Captain L. E. Nolan, in _Cavalry History and Tactics_ (1860), gives an
account of an experimental march made by 200 of the 15th Hussars from
Bangalore to Hyderabad and back, 800 miles. The objects of the march
were to test the capabilities of the troop horses and to ascertain if
there were anything to choose between stallions and geldings in respect
of endurance. To arrive at a solution of the latter question, one
hundred of the men were mounted on entires and the other hundred on
horses which had been castrated only six months previously, regardless
of age, for the purpose of making the experiment.
The squadrons marched to their destination, took part in field-days and
pageants, and started to reach Bangalore by forced marches; they
accomplished the last 180 miles at a rate of thirty miles per day,
bringing in only one led horse, the remainder being perfectly sound and
fit for further work. One horse, a 14.3 Persian, carried a corporal who,
with his accoutrements, rode 22 stone 7 lbs. It may be added that there
was nothing to choose between the performances of the stallions and
geldings; though the fact that the latter had so recently been castrated
was held to make their achievement the more creditable.
A forced march such as this has far more value as testimony to staying
power than a more trying feat performed by a single animal; but mention
must be made of Captain Horne's ride. This officer, who belonged to the
Madras Horse Artillery, undertook in 1841 to ride his grey Arab,
"Jumping Jimmy," 400 miles in five days on the Bangalore race-course;
and accomplished his task with three hours and five minutes to spare,
the horse doing the last 79 miles 5 furlongs in 19 hours 55 minutes, and
being quite ready for his corn when pulled up. General Tweedie, in his
work on _The Arabian Horse_ (1894), quotes the above particulars from
the _Bengal Sporting Magazine_, in whose pages full details are given.
Captain Nolan, in the work from which quotation has been made above,
sums up the shortcomings of the cavalry trooper of his day in the
following pithy sentences:--
"Our cavalry horses are feeble; they measure high, but they do
so from length of limb, which is weakness, not power. The blood
they require is not that of our weedy race-horse (an animal
more akin to the greyhound and bred for speed alone), but it is
the blood of the Arab and Persian, to give them that compact
form and wiry limb in which they are wanting."
The great value of the pony in India was insisted on by Mr. J. H. B.
Hallen, formerly the General Superintendent of the Horse Breeding
Department, in a memorandum published at Meerut in 1899. Pointing out
the many spheres of utility open to the pony, he urged the local
authorities and agricultural societies to foster and develop pony
breeding by providing suitable stallions for public use. As proving the
value of the pony, Mr. Hallen points out that in the two-wheeled cart
called an _ekka_, used by the natives of Northern India, a pony will
draw a load of from 4-1/2 to 6 cwt. over long distances at a rate of 5
or 6 miles an hour.
Ponies all over India are equally in request for riding and driving, and
in the northern parts for pack purposes. Indeed, adds Mr. Hallen, "the
pony may be said to be all round the most useful animal." The supply is
not equal to the demand.
Captain H. L. Powell, R.H.A., writing in _Baily's Magazine_ of March,
1900, says:--
"I am a great believer in the Arab for officers' chargers,
light cavalry and mounted infantry in this campaign. The Arab
is a hardy little beast, and will thrive and do well on what
would be starvation rations for an ordinary troop-horse. As a
rule the Arab is rather light of bone, but his bone is twice as
strong as that of an underbred horse. I have an Arab pony about
14.2 which I am looking after for his owner who went out to the
war, and who is now, I am sorry to say, enjoying Mr. Kruger's
hospitality in Pretoria. The pony carries my 15 stone as if it
was a feather, and never seems to tire."
The superiority of the Arab over the Indian country-bred is reflected
in their respective cost. Mr. Hallen, in the memorandum before referred
to, says stallions of the country-bred class can be obtained at from
about L6 10s. to L13, while suitable Arab pony stallions cost from L16
10s. to L33.