constant practice--and the more thoroughly they have been grounded in
the principles of direction, pace, alignment, and rallying. Further,
the more quietly the horses move--and even at rapid paces have learnt
to carry their heads not too high, with a firm bearing on the
reins--the easier it will be for the Commander to drill his squadron,
and to eliminate all the plunging and surging in movement which is
fatal to all excellence in manoeuvring.

The drill season can thus be cut down, and the time thus saved devoted
to field service practices and riding across country, because the
whole system, thanks to this considerable saving of time it effects,
enables one to extend the education of man and horse over the whole
year instead of confining it to the winter months.

Though every efficient squadron possesses a considerable number of
horses that do not require six months' practice in 'shouldering in,'
and in 'collected paces,' on the other hand, everyone has some horses
that do urgently need 're-making,' but which one has to entrust to
inferior riders, because the better ones are all needed for the
remounts and young horses.

This is a consequence of the whole system in which the training of the
horses and of the men eventually react on one another. There will be
remounts which need correction, and horses ridden by recruits to be
cured of acquired bad habits; and on my system there will now be time
and opportunity to hand these over, say from the beginning of
February, to non-commissioned officers and the better riders, either
by forming them in a special squad or entrusting them to individuals,
and the process of re-making the horses can be continued throughout
the whole summer, for now there will be ample time.

On the importance of this latter point I would especially insist. If
this work of equitation ceases for the whole summer, and the difficult
horses are kept incessantly at drill and field service, it is
inevitable that their defects will develop and become more firmly
fixed; hence one will never get a good average of well-broken horses
in the ranks. That some of them must always be taken for drill goes
without saying; but the point is, that from February onwards, and
throughout the summer, they should be constantly taken in hand and
corrected by good riders. If this idea is applied with thoroughgoing
energy, particularly with the young horses--even if it entails at
first a diminution in the number of files on