It is said that Murat, in Napoleon’s Russian campaign, though he crossed the Niemen with 43,000 horses, could only put 18,000 in the field two months later. Murat had worn them out by keeping them saddled up sixteen hours a day, by giving them insufficient food, and by chasing wisps of Cossacks. _À propos_ of this, Nansouty said to Murat: “The horses of the cuirassiers not, unfortunately, being able to sustain themselves on their patriotism, fell down by the roadside and died.” Tired men soon express their feelings, the horse is unable to do so. _Verb. sap._ Intimately connected with this question is the feeding of the horses. We know that no concentrated ration can constitute a substitute for bulk for continued periods, but it is not generally known how many articles of diet a horse will relish when hungry. In the Pamirs the ponies eat the offal of game which is thrown aside, thus recalling the story of our childhood of Black Bess, Dick Turpin’s celebrated mare, who had a beefsteak tied round her bit on the ride to York. Ruskin once said in a lecture to the cadets at Woolwich: Whilst all knowledge is often little more than a means of amusement, there is no science which a soldier may not at some time or another find bearing on the business of life and death; your knowledge of a wholesome herb may involve the feeding of an army, and acquaintance with an obscure point of geography the success of a campaign. This is applicable to the cavalryman and his horses. De Brack devotes eight pages of his valuable work, _Cavalry Outpost Duties_, to a chapter on “Forage and Subsistence,” every word of which should be known to any cavalry officer who may have to serve in Europe or elsewhere. The theory of horse management is brought now to a very high standard by our Veterinary Department, and their publication of an excellent book on _Animal Management_ marks a step forward which must be appreciated by all who are in agreement with the theory expressed earlier in this chapter, that the horse question is one-tenth in war. It is little different from Frederick the Great’s saying that “Victory lies in the legs.” One word of caution is necessary for those who command cavalry in war. They must metaphorically keep a finger on the equine pulse, and this is, most of all, necessary when working horse artillery in heavy ground, or horses fed on anything less than full rations, or horses in bad weather. Wet saddle-blankets put next a horse’s back act like a poultice. There is no alternative in wet weather in a bivouac but to keep the blanket dry, or dry it before a start is made. Further, since the health of their horses is vital to the efficiency of cavalry, their leader must be willing to take risks in grazing, off-saddling, and foraging for food. Against surprise on these occasions long range rifles and our guns now confer on us great advantages.