Army Horses circa 1900

Extract taken from Horses and Saddlery by Major G. Tylden, published by J. A. Allen & Company, London. 1965.

After the fall of Pretoria the regiment was engaged at Diamond Hill, north of that town. They took 196 horses still able to work into action, but all were completely exhausted. They were still being kept under saddle till nightfall. In June, the regiment was 'remounted up to 556 horses, mostly Hungarians, flat catchers, of whom not 10% lasted.' The expression 'flat catcher' denotes a horse possessed of good looks with hardly any other desirable qualities.

Anyone who had the misfortune to be issued with one of these horses would have endorsed every word that Lieut. Head wrote about them. He goes on to give the following details: 'In two days trek of 20 miles each, 31 Hungarians died, 20 were abandoned and 72 sent to hospital. Rather more than 3 horses fell out every mile.' Casualties were replaced partially by the issue of 59 remounts who had recovered their condition in the Veterinary Hospital.

In the next trek of 120 miles, no less than 64 horses died or had to be destroyed, and 130, mostly Hungarians were sent to hospital. Losses then fell off, and in October 93 Colonial ponies were received, whom did good service. In January 1901, the regiment was remounted to 406, mostly on North Americans. As a rule these horses did well and were liked.

An order now came out that if a horse had a sore back the trooper was crimed and had to march as an infantryman till the horse recovered. In April transport was provided on which horse rugs were carried. Each weighed 12lb and made a very great difference indeed to the condition of the horses, as the winters from April to September are bitterly cold on the high veldt.

In July the troop horses were almost all Colonials, any remaining Hungarians having been exchanged for them. On the 9th November the last English troop horse was shot in action. He belonged to a trumpeter and had never been sick or sorry. Not many English horses survived the ordeal of the first year. The Author knew one, a stocky well-built horse, bought out of a butcher's cart, who was ridden by the same man for 18 months in the ranks and for the rest of the war as an officer's charger. The old horse returned to England, having never been unfit for duty. For the remainder of the war the regiment had work which was possible for the horses, now properly fed and rugged at night in the winter. The summary of the losses in horseflesh is as follows:

On the 30th June 1902, there remained 540 remounts with the regiment. Lieut. Head's estimate of the distance covered was 6,116 miles in a straight line. He considered that 'reconnaissance and scouting would probably double this, making the total distance covered 12,232 miles; and that 'On this liberal basis one horse was used up for every 31/2 miles covered'. He concludes 'I hope next time we shall do better'. It is doubtful if men who have taken part in operations of this sort will disagree with the above figures showing mileage. No South African road or any other unfenced wagon track is ever straight for more than a few hundred yards and troops on widely spaced flanking duties can easily cover double the distance marched by the main body.

The wastage of saddles was appalling – long marches on insufficient food and water broke the troop horses down in very large numbers and a horse foundered and left out on the flanks of an advance on a wide front meant a saddle lost, for the enemy, or the nearest African, would never leave a saddle lying. In one trek of 175 miles in bitter cold with hardly any grazing, one Regular regiment lost 70 sets of saddlery, perforce abandoned.

The late Major Wilton kept the cutting, as an example of what the troop horse was actually carrying on active service.

South Africa. Weighed in the Field, from The Times of the 7th March 1901. Name of the Regiment not given.

The average weight carried by 'the enemy' would be about 16 stones and many of their men would have two ponies apiece.