: the field: "The army horses in Flanders are the most beautiful things in the country. Unspoiled by blinkers, thev are not robbed of the beauty of eye. and their winter coats, innocent of clippers, only add to their locks. That they keep so fit is due to the excellence of their forage and .the care of their drivers. . , "There is a great difference m the horses as they go in and out of the Hue. Full; of fire and beans, -onscious of excellent grooming and clean wagons Mid polished harness, they seem impatient to drag their guns from the comforts of French billets to the unknown discomforts of the line. But when they come out they are plastered with mud and tired and show no interest in the gun teams that nass them on their way up. Handsome are they with their small shaped heads -and intelligent eyes, rompared with the heavy Pcrcheron or the sleepy Flemish horses. These well-bred horses, like highly organized men, suffer most: from shell-shock. "Never does a horse forget, a place where he has hoen wounded. When he is taking ammunition ap to a battery lie will tremble and hurry past, any tposed or dangerous place at a gallop, where perhaps months before he was wounded. Quick are thev to spot an approaching, shell, and they drop their heads and even lie down when they see their drivers taking cover. . So intelligent are they that they are said to acquiesce readily when gas masks are" put on and danger threatens. "One wound for which a horse is not evacuated is the common shell wound on the face and jaw. Then a good drivers care comes inj he attends them carefully, feeding them by hand, boiling their oats, making them mashes and spending most of .the day with them till they can feed in. comfort again. The devotion of the men is wonderful in many cases, who will not leave their charges, and Is the cause of the new order that all horses must be returned from hospital to their own units, for the mens care is not transferred to the same extent to a new team of horses."
