IX
MISS E. G. BATHER AND MISS DOROTHY RAVENSCROFT
Miss Batheris one of the women whose sporting experiences in pre-war days have been turned to valuable account in the service of her country. Her knowledge of horses, gained in the enjoyment of hunting, has enabled her to undertake the serious and arduous work of running a Remount Depôt for the War Office under Mr. Cecil Aldin, M.F.H.
Many girls who have hunted, or had their own horses, might think that they could easily do remount work; but it is not merely a case of being able to ride well, the riding is only the lightest part of the duties: it is a matter of settling down to a life of real hard work, requiring strength, courage, infinite patience and firmness. That Miss Bather has been able to organise a depôt successfully, and carry on the work entirely with the help of girl workers for over two years, is a tribute to any woman which can only be realised if the exact scope of the work is understood.
The functions of workers at remount depôts are to receive horses and mules which are sent to them, and to make them fit for active service. The animals arrive mostly in rough condition—the horses being of all types, from the heavy draught-horse to thecolonel’s charger. An expert has said: “To be able to do this work, a girl must love her horse for himself; but that is not everything—she must be practical, capable, strong, self-denying, and brave.”
The horses are usually sent to the depôt in mixed batches of thirty or more, dirty in their coats, perhaps thin and out of condition, and often lame or suffering from various ailments.
“It requires quite a lot of pluck in the first instance,” writes Miss Bather, “to unload from the railway trucks, saddle up, and mount those horses that look as if they had been ridden lately, and ride them, each rider leading another horse, to their destination some five miles away.”
The grooming of the horses is hard work and requires considerable strength, even when the horse is quiet; with wild and difficult horses it is necessary to hobble and muzzle them before grooming is possible. They are often deceptively quiet at first, and it may take a few days of bitter experience before the kickers and biters are discovered! Besides the daily grooming, which has to be performed for each horse like a child’s toilet, there is the clipping and singeing. After the grooming comes the work of keeping the stables, which must be cleaned out and disinfected daily; while the harness and “tackle” have to be cleaned and polished. There is also the care of the horses in sickness and convalescence, which requires particular skill and knowledge.
(1) MISS BATHER AND HER “LADS” EXERCISING HORSES(2) SOME OF THE STABLE “HANDS”AlfieriTo face page51
(1) MISS BATHER AND HER “LADS” EXERCISING HORSES(2) SOME OF THE STABLE “HANDS”
Alfieri
To face page51
With regard to the exercising, Miss Bather writes: “This is fraught with difficulties and anxieties, especially with a new lot of horses. To set the pace someone responsible has to lead the string withthe quiet horses that will face the traffic; but though all army horses are supposed to be broken in, I have known our string resemble a Wild West Show!”
An eyewitness described an occasion when she happened to meet Miss Bather’s “lads” out for exercising. One of the horses had taken fright, and, breaking loose, had become entangled in barbed wire near the road. The onlooker states that the girls behaved with the utmost coolness, extricating the struggling horse with courage and skill, and successfully preventing a stampede among the other horses.
During the first year of her work about 500 horses passed through Miss Bather’s depôt, and in June, 1917, she completed her second year of work.
Miss Dorothy Ravenscroft is another lady who has been doing similar work for the War Office.
She is responsible for a remount depôt at Chester, where, with the help of twelve girl assistants, forty horses at a time are prepared for active service. The horses here are mostly officers’ cobs and chargers, and, as at the other depôts, the girl workers do the entire work of the stables, as well as the exercising, grooming, and feeding of the horses.
The post of superintendent of a Remount Depôt is one of considerable responsibility, for the success of a depôt depends largely upon the personality of the responsible head. Her life is necessarily one of continual anxiety, not only for the horses, but for her girl workers, who need to be chosen carefully; the work is far too great a strain physically and mentally for girls under twenty. Writing to a friend recently, a superintendent said with truth: “One’snerves need to be made of iron; I am wondering how much longer mine will stand the strain.”
This is a question that women must be asking themselves in almost every branch of war work to-day, for all work just now is at high pressure. But the women at home are inspired with the same spirit as the men in the trenches, and are equally prepared to go on until they drop.
DR. FLORENCE STONEY MISS EDITH STONEYTo face page53
DR. FLORENCE STONEY MISS EDITH STONEY
To face page53