Horses—An allowance of 3 feet is generally made for the breadth of each horse standing at picket; and about 9 feet for the length of a horse.
A light dragoon horse, mounted and accoutred complete, carries about 2 cwt. 1 qr. and 14 lbs. without forage.
Horses in the service of artillery should not be made to draw above 3 cwt. each, besides the weight of the carriage.
Horses for this service should never be lower than 14³⁄₄ hands. The contractor is obliged to furnish them of this height for government.—A horse is generally supposed equal to five men.
Military horses walk about 400 yards in 4¹⁄₂ minutes.
Trot the same distance in 2 minutes 3 seconds, and gallop it in about 1 minute.
With great burthens, less weight must be allowed for each horse to draw, than with medium burthens; as it cannot be supposed that, of a team of 8 horses, the leaders can draw so much as the horses nearer the carriage; and this disadvantage must increase as the team lengthens. A team of
| 4 | horses | may | draw | 6 | cwt. | each. | Tot. | 24 | cwt. | |
| 6 | Do. | — | — | 5 | do. | do. | — | 30 | do. | |
| 8 | Do. | — | — | 4 | ¹⁄₂ | do. | do. | — | 36 | do. |
| 12 | Do. | — | — | 4 | do. | do. | — | 48 | do. |
including the carriages. See also the word [Load].
It is usual in heavy carriages to reckon all their weight exceeding 12 cwt. as part of the load.