Competitions between sections and troops, the former for choice, work great things in a squadron. If the minds of sixteen section leaders are all at work to find out the best way to train a recruit in various exercises, to feed a horse to the best advantage with the forage available, to get the best shooting average, and so on, it is obvious that the squadron leader has a good chance of disseminating his knowledge, when found out, through his squadron, whilst an interest is given to the work which is perfectly invaluable. Certainly men, who have to go through four or five months’ hot weather in the plains of India with the thermometer occasionally at 115° in the verandah, want these mental exercises and interests just as they want games of hockey, cricket, and football in the evening to keep them sound in wind, limb, and mind. In every respect competition is a healthy lever in training; only quite recently a squadron which, _mirabile dictu_, stopped all smoking for some weeks before shooting, were successful in winning an army rifle competition. Above all things, it acts in putting a stop to the waste of time which is so frequent an occurrence, where there is no spur to prevent it. It is distressing to see a troop of men and horses standing in line, whilst one individual goes through some exercise, or jumps some fences; a clever squadron leader will never permit this, he will point out to the troop or section leader that the remainder would be much better occupied in “suppling” their horses, or making cuts and points, till their turn arrived:[89] and that there is no reason why they should not light a pipe meanwhile. These amenities make things go easier. Again, when on the march, or going to or returning from a field day, by means of judging distance on prominent objects (to be checked afterwards from the map), or by noticing the features of the country and subsequently answering questions on them, or by guessing what is on the other side of a hill, habits of observation which are invaluable in a cavalryman may be inculcated. This last is a capital exercise, and one which the Duke of Wellington practised. It is related that he was posting with a friend, and they passed the time in guessing what was behind the next hill. His friend remarked how often he was right in his guesses. Wellington replied, “Well, it is what I have been practising all my life.” This instruction is best delegated to section leaders, since a squadron, or even troop, is too unwieldy for this kind of education, which is specially one which should aim at bringing the slower and more stupid men up to a good level. The Germans rightly lay the greatest stress on the fact that collective perfection is only attainable by individual excellence, and this can only be obtained by individual instruction.