324 FREDERICK AND WARhim in the wars. He indulged his love of open fires by having holes
knocked through the roofs of his lodgings; he was careful to compen-
sate his landlords, and in 1778 he went so far as to buy a whole house
at Schatzlar in Bohemia, which made him, he was amused to think, a
subject of Maria Theresa and Joseph. He eagerly awaited the consign-
ments of a fine young white cheese, called Fromage de la Poste de
Meaux, which came to him regularly in its distinctive pots of white,
glass-like earthenware, and 'on his campaigns he took more snuff
than ever. He came into close proximity with his soldiers, as he rode,
walked or stood among them, and he evidently needed some preven-
tive against the foul stench of those common folk' (Biisching, 1788,
30).
Frederick always attached the first importance to his physical
mobility: 'I am up and about when I am ill, and in the most appalling
weather. I am on horseback when other men would be flat out on
their beds, complaining. We are made for action, and activity is the
sovereign remedy for all physical ills' (Catt, 1884, 90). On his cam-
paigns Frederick took with him a considerable string of horses (no less
than thirty-six at the beginning of the Seven Years War). These
animals were schooled to be calm and responsive, and they derived
their turn of speed from their English birth: 'The kind he uses is of the
large sort, about fifteen hands or upwards, with strong bones and easy
motions, and what he calls the ancient race of English horses (for he
does not like the fine, delicate and slight kind)' (Mitchell, 1850, I,
403). Frederick kept a list of his horses on his person, and he all too
often had to consult it after his mounts were killed in a battle. Out of
consideration for his favourite Cerberus, a fine black horse with a
white blaze and fetlock, he decided to ride Scipio instead on the day of
Kunersdorf. In the event poor Scipio was killed, and so was a re-
mount.
Frederick's choice of dogs also represented a considered judg-
ment. His favourite kind of animal was a smallish greyhound, a breed
of melancholy and nervous aspect, but a dog that was unmoved by
gunfire and well able to sustain a day's marching (along with all the
necessary canine excursions on the way).
Frederick was a fast if eccentric rider. He never wore spurs, and
instead urged on his horse by tone of voice or (to the outrage of
Seydlitz) by hitting it between the ears with his crook stick. Frederick
wore his stirrups unusually short, by the standards of the time, but he
slouched badly in the saddle, and he not infrequently fell off when his
mind was on other things.
To the end of his campaigning days Frederick travelled in his
coach only when absolutely necessary, and in his old age he could
count on the aid of an experienced groom, whom he had inherited