The training of officers of all grades must be such that solicitude for the condition of horses on the march is second nature; constant effort should be made, however severe the work, to stimulate the pride of the trooper in having and in keeping his mount in fit condition; if such stimulus is ineffective then the remedy, if the trooper is at fault, lies in other directions. Under favorable conditions field service offers the best opportunity for conditioning the horses and hardening the men.
978. Preparation: Responsibility for the timely ordering of necessary preparations preliminary to leaving a permanent camp or station rests with the commander. All probable needs of the command for the service on which ordered should be anticipated, instructions prepared, verified, and issued once in complete form, and no departure therefrom permitted. The march order proper for the actual movement of the command conforms to the requirements of Field Service Regulations. An order or memorandum of service calls will be issued and distributed in ample time the night before beginning a march stating the hour for reville, stables, and breakfast and such other duties as can reasonably be anticipated.
Except on account of imperative military reasons, Cavalry should not leave camp for an hour or more after daylight. If grazing is depended upon, this is especially necessary, since horses as a rule graze more freely in the early morning when rested. Ample time should be allowed after reville for grooming and feeding and thereafter for the men to breakfast. All stable duties should be done quietly and without hurry or confusion under the immediate supervision of troop and squadron commanders. In each troop a man is detailed to walk the picket line while grain is being fed, to look out for the horses generally and to take off the feed or the nose bag of a horse as soon as he has finished feeding.
The signals for striking tents (the general), for policing, saddling, and beginning the march should be ordered personally by the commanding officer and only when the duties pertaining to the previous signal are completed.
979. The march, its length and rate: The average daily march of a Cavalry column of the size of a squadron, or larger, is about 25 miles when horses are in condition; when starting on long-distance marches the rate per day for the first few days should be less than 20 miles and gradually increased. These rules may necessarily be modified, even when horses are not in fit condition, by reason of emergencies, character of roads or weather, proximity of water, grazing, etc., but, with these exceptions, the question of the length of the daily march is one of good judgment and experience on the part of the commander. The gait and pace of the daily march are influenced by both the time the horse is to carry the load and the distance to be covered. The quicker a march can be completed without forcing the less the fatigue to both horse and man. Where the footing is good, the road level, and other considerations do not hamper the column, after the first or a subsequent halt, may advance first by leading dismounted, then mount and walk, then trot, a short gallop (exceptional), then the trot, followed by the walk to the next halt. No gait is to be maintained continuously long enough to weary either horse or man, neither must it be changed too frequently in long columns; but whatever pace or gait is taken it should conform to the standards (par. 279). The officer setting the pace should occasionally drop back to observe its effect on the column, and veterinarians, if present, should be habitually utilized for this purpose.
The walk, if the footing is good, should be at the rate of 4 miles per hour, exclusive of halts; the trot at 8 miles per hour, so as to facilitate posting; the gallop, a very exceptional gait even for small commands, should be not faster than the maneuvering gallop (par. 236), and its practicability will depend upon the training and condition of the horses, since on long marches, unless accustomed to this gait with packed saddles, the horses will soon break down.
Very rarely, however, will the conditions allow the regular arrangement of gaits indicated above. Rolling country, with ascents and descents, stretches of hard or stony road or of mud, dust, or sand, crossings of streams, etc., will ordinarily impose corresponding changes of gait or pace on each of the small elements of the column as it reaches them. To provide for this the troops in route column, when so directed, take greater distances than prescribed in order to allow for closing up at checks.
The commander must give this matter unremitting attention, since normal route-order distances in column frequently entail discomfort to the men and sometimes injuries to the horses which might have been avoided.
Unless under exceptional circumstances, the commander of a marching column will authorize each troop commander to so regulate the gait and pace of his troop as to conform to that next in front, the gait and pace of the leading troop being regulated by the commander himself. This results in each troop changing to the trot, walk, leading dismounted, etc., at the same place at which the leading troop did, and although regulation distances, are frequently exceeded, the tendency on all stretches of good road is to close on the leading troop of the column. With care this method of marching should result in enabling each troop in the column to move with almost the same regularity and freedom from checks as though it were in the lead.
The fast rate of march that can be expected of small detachments and of single riders can not be demanded of a long Cavalry column, and as the command increases in size the rate of march will decrease. The regulation gaits being, at the walk, 4 miles, the trot, 8 miles, Cavalry should be able to make, including halts, 5 miles per hour or better. This rate can be maintained for daily marches of 25 miles under ordinary conditions for a week at a time, after which a day of rest should be allowed before continuing the march.