Page:Horses and roads.djvu/99

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CHAPTER X.

UNSHOD HORSES IN THE INDIAN MUTINY—UNSHOD HORSES IN THE ZULU WAR—FARRIERS IN THE ARMY ARE TAILORS, ETC.—‘DAILY TELEGRAPH’ ON FROZEN STREETS—COMPARATIVE INUTILITY OF COGS AND STUDS—UNSHOD HORSES IN MEXICO, ETC., AND THEIR REMARKABLE FREEDOM FROM LAMENESS AND DISEASES OF THE FEET AND LEGS.

During the mutiny in India many of our cavalry horses went unshod, because they could not get shod, and they never went better in their lives.

In the ‘Morning Advertiser’ of July 18 last, the special military correspondent at the Cape gives an interesting account of a ride that he made with irregular cavalry on a raid. He says: ‘Few of the men have their horses shod in front; some do not shoe at all;’ and he remarks that, in his excursion, they had to go over ‘sheets of polished, wet, slippery stone in the torrent beds, making one wonder how our unshod horses could keep their feet.’ It is worthy of remark that this was only a few days before the battle of Ulundi, in which these horses took such an active part. In fact, they saw the whole war through; and, on August 9, we find the special war correspondent of the ‘Daily News’ reporting of these same animals that ‘the