Horses fit for purpose.

Just out of interest were the horse’s used in the Zulu war purchased locally. Or did they sail with the troops from England. Not sure how long it would take to get from England to the Cape but it was more that a few weeks.

If they did sail with the troops.?

How did they keep the food fresh?

Were they given exercise, or were they expected to stand in a stall for the whole journey.

Of course I suppose they could have stopped at various ports on the way to refresh feed and exercise the animals on land.

Any comments welcome.

hi 24th.
basically all the horses were purchased locally, which caused the death of many colonial troops, and of course the PRINCE IMPERIAL, as they hadnt been trained in any kind of warfare, and when the guns went off ,SO DID THEY.
( not wishing to make light of the matter!). one officer paid 50 quid for a horse or it may have been more, and it had died within a fortnight, there are many instances of horse purchasing in the referance books. the locals made a killing
selling horses, wagons, cattle ,oxen etc etc. the only horses from the u.k were the DRAGOONS and LANCERS horses.
they came on the ships with the troops, not much exercise im afraid, they landed in fairly ordinary condition, and then they werent keen on the african fodder, which was the only food available to them. i think it took 2 to 3 weeks for them to recover, before they could be of any service. not sure of the mortality rate amongst the cavalry horses, but the local
horse fever could be a dangerous thing, but if the horse survived , it was said they wouldnt catch it again. if i get a chance i will try and find the name of the disease.

cheers 90th.

hi 24th.
from IAN KNIGHTS , COMPANION TO THE ZULU WAR.

Red water- or equine babeosis , a disease spread by ticks that were endemic across natal and zululand in the long grass where african cattle roamed , was one of a number of complaints which plagued horses in sthn africa. even more damaging was HORSE SICKNESS, spread by insects , particularly in hot, wet summer months. mortality among those infected was above 50 per cent , and animals died of chronic respiratory or cardiac failure. although many british officers had transferred their favourite chargers to NATAL with them, many came to prefer the local horses, the CAPE-HORSE or an offshoot known as a BASOTHO PONY. as i said in my previous post, once horses had contracted these diseases and survived, they became highly sort after, as they were immune to the risk of further diseases.
cheers 90th.

The Graphic March 1879.

Departure from Victoria Docks of the 17th Lancers Horses and all.

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S.D

The average crossing from England to the Cape was between 5-6 weeks.