Irregularities occurring on the line of march should be detected by the officer. If men injure and wear out their horses by rolling about in the saddle, he is to blame, for he should have at once detected it, and applied the remedy.

These things can never be seen unless looked for, and if all the officers of the squadron ride at the head of it, their backs are turned towards what is occurring. Where horses are concerned nothing can take the place of the eye of the master.

The troop officer should ride in no fixed position on the march; first on one side of the column, then on the other, now halting and letting his horses pass him, now riding behind and looking at them from the rear. Such supervision repays itself a hundred fold, while the moral effect cannot be overestimated.

General causes of injury
Every injury to back, shoulders or other part of the body due to saddles, harness or collars, is brought about by one of two means, or a combination of the two:

 1. By friction.

 2. By pressure.

Whether the injury consists of a few hairs rubbed off, or a swelling on the withers the size of a child's head, the cause is as above.

From what has been said in dealing with the structure of the back, no difficulty will be experienced in understanding how friction or pressure acts: the one wears away the part by rubbing, the other by partly or entirely cutting off the blood supply.