WHEN MOUNTED MEN WERE NEEDED

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21529, 16 December 1939, Page 35 (Supplement)

WHEN MOUNTED MEN WERE NEEDED

BOER WAR RECRUITING

Riding Tests In Alexandra Square Recruiting for the Boer War had its humorous side and there are still those who look back with a chuckle to the riding tests which were held in Alexandra Square. As the South African campaign was essentially one for mounted men, volunteers before acceptance were required to show at least an elementary efficiency in horsemanship. A great many of the recruits had never been on a horse before and their attempts to put their mounts through their paces were ludicrous. Others more by good luck than good management fulfilled the minimum requirements in spite of their inexperience. The following passage from a Wellington journal is illuminating: “Lord

Kitchener wants men who can ride and shoot. Some of the men of the Eighth do not answer both requirements (if either). The first mounted parade which took place in camp on Saturday afternoon, under the direction of Lieutenant Davies, Staff Inspector, was matched with a great deal of Interest. No. 1 troop was only 50 strong owing to the absence of saddles, but the spectacle was none the less amusing and instructive to on-lookers. The men were each served with a saddle and bridle, and it was plainly evident, when they reached the horse lines, that some were unfamiliar with the work of saddling up. Further trouble began when the word was given to mount. Being unfamiliar with the military double bridle, not a few of the men pulled on the kerb, with the result that their horses protested in an upsetting manner. One Aucklander was in this way pulled over his horse, the rider landing underneath and receiving some bruises. There were other entertaining incidents. Lieutenant Davies called out for ‘some of you fellows who cannot ride,’ and some half-dozen likely looking chaps gave themselves away by obeying this comand. There was a general laugh at this, as every man in camp was supposed to have passed a riding testl”