Page 325 - The History of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps 1962–2021

THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY VETERINARY CORPS 1962 – 2021
these two and now used in most MoD sites where there is limited access but secure areas within the complex. This is a new type of dog and has only been in use since last year (1983). As his title suggests, he is taught to bite only the arm in making his arrest.
It is important to stress that all Army dogs will only act on command from their handlers. Otherwise, they are quite docile and no real threat to humans. On the other hand, if a dog has just been working and is excited it is common sense to keep one’s distance!
All dogs in the Army, in both the UK and overseas, pass through the school and are profes- sionally trained. On completion of their training, they are sent to user units worldwide to take-up duty. Periodically they returned for refresher training. As Warrant Officer Alan Bowen, the Chief Trainer explained: “It is rather like having your car serviced – the dog comes back here if he’s become a bit lazy or is out of training, just to put him on form again.”
One thing trainers try to avoid during the whole process is their dogs becoming “padding-happy.” Unavoidably, trainers playing the role of the delinquent must protect themselves and the dogs can get accustomed to tearing the padding rather than the body.
Sack, switch and sleeve baiting are designed to correct a padding-happy dog, while at the same time encourage his natural aggression.
Dogs at various stages of training are lined-up and kept on a short lead by their trainers. Then one trainer goads them all into a fury until the trainers give them the command to attack.
“It’s a curious thing,” said Captain Rossell, “but dogs are far more aggressive in groups than on their own. One dog barking and snarling gives all the others confidence and then they’re all at it. I suppose it is a bit like a drunk in the pub saying: ‘Hold me back, or I’ll kill him!’”
Some softer animal lovers might baulk at this sort of training but let us not forget that these are working dogs that save the Army manpower. (One dog can do the job of four foot patrols). They also save lives. That alone justifies the training but this aside, there is no doubt that dogs enjoy leading a useful life with the Army.
“You see, you have to remember,” reminded Captain Rossell, “that it is all a marvellous game to them. They’re happy when they’re working because it stops them getting bored.”
This appears to be true of the humans at the Melton Mowbray School as well – man and dog
working in perfect harmony.30
1986... Shoe a Horse in NBC Kit!
Dirty, noisy, potentially quite hazardous – hardly the formula, perhaps, for popular success. Yet, judging by the number of soldiers in the modern British Army who would evidently love nothing better than shoeing horses, the Army School of Farriery at Melton Mowbray is doing very well.
In fact, there are enough people in this age of sophis- ticated electronics still interested in good old-fashioned technology to ensure a three year waiting list for this particular place of learning.
The school takes in thirty new students a year, all of whom do a thirteen-week course at the start of what can be, according to WO1 Brian Duerden, the Warrant Officer in charge, a lifetime’s apprenticeship.
“It is said that this job takes three lifetimes to master fully,” he says. “One to learn it, one to do it and one to teach it!”
WO1 Duerden is an Associate of the Worshipful Company of Farriers and the sole survivor of, what was once, an important rank in the Army – the Farrier WO1. There were at least ten of them before the Second World War.
The sort of man he looks for as a potential student has a reasonable school education, a keen eye for detail and measurement, and a willingness to work hard in dirty and sometimes hazardous conditions: According to the WO1: “He should also appreciate that he is working with animals, and for a human to work with animals is a vocation and not a job.”
Perhaps this is the reason that the trade of farrier appeals so much to some people. It is not like sticking a bit of metal onto a machine. At the other end of the hoof being tipped with iron shoes is a large sensitive animal which is fully capable of throwing its weight around if upset.
“It is really man working along with living tissue,” says WO1 Brian Duerden. “Applying an inanimate object to living tissue. Not a thing that can be learned from textbooks. It is pretty much a case of being handed down from man to man.”
The initial thirteen-week course, which should take the novice to Farrier Class 3, is nothing more than a selection test, according to the WO in charge.
“It in no way qualifies him for anything,” he explains, “it just says: yes, we will now take this man on for a future as a farrier. There is then a minimum of two years on the job training, either here with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, or the Household Cavalry or King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery. During this time, they are continually shoeing under the constant supervision of a qualified farrier.”
30 Soldier Magazine dated 10th September 1984.
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