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^^fejhsHeir Famiiy Libiafy of Veterinarv. tlkXiioi,^

CummiiHiP* Sdno'^l ^'' Vf-terinaty iVidCbcine at

Tufts Univ/ersity

200 WestixKo Road

North Grafton MA 0153P

HORSE-BREEDING

IN

ENGLAND AND INDIA

AND

ARMY HORSES ABROAD

Horse-Breeding

IN

England and India

AND

Army Horses Abroad

BY

SIR WALTER GILBEY, BART.

ILLUSTRATED

LONDON ;
Vinton & Co., Ltd., q New Bridge Street, E.G.

1901

CONTENTS

Horse-Breeding in 1884

342,222 Horses Imported in Ten Years

^16,240,700 Paid Away in Ten Years . .

Exports of Horses

Disappointing Results of Our Policy

Horses Bred for Sport Only

Purchase of English Mares by Foretgxeks

Horses Wanted for the Army

Sizeable Horses Wanted

Private Enterprisf. in England

Breeding Without Prejudice

Landlords would do well to give a Choice of Sires

Sixty Years of Horse-Breeding has ended in Failure

The Race-Horse of the Eighteenth Century

Race-Horses Early in the Nineteenth Century

The Introduction of Short Races

The Roadster of a Century Ago

What Foreign Nations are doing

Horse-Breeding in France

Horse-Breeding in Germany . .

Horse-Breeding in Hungary . .

Horse-Breeding in Austria

Horse-Breeding in Italy

Horse-Breeding in Russia

Horse-Breeding in Turkey

Horse-Breeding in India :

Opinions of the Late Veterinary Colonel Hallen —

First endeavours to improve Native Breeds. Army Remounts
and Horse-Breeding. Native Mares. Difficulties in the way of
improvement. Purchase of stallions. English Thoroughbreds.
Objections to Thoroughbred Stallions. Thoroughbreds from
Australia. Hackney Stallions. Results of using Thoroughbred,
Hackney and Arab .Stallions. Thoroughbred and Arab Sives in
Bombay Presidency. Relative merits of young stock by various
stallions. Commission of Inquiry 1900. Errors in working the Horse-
Breeding Scheme. Demand for horses for sport in India. Stallions
overworked. Small size of the Arab. Climate and size of the hor.se
Opinions of Major-General Sir John Watson —

Work of Old Bengal Studs. Shortcomings of existing system.
Indiscriminate breeding. Character of mares ignored. Hopelessness
of evolving an Anglo-Indian horse

PAGE

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4(>-54

54-5'^

ILLUSTRATIONS

A Cover Hack, the property of the Ninth Duke of Hamilton Fiojitispiece
Hunter Sire — Cognac . . . . . . . . . . 6

Shark

Hambletonian

Orville

Mango

King George IV's Hackney — Monitor . .

Anglo-Norman Stallion — Radziwill . .

Oldenbourg Mares

II
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15
16
18

23
29

PRE FA CE

For fifty years endeavours have been made to establish a
better system of horse-breeding in England ; but nevertheless
we are farther than ever from being independent of foreign
countries; and horses for military purposes are those which
we most lack.

The brief account of the Continental stud establishments
given in the following pages shows how fully foreign peoples
realise the importance of encouraging horse-breeding, and the
value they set on English breeding-stock.

Without wishing to see the Continental system of horse-
breeding by Government adopted in England, we in this
country may perhaps profitably study foreign methods, to the
advantage of our private studs.

Elsenham Hall, Essex
2nd September, 1901

HORSE-BREEDING
IN ENGLAND AND INDIA

AND

ARMY HORSES ABROAD

Horse-Breeding in 1884.

It is now seventeen years since I drew attention '■ to the
neglect displayed in England in the breeding of Horses.
Stress was then laid upon our increasing dependence on
foreign countries for supplies of horses of the generally useful
stamp ; and upon the mistaken policy of selling to Contmental
buyers the mares we might with profit to ourselves retain
for breeding purposes at home, if such mares are properly
mated.

The necessity for adopting measures to alter the state of
affairs then existing was generally acknowledged ; but no
progress has been made in the desired direction, while the
nation's wants in horseflesh have steadily increased.

342,222 Horses Imported in Ten Years.

Horse-breeders in the United Kingdom have been, and
still are, unable to supply the national requirements, and, as
a consequence, we are compelled to import foreign horses.

* A Paper read in 1884 at the Farmers'' Club. With Discussion thereon
by the Duke of Westminster, Earl Carrington, Sir Nigel Kingscote,
Mr. Edmund Tattersall, and others.

Year by year we obtain horses from abroad in increasing
numbers, paying away each year larger sums into the pockets
of foreigners ; in the last twenty years our imports have grown
over fivefold, as the following figures from the Government
Returns show : —

Ten Years, 1881—1890 Ten Years, 1891—1900

1881 9,950

1891

21,715

1882 8,827

1892

21,026

1883 9,627

1893

13,719

1884 12,928

1894

22,866

1885 13,023

1895

34.092

1886 11,027

1896

40,677

1887 11,649

1897

49,519

1888 11,504

1898

42,921

1889 13,859

1899

43,900

1890 19,404

1900

51,787

121,798 Horses

342,222 Horses

The disturbing feature about these figures is their
increasingly rapid growth, more especially if they are regarded
from the military point of view.

In peace time the Remount Department had to send
officers to Canada and America to purchase horses for military
purposes in England. In the year i886 the late General
Ravenhill, who was then at the head of the Department, visited
Canada with a staff of officers for this purpose.

With regard to the figures for the year 1900, which
show such a marked increase, it may be said that this unusual
advance was due to the demand for horses in South Africa.
Large numbers were required in England to replace omnibus
and van horses which had been taken by the War Office under
the subsidy system, and many were imported by dealers with
a view of selling them to the Remount buyers.

;^i6,240,7oo Paid Aw.w in Ten Years.

Assuming that the average value of these foreign horses
is ^35 per head, Ave have, during the last ten years, paid away to
foreign breeders the sum of ;^i 6,240,700, or nearly sixteen
millions and a quarter.

It is true that the increase during recent years is
accounted for in large degree by the number of small
and cheap ponies, and of " misfits " used for tramcar,
omnibus, and similar work. The ponies are worth little —
£^ or £% per head would fairly represent their market value —
and the omnibus horses are not animals of the stamp at whose
production it would pay us to aim, being worth from £i^ to
£l>5 psr head. But, at the same time, it cannot be disputed
that our annual imports include very many thousands of
horses which would pay English breeders handsomely to
produce for themselves.

Exports of Horses.

The Government Returns of horses which leave England
for all countries abroad show that during the last four years
our exports are as follows : —

1897 •

■• 34>47i

1898 .,

•• 36,412

1899 .

■• 33>7oi

1900

■• 30,545

Disappointing Results of Our Policy.

Is our position to-day any better than it was in the year
1884 ? On the contrary, it has gone from bad to worse, and
we are now more dependent than ever upon foreign countries
for horses.

Royal Commissions have taken volumes of evidence on
the subject. Most important among these Commissions was
that generally known as Lord Rosebery's Committee, w-hich
was appointed in 1873 "To Enquire into the Condition of the
Country with regard to Horses, and its Capabilities of Supplying
any Present or Future Demands for them." The Committee
held 16 sittings and examined numerous witnesses concerning
the breeding of horses for purposes other than sport.

The evidence showed that there appeared to be no scarcity
of Thoroughbreds, but that there was a general decrease in

3

the number of horses of other breeds — viz., in agricultural
horses and Cleveland Bays, while the old-fashioned Hackney
or Roadster had become extremely rare.

It is strange to notice the bias in the minds of the
Committee ; no witness was encouraged to continue his
evidence unless he spoke in favour of breeding from Thorough-
bred stallions.

The Committee reported that the deficiency in supplies of
useful horses was attributable to (i) the export of mares;
(2) the increased profits accruing to sheep and cattle-rearing;
and (3) the increased demand for horses consequent on increase
of population and affluence, which produced relative scarcity.

The Committee made various recommendations ; the only
one adopted by the House of Commons, however, was that
which advised the abolition of taxes on horses, which, it was
held, in some measure deterred farmers from breeding.

The weak point in the work accomplished by this Com-
mission was that the members betrayed no inclination to hear
evidence concerning horses with substance ; this very important
department of the industry was apparently considered outside
the scope of the enquiry, as was the subject of breeding such
horses as are needed for artillery.

This attitude on the part of the Committee was the
more singular, inasmuch as the little evidence that was given
indicated the high and increasing value set upon harness horse-
breeding stock by the Governments of France, Italy, Germany,
Austria and other Continental countries, which for many years
have devoted great attention and very large sums of money to
the solution of the very question Lord Rosebery's Committee
was appointed to investigate — namely, the supply of horses of
the useful stamp.

Since this Committee sat much has been done by private
enterprise to repair our deficiencies ; no fewer than twelve
Societies have been established and have promoted Shows to
encourage breeding. At a rough estimate, the amount of money
distributed in prizes at Shows held throughout England may
be put at between ;^25,ooo and ;;^35, 000 per annum.

In addition to these endeavours to awaken the country
and breeders to our needs, the sum of ^5,000 since the year
1887 has annually been granted by Government to encourage
horse-breeding. The greater part of this money for more than
a century had been given by the reigning sovereign in the
shape of Royal Plates.

In 1887 the Royal Commission on Horse-Breeding was
appointed, and one of the first recommendations of this body
was that the sum of ^3,500 which had been given by Queen
Victoria in prizes for races should be diverted to the use to
which it is now applied — namely, in giving premiums to
thoroughbred stallions.

Books, pamphlets and newspaper articles beyond count
have been written to demonstrate our needs and urge effort to
improve, but without appreciable result.

Horses Bred for Sport Only.

.Since the end of the coaching era — say since 1850 — we have
been breeding, as at the present day, almost exclusively for
pleasure, and not for business, and this is just where our
weakness lies.

The only animals for business purposes which receive
the meed of attention their importance deserves are the heavy
draught-horses — the Shire, Suffolk and Clydesdale.

We are far ahead of any other nation as breeders of race-
horses, hunters and polo-ponies — horses used in sport — w'e
spare neither money nor pains to breed the best, but in
aiming at production of these we either hit the mark or miss
lit altogether.

We prefer a Thoroughbred sire, not because he has bone,
substance and soundness, but because he is a Thorough-
bred. The owner of a mare does not inquire concerning
the make and shape of the stallion; he asks, "How is he
bred ? " and a fashionable pedigree is the strongest — nay,
the only — recommendation he will accept.

This was not always the case ; between the years 1800
and 1850, broadly speaking, Hunter sires were used to beget
Hunter stock. It is true that breeders of Hunters did not
confine themselves exclusively to the use of such sires, for the
increased speed of hounds obliged them to produce faster
horses ; but such animals as Cognac, whose portrait is here
given, were very largely used, to the great benefit of the
Hunter. Cognac belonged, in the words of a writer in
the Sporting Magazine of the year 1836, "to a race of Hunters
nearly extinct, and justly celebrated for their high courage,
honesty and stoutness." Because the Thoroughbred sire of a
former generation was successfully used to beget Hunters, w^e
have taken for granted that his greatly altered modern
descendant is equally suitable for the purpose ; and herein to
a great extent lies the reason of our failure.

There must always be a large proportion of disappointments
in stud work ; the number of failures or misfits will always
exceed the good ones, and the misfit got by a Thoroughbred
from, say, a Hunter-mare already full of Thoroughbred blood is
only too often a misfit in the fullest sense of the Avord — a
disappointment to the breeder, too light for army work, and
scarcely fit for useful purposes — in homely language it is a
" weed."

Purchase of English Mares by Foreigners.

In France, Germany, Hungary and other foreign countries
breeders work on very different lines. They breed for business,
not for pleasure ; their aim is to produce the highest stamp
of useful horse. With this definite object they have for sixty
years and more been buying English mares, free from bias in
favour of one strain or another. Geldings the foreign breeders
scarcely ever purchase from us. The larger number of mares
bought by them are those which have been accidentally
blemished ; but in all cases the shape and not the pedigree of the
mare guides the purchaser. They also buy sound young mares
for work, and with the \\q\x of breeding from them afterwards.

In addition to their annual purchases of many thousand
English mares, foreign breeders have, since about 1830, been
our best customers for Hackney stallions. Foreign stud
masters in the great horse-rearing districts can now show us
distinct and well-marked breeds of useful horses which they
have gradually produced by judiciously mating the mares
they have bought from us. Had those mares been retained
in England it is not likely that they would have benefited the
nation ; they would, in all probability, have been put to
Thoroughbred stallions, with the results described by Lord
Cathcart.*

The point on which particular stress must be laid is
that, owing to the method of breeding on the Continent, the
foreigners' misfits are unlike ours. The foreigner may — he
necessarily often does — fail to produce a youngster that will
sell in the most remunerative market, i.e., as a carriage-horse ;
but the misfit is not a weed, it is useful for general purposes.

Horses Wanted for the Army.

The War Office authorities have recently been bombarded
with schemes and suggestions — good, bad, and impossible —
for increasing the home-bred supply of remounts.

It is certain that there will be an enormous demand in the
future for horses both large and small for military purposes.

In the year 1900 a large increase was made in one arm
which involves a large increase in the number of horses which
will be needed. Fifty-four new batteries of Artillery have been
raised ; on a peace footing each of these requires 58 horses,
or a total of 3,132. The war establishment of a battery of
Royal Field Artillery is 131 horses ; 7,074 additional horses
would therefore be required to equip the new batteries for
active service.

* Half-Byed Horses for Field and Road : TJieir Byeeding and Management,"
by Earl Cathcart, in the Journal of the Royal AgricuUural Society of
England, 1883,

Among the many subjects which are sure to occupy an
important place in the (juestions of Army Reform, the supply
of suitable horses for military purposes must engage serious
attention. It may be suggested that Britain's position as a
colonising nation, while it casts upon her larger responsibilities
of preparedness for war, lends her larger opportunities of
meeting those responsibilities. It would be impossible in
these islands to find ground for breeding-studs on the scale
that would enable us to meet a demand for all the horses we
might recjuire for warfare on any extensive scale.

If I may venture an opinion, our policy should be to
encourage in our Colonies — Canada, Australia, and South
Africa, more especially, as possessing soil and climate suitable
for the industry — the breeding of horses of the useful type
required for military service. There is space to conduct these
operations on a large scale in the Colonies, while the mission
of the mother country might well be to continue, as at present,
breeding the best of every strain as a source of supply to
Colonial breeders who may seek to improve their local stock.

Before any great change is made in the existing method
of obtaining Remounts, the Government might profitably send
to inspect and report on the great studs of France, Germany,
Hungary, Russia and other countries.

Such inspections may have been made officially, but the
Reports have not been made accessible to the breeders of this
country. It goes without saying that the choice of agents to
make such inspections and reports must be a matter of great
difficulty. The agent must be a man possessed of practical
experience in horse-breeding, and not in breeding only one
class of horse. The man who has devoted himself exclusively
to the production of one class of horse, whether the race-horse
or the hunter, cannot rid himself of the prejudices he has
necessarily formed in the course of his experience as a breeder
of race-horses or hunters — he cannot put aside his bias in favour
of a horse suitable for sport. Few breeders devote themselves
to the production of several classes of horse ; and the successful
men among these few are naturally disinclined to leave their

8

business for a prolonged tour through the horse-breeding
districts of Europe.

Sizeable Horses Wanted.

I stated, in my address seventeen years ago, that EngHsh
horses suitable for match pairs— square made, sizeable and
having courage and action — could then be scarcely obtained ;
and the statement is equally true to-day. I also stated that it
was only necessary to visit the yards of our metropolitan and
country dealers to discover how difficult and costly a matter it
was then to find a London brougham-horse or a match pair
from 15.3 to 16.2 hands in height. A similar mission might
be undertaken to-day with the certainty of encountering
precisely the same difficulty.

Hundreds of pairs of carriage and coach horses have
been sold every year in London at from ^200 to ^500 a
pair, the purchasers being quite unaware of their foreign
origin. At recent sales brown and bay, upstanding coach-
horses from coaches running during the summer out of London
have sold at from 100 to 200 guineas ; a pair purchased by a
friend cost 350 guineas. There can be no doubt whatever
where these animals were bred ; if anyone took the trouble to
trace their pedigree it would be found that they came either
from the Oldenbourg province of Germany or from the horse-
breeding districts of Normandy in France ; there can be no
mistaking the breeds.

This is an anomaly, but one for which it would be
unjust to blame the dealers, for English-bred harness-horses of
the class required have not been bred in any quantity in this
country for more than fifty years.

The enterprising English dealers took measures to meet
their customers' requirements by maintaining on the Continent
agents whose business has been to purchase the most
"English-looking" animals they can find; and it may be
asserted without fear of contradiction that the horses so
purchased are bred from English stock.

Private Enterprise in England.

It is not, I think, desirable that the British Government
should embark upon costly horse-breeding operations in
emulation of foreign powers. Private enterprise in England
has succeeded in producing domestic animals of all kinds so far
superior to those bred in other countries that English stock,
whether Horses, Cattle, Sheep or Swine, are purchased at
"fancy prices " to improve their kind in every civilised part of
the world, and breeding industries would not benefit were the
independence of the individual undermined by Government
help which relieved him from the necessity to exercise his
own energies and judgment.

It must be said, however, that private enterprise is not
always wisely directed. The practice among large landed
proprietors and others of keeping stallions to serve the mares
of their tenants and others at small fees is increasing.

It is an ungrateful task to take exception to a practice
which proves anxiety both to promote the welfare of the
tenants and to encourage the breeding of good horses ; but it
must be pointed out that to keep a Thoroughbred stallion
to serve any or all the mares that may be brought to him,
tends directly to defeat the good objects in view.

Breeding without Prejudice.

It will be seen that none of the Continental Governments
which devote attention to horse-breeding pin their faith to one
single breed and depend upon that to improve all breeds. The
ground plan of the system in each country is to ra'ise the
standard of merit of each breed (i) by providing the best
procurable stallions of that breed for public service at low-
fees, and (2) by affording the owners of mares a certain range
of choice in stallions, that defects may be eliminated or
improvement obtained by judicious crossing.

Where the system of affording owners of mares oppor-
tunity for choosing among various stallions all the best of

10

their kind has been long in vogue we see the resuhs in the
shape of distinct strains which breed true to type ; for example,
in Hungary they have established a breed of saddle-horses ; in
France a distinct strain of carriage horses — the Anglo-Norman
— has been established on so true and constant a basis that
it not only breeds true to type, but can be depended on to
assert itself when crossed with other breeds and stamp its
character upon the progeny.

Landlords would do well to give Choice of Stallions.

Those who desire to assist their tenants can only
accomplish their end by keeping stallions of several breeds.
Let the owner of a mare choose for himself whether
he shall put her to a Thoroughbred, Hunter-sire, Hackney,
Arab, or to a stallion of one of our Draught breeds.

We should then have in operation a system which
combines the invaluable advantage of choice so wisely provided
by foreign stud-masters with that freedom to exercise discretion
and judgment from which none would wish to see our farmers
relieved.

If one landowner be unable or unwilling to maintain such
a stud representative of several breeds, there would be surely
no great difficulty in two or three landlords combining to
maintain a joint stud at one farm ; for the essence of the plan
is to make all the stallions equally accessible.

In this connection I would add that I am no advocate for
horse-breeding by public companies. The business is not one
that lends itself to industrial enterprise in that form.

Sixty Years of Horse-Breeding has Ended
IN Failure.

The figures from the Returns of Horse Imports show that
we have not succeeded in breeding horses for general purposes.
If evidence be required to explain how we have failed to
supply the nation's wants, it is only necessary to refer to the

Reports of the various Commissions which have been appointed
to inquire into the subject of horse-breeding, and more
particularly to the Report of Lord Cathcart already referred to.
Lord Cathcart makes the cogent remark that " in
addition and supplementary to blood we must have substance
from somewhere." The truth is that we have been working
as though blood necessarily gives substance. This was the
case a hundred years ago and less, but is true no longer, and
we must divest ourselves of the idea so resolutely held that
the thoroughbred is the only strain which can improve our
horses. Like foreign breeders, we must seek bone and
substance where those qualities exist and not where tliey only
used to exist.

The Race-Horse of the Eighteenth Cexturv.

The modern race-horse, superior as he is in point of speed
to his ancestors of a hundred and a hundred and fifty years ago,
is wanting in those qualities which would fit him as the sire of
useful horses. Records to show the conditions of distance and
weight in races at Newmarket before the year 1700 are
wanting ; but there is abundant evidence to show us what race-
horses were required to do during the eighteenth century, when
the Turf became an organised institution under the fostering
care of (.)ueen Anne ( 1702- 1 714) and her successors on the
throne.

During the eighteenth century and in the first quarter of
the nineteenth the race-horse was an animal combining speed
with stoutness. The early Thoroughbred averaged little more
than 14 hands 2 inches in height, in this respect resembling the
three famous sires from which our race-horses are descended.
The Byerly Turk, imported in 1689 ; the Darley Arabian,
imported in 1706 ; and the Godolphin Arabian, imported in
1730, were all under 14.2 hands in height. These were the
horses — mere ponies as compared with the Thoroughbred of
to-day — which performed the tasks of which we read in the old

Turf records between 1718 and 1764. In October, 1718, at
Newtnarket, twenty-three matches were made, and in twenty-
two the distance was four miles. Four miles was the usual
length of a race, but races of six miles were quite common, and
a match of the old style was run in three heats ; the weights
were prescribed by law, and varied from ten to twelve stone in
accordance with age.

Six-mile races went out of vogue before the end of the
eighteenth century, but the four-mile races in heats were
continued during the earlier years of the nineteenth, being
maintained by the Royal Plates.

In our endeavour to breed for greater speed we have
produced a bigger and longer striding animal, which is much
higher than his ancestors. Admiral Rous, writing in the year
i860, said that the English race-horse had increased an inch
in height in every twenty-five years since 1700.

Such horses as Shark and Hambletonian, whose portraits
are here given, had bone and substance. The work they
were called upon to perform required the highest qualities
of the horse — stamina, staying-power and ability to carry
weight. Shark was foaled in 1771, and was got by Marsk
from a mare by Snap ; he was bred by Mr. Robert
Pigott, and made his first appearance on a racecourse at the
Newmarket First October Meeting of 1774. He started 29
times and won 19 times, receiving 6 forfeits and paying 4; he
won more money than any horse up to his time.

Shark, like many of our celebrated Thoroughbreds, was
sent to America in 1786, and in Virginia laid the foundation
of the famous Snap blood.

Hambletonian was foaled in 1792; he was got by King
Fergus from a mare by Highflyer, and was bred by Mr.
J. Hutchinson, of Skipton, near York. In 1795 he was sold
to Sir Charles Turner, and by him in the following year to
Sir Henry Vane Tempest. Hambletonian was only once
beaten, and on that occasion (at York August Meeting of 1797)
he ran out of the course just after starting. His most famous

13

achievement was his victory over Mr. Cookson's Diamond on
25th March, 1799, at Newmarket.

These were animals which could be depended to run
three four-mile heats in an afternoon, and could therefore
be depended on to produce stock with their own \'aluable
characteristics. The modern race-horse has undergone a
great change from his progenitor of a century ago, but
nevertheless the modern breeder expects him to beget stock
similar to that got by the old stamp of race-horse, whose
height never exceeded 15 or 15.1 hands.

It is well known that in the breeding of every species of
animal the endeavour to obtain one quality, when it succeeds
to producing the quality sought in greater proportion, often
produces manifest deterioration in other attributes. Such
has been the consequence of aiming solely at speed ; other
essentials, such as strength and endurance, have been in great
measure lost.

I should be the last to deny the merits of the thorough-
bred as a sire for improving our breeds of horses where
quality or speed is required. Foreigners recognise his value in
breeding where speed is needed, and use the thoroughbred
for crossing with sizeable mares, to get strong and useful
stock.

Race-Horses Early in the Nineteenth Century.

Until about 1750 Thoroughbreds were used only in breeding
for the Turf ; but in course of time, as hounds were bred for
greater speed, faster horses were required to follow them, and
there grew up the practice of crossing the Hunter mares with
Thoroughbred sires.

The famous writer, Mr. Cornelius Tongue, best known as
" Cecil," writing in the Sporting Magazine of May, 1851, says
that " it was a prevailing opinion with hunting men until
within the last twenty years that Thoroughbreds were
not calculated for hunting." It would appear, therefore, that

during the twenty years 1831-1851 mentioned, hunting men
changed their opinions with regard to Thoroughbreds, and
came to consider them suitable for riding across country.
Having discovered that the Hunter mare threw a good foal to
the stout Thoroughbred sire, some hunting men, at least,
e\"idently adopted the practice of riding the Thoroughbred
horse as a Hunter instead of using him only as a sire to beget
Hunters. In this connection we must always bear in mind
that the Thoroughbred of the period referred to was still a
stout horse, able to gallop a distance and carry a heavy
weight.

Such a horse as Orville, whose portrait is given, may be
offered as an example of the race-horse of a century ago. This
horse was foaled in 1799, and was by Beningbrough out of
Evelina. He was bred by Earl Fitzwilliam, and between
1 801, when he ran his first race at Doncaster, and the Second
October Meeting at Newmarket in 1807 he fulfilled 22 engage-
ments, of which he won 18. He was second once, received
forfeit once, and walked over once. His successes included
the St. Leger of 1802, and he won races under all weights
(including a King's Plate in 1805 under 12 stone) and at all
distances. On 24th September, 1804, at Doncaster, he won
two races, one in four-mile heats, the other in two-mile heats.
He became, in 1804, the property of Prince George of Wales,
and proved a most successful sire when sent to the stud.
Orville is described as "a good brown."

The Colonel was a good horse of a generation later ; he
was bred by Mr. Wyvill, of Burton Constable, in 1825. After
winning the St. Leger in 1829, he was sold to King George IV.
for ;^4,ooo, and won many important races in 1830 and 1831.
When the Hampton Court stud was dispersed in October,
1837, he was purchased for 1,600 guineas by Mr. Richard
Tattersall.

Mango, whose portrait faces page 16, was foaled and
achieved success on the Turf after The Colonel had retired to
the stud. He was bred in 1834 by Mr. Thornhill, and was by
Emilius out of Mustard. He won many good races for

15

Mr. E. C. Greville, who purchased him, including the St. Leger
of 1837, the Ascot Derby for 3-year-olds, and a King's Plate
before he was sent to the stud in 1838. Mango was a dark
bay, with particularly good legs and well-sprung ribs ; he was
an honest but lazy horse, and to this latter defect he owed
defeat in races he should have won.

The Introduction of Short Races.

The old-fashioned race, run in four-mile heats, began to
grow less popular during the last quarter of the eighteenth
century, and the tendency to reduce the length of races and
also the weights carried became marked in the earlier years of
the nineteenth century. Elsewhere ■'■ an example of the remark-
able change in our Turf system has been given, and may
conveniently be repeated here. At the Newmarket Craven
Meeting of 1820 there was one race of about three miles, five
races of two miles or over, twenty races of about one mile, and
two of under one mile At the Newmarket Craven Meeting
of 1900 there were three races of about one mile and a half, six
of about one mile, and eleven of five or six furlongs.

In 1832 a new schedule of weights was issued for the
Royal Plates. From about this time the system of short races
and light weights began to develop, and as it developed the
character of the race-horse underwent a change. With every
desire to produce Thoroughbreds possessing power as well as
speed, breeders have found themselves unable to reproduce
the former quality and successfully compete for the great
prizes of the Turf. To be successful in these days the race-
horse must possess the utmost speed, but he need not be able
to travel at speed for a greater distance than a mile and a half
at most, and if he can carry 9 stone he is considered a weight
carrier.

* Horses, Past and Present. By Sir Walter Gilbev, Bart. Published
by Vinton & Co., Ltd. 1900

16

w

The Roadster of a Century Ago.

Thoughtful writers foresaw the result of this change in
the English Turf more than 60 years ago, when thoroughbreds
of stamina and substance were far more plentiful than they are
now. The author of " English Racers and Saddle- Horses in
the Past and Present Centuries " * declared that at that date
" There are powerful reasons for concluding that the single
quality of speed possessed by the modern (1836) racer is a
bad substitute for the fine old union of speed, stoutness and
structural power possessed by the old racer." The racer of
the thirties was lighter than his ancestors, but he was far
stouter and truer made than his modern descendant. " The
older race-horses," wrote this author, "were swift enough to
enable the general breeder to produce excellent saddle-horses.
Our roadsters were formerly admirable and plentiful, while at
present a compact and powerful roadster with free action is
scarcely to be bought at any price. It is obvious that the
horses of our cavalry are much deteriorated, and that many of
them could not go through a single campaign."

A fine example of the old-fashioned saddle-horse is shown
in the frontispiece, which is reproduced from George Garrard's
picture of " Archibald, ninth Duke of Hamilton and Brandon,
on a cover hack." This work was engraved and published
in 1797.

Another example of the old-fashioned roadster, whose
disappearance the writer above quoted deplores, is Monitor, a
very fast Hackney which belonged to George IV. That
monarch was passionately fond of horses, and Monitor was
evidently a special favourite, as his portrait was painted by
James Ward, R.A., and exhibited at the Royal Academy in
1825. This horse was a son of the famous Phenomenon, who
traces his descent in a direct line to the Darley Arabian. The
Darley Arabian (foaled 1702) begat Flying Childers (foaled in
1 71 5), who was the speediest race-horse of his time, and was

* English Racers and Saddle-Horses in the Past and Present Centuries.
Published by Thomas Hookham, 15 Old Bond Street, London. 1836.

17

considered by many a better horse than Eclipse. The portrait
of Monitor shows the best stamp of the old Norfolk Hackney ;
muscular, hardy and sound of constitution and limb, this breed
was the ideal roadster.

What Foreign Nations are Doing.

Foreign Governments recognise the fact that they can
learn something from their neighbours ; they give proof of this
by the encouragement they lend to Horse Shows of an Inter-
national character, such as those which have been held in
recent years at Antwerp, Hamburg, Amsterdam, \'ienna,
Brussels, and last year at Paris. These exhibitions afford
opportunities which do not occur otherwise of comparing the
results of various systems and methods of breeding.

A golden opportunity of seeing the stamp of horse each
Government of Europe is striving to produce for military pur-
poses occurred in September, igoo, in the International Horse
Show held at Paris, when the French Government spent upwards
of ;^50,ooo in prizes on erecting suitable buildings, &c., for the
show, which lasted only one week. There were collected
horses of numerous and varied strains from all parts of France,
from Germany, Hungary, Austria, Russia and Turkey. So
excellent an opportunity for comparing a large number of
representative examples of different breeds is unlikely to recur
in our time, and it is a thousand pities that the War Office
authorities did not send one or two competent men to profit
by the wonderful object-lesson there provided.

The army horses of various nations exhibited at the Paris
Show were shown movmted. To demonstrate the results of the
practice of breeding for the various classes of work horses are
required to perform, a selection of sizeable stallions and mares
was first paraded, and these were followed into the ring by a
troop of heavy cavalry mounted on the produce of these
stallions and mares. Then we were shown stallions and
mares of medium size, and with them a detachment of

i8

cavalry mounted on their progeny. After these came stalHons
and mares more highly bred, followed again by a troop of light
cavalry mounted on their progeny. Nothing more interesting
and more instructive could have been devised.

It is worth while glancing briefly at the systems prevail-
ing in France, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Italy, Turkey
and Russia. The reader will observe that the object of
each Government being to foster and encourage the breeding
of horses of classes most useful to the people of the country,
there is in every case considerable variety of breed in the
public studs, and that the owmer of a mare may exercise his
own judgment in selection of a sire.

19

Horse-Breeding in France.

At the conclusion of the wars which called forth all her
strength in the earlier years of the nineteenth century, the
want of horses in France engaged the serious attention of the
Government. Commissioners were appointed to travel through
the country and ascertain what horses of certain old and
esteemed breeds could be procured to re-stock the Royal
Studs ; and measures were adopted to encourage private
breeders.

The Sporting Magazine of 1820 contains translation
of a minute presented by the IMinister of the Interior to
Louis XVIII. recommending a number of gentlemen for gold
and silver medals in recognition of the work they had done
and were doing to promote the breeding of horses. Some
details are given of the studs owned by these gentlemen, and
from these it would appear that Arabs and Spanish stallions
found place in several private studs.

From the same publication we learn that for some years
prior to 1820 foreign breeders had ceased to buy only
Thoroughbreds in England to improve their stocks, and
" great numbers of our half-bred mares have been collected
and sent abroad." The trade then established has continued
ever since, as has been shown on pages 6 and 7, under the
heading " Purchase of English Mares bv Foreigners."

" Cecil," in an article on racing in the Sporting Magazine of
1 85 1, says horses for general use were then very scarce in
England, while the French Government were encouraging
their prodviction, more especially that of powerful animals for
military purposes and for general utility.

France now, for stud purposes, is divided into six
districts, which contain 22 Government studs for stallions.

Draught

From these studs 3,038 stallions of different breeds ar
distributed among 689 local covering stations for the public
service.

The Report of the Inspector-General of Horse-Breeding
operations in 1899 gives the following list of stallions serving in
that year ; these are divided into three classes : —

I Thoroughbreds ... ... ... 262

Thoroughbreds ... \ Arabs ... ... ... ... 105

Anglo- Arabs* ... ... ... 260

Southern half-bredsf ... ... 164

Normans and Vendeans ... 1,384

Not Thoroughbreds ... / Qualified Trotters | ... ... 261

English Hackneys ... ... 71

English Hackneys — cross-bred § 78

Percherons ... ... ... 278

Boulonnais ... ... ... 61

Ardennes... ... ... ... 54

Bretons ... ... ... ... 51

3>o38
Since the year 1899 the Government have increased the
number, and this year the total number of stallions is 3,450.

From the table showing how the stallions are distributed
among these 22 Studs, we may select two important examples,
the stud at Tarbes, in the Pyrenean region, where light horses
are chiefly bred, and Le Pin, in Normandy, where heavier
saddle horses, carriage and light draught, and a proportion of
heavy draught horses are produced.

At Tarbes, in 1899, the horses available for distribution
among covering stations, were : — Thoroughbreds : English, 34 ;

* Cross between English Thoroughbred and Arab.

t Southern idii Midi) horses are bred in the Tarbes district and have
a strong strain of Arab blood.

X Certified to have trotted one kilometre (about 5 furlongs) in
I minute 40 seconds. These horses have been graded up from Hackney
sires which were imported from England forty or fifty years ago.

§ Cross between English Hackneys and Hunter mares imported from
England.

Arabs, 27; Anglo- Arabs, 48; total, 109. Half-Breds: Southern
horses, 37 ; Normans and Vendeans, 7 ; Norfolks, 4, total, 48.
In all, one hundred and fifty-seven stallions.

At Le Pin, the following were available for distribution : —
TJioroughhreds : English, 22; Arab, i ; Anglo-Arab, 11
Total, 34. Half-Breds : Southern horses, 3 ; Normans and
Vendeans, 97 ; Qualified Trotters, 55 ; Norfolks, 20. Total, 175.
Draught Sires: Percherons, 67. In all, two hundred and
seventy-six stallions.

The largest stud in France is that at St. Lo, in Normandy,
whence 365 stallions were distributed in 1899; but it is less
representative than the two of which details have been given,
consisting of 281 Norman and Vendean stallions, with 59
Qualified Trotters and 25 English Thoroughbreds.

To further illustrate the system, let us take one small
covering station, to which there are hundreds similar — that
at Lesparre, in the Medoc. The stallions which stood there for
three months during the past season (1900) at Lesparre were
as follows : —

1. IMoNBRAN — Thoroughbred. Fee for Half-bred mares,

55. ; for Thoroughbreds, i6s. 8^.

2. Balsamin — Thoroughbred Anglo-Arab {i.e., by a

Thoroughbred sire ; dam by pure Arab). Fee, 55.

3. Troupiac — Half-bred (by Thoroughbred Anglo-Arab ;

dam by Half-bred Norman sire). Fee, 5s.

4. Rip Rip — Half-bred Trotter (by Thoroughbred ; dam

by Half-bred Norman sire). Fee, 85. 4^.

5. Risque a Tout — Half-bred Trotter. Fee, 5s.

6. PiiiDESTAL — Half-bred Norman. Fee, y.

7. QiNA — Half-bred Norman. Fee, 55.

All these "Half-bred Trotters" and Half-bred Norman
stallions have Hackney blood in their veins.

Lesparre is in a district in which horse-breeding is by no
means a prominent industry — it is one of the chief vine-
growing regions of France, the celebrated vineyard Chateau
Lafite is only seven miles distant from Lesparre — yet the
owner of a mare may choose from seven stallions, representing

five different strains, paying the small fees specified above.
The supply of stallions is adjusted to meet the local demand ;
the foregoing list shows us that experience has taught the Stud
authorities to make provision for service by half-breds of five
times as many mares as are sent to the Thoroughbred or Anglo-
Arab. There is no heavy draught stallion at Lesparre ; the
reason is to be found in the fact that oxen are very generally
used for cart and plough in this district, and hea\'y draught
horses therefore are not bred. If we turn to the Finistere
Department of Brittany, where post horses are bred, we shall
find the same principle in operation ; there stand stallions of
a stamp calculated to get the sturdy " blocky " horses for
which the district is noted, and which have been graded up
from imported Hackney sires.

In France, during the year 1899, there were 2,940 stallions
belonging to the State /;/ actual tvork; these covered 170,155
mares ; the fees paid for service amounted to 1,275,250 francs,
or ;^5i,oio. Looking more closely into the returns of service,
we find that in the Thoroughbred class (English, Arab, and
Anglo- Arab), 579 stallions performed 26,144 services, or about
45 each ; the Half-bred class, 110,411 services, or over 57 each ;
and the Draught sires, 33,600, or over 77 each. The Thorough-
bred stallions were employed more especially for crossing
purposes, 21,743 niares, other than Thoroughbreds, having been
sent to them. The stallions at each local covering station are
changed frequently.

An excellent representative of the stamp of horse produced
by judicious crossing is shown in the engraving. This is the
portrait of Radziwill, an Anglo-Norman stallion, descended
through his sire from the Norfolk Phenomenon. Radziwill,
when this portrait was taken last year, was five years old ; he
is a chestnut standing a shade under 16.1, and is the model of
the high-class carriage-horse. He was shown with his sire
Juvigny at the International Show at Paris, and the resemblance
between father and son was a striking object-lesson in the
success with which judicious mating can produce animals true
to type. Radziwill's dam was a small Anglo-Norman mare,

23

but coming of a breed normally big, her foal proved true to his
breeding and furnished into a truly grand harness-horse.

Besides these 3,038 stallions l)elonging to the State, there
is a large number in the hands of private owners. Any stallion
whose services are available to the public must be licensed
by Government as belonging to one of three classes : —

(i) "Approved" stallions, which are considered good
enough to improve the breed of horses. These are di\-ided into
two classes: Sires which earn over 100 francs (£^} per service
form the first class ; these receive no bounty from the State.
The second class consists of sires for whose service 100 francs
or less is charged by the owner ; these receive an annual
premium of from ^12 to ^80 a year. In 1899, there were
1,334 " Approved " Stallions, viz : —

Thoroughbreds ... ... ... 303

Not Thoroughbreds ... ... 485

Draught ... ... ... ... 546

^334

(2) " Authorised " stallions, which receive no premium,
but whose progeny are eligible to compete at shows subsidised
by the State. There were —

Thoroughbreds ... ... ... 24

Not Thoroughbreds ... ... 34

Draught 162

220

(3) " Accepted " stallions, which have nothing to
recommend them but a certificate of freedom from roaring and
intermittent ophthalmia. In 1899, 7,631 stallions were
brought before the committees for acceptance for service
(luring the season of 1900, and 7,467 were passed.

There is only one Government stud farm, where sixty
mares are kept. This is at Pompadour.

English Thoroughbred, Arab and Anglo-Arab horses only
are bred at Pompadour, and the farm is only a small factor in
the general scheme of breeding. Improvement is sought
principally through the provision of good stallions.

24

Bounties are also j^iven for brood-mares, filly foals, and as
prizes for horse-breaking at public competitions. These
measures encourage owners to retain possession of the best
breeding-stock for the benefit of the nation, and stimulate
endeavour among the people to achieve skill as horse masters.

In every breeding district in France shows are held at
which the young stock are exhibited and are awarded prizes.
The two-year-olds are led and the three-year-olds are shown
mounted.

The judges are officials connected with the neighbouring
studs and one or two representatives of the head office of
State Haras in Paris.

About ;^27o,ooo of public money is spent annually in
France in horse-breeding. The expenditure includes the
maintenance of the stallion studs and depots, purchase of
horses, premiums to private stallion owners, and prizes
given at races, local shows, &c.

25

Horse-Breeding in Germany.

The stallions for public service belonging to the State,
which in 1896-7 ••• numbered about 2,600, are distributed among
17 " Rural Studs," which, in their turn, supply stallions to 899
covering stations. The stallions at the end of 1895 were
classed as follows : —

Class I.: Light Riding-Horses, 419 (including 94 English
Thoroughbreds, 4 Arabs, and 2 Anglo- Arabs).

Class II.: Heavy Riding or Light Draught-Horses, 1,153.

Class III. : Heavy Draught-Horses, 681 ; Percherons, 2 ;
Belgian and Ardennes Horses [Draught), 86; Clydesdales and
Shires, 71 ; French and Norman Farm-Horses, 13; German Farm-
Horses, 161.

The principal object of the German Government Stud
Department is to provide Remounts for the Army. Of the
stallions mentioned above, 1,989 were purchased, only 598
having been bred on the State farms. It may be added that
in the year 1884 there were 775 covering stations in Germany,
with 2,152 stallions; in 1895 the number of covering stations
had increased to 899, with 2,587 stallions. The covering fee
charged is generally under £1.

Of the Remounts supplied to the German Army in 1895
abovit 6,000 were for cavalry ; of these 588 were got by
Thoroughbred sires.

Privately-owned stallions must be approved by local
committees (which also license bulls and boars) before their
services may be hired. During the financial year of 1895-96,
2,308 licenses were applied for, and of these 1,488 were granted;
812 were for light riding or light draught horses, 563 for farm and
cart stallions, and 113 for crosses between the two. Much is
done to promote private enterprise.

* Information of a later date concerning the German studs has proved
unobtainable.

26

There is a special fund provided by the Government from
which private horse-breeding associations can obtain loans free
of interest. Such loans must be repaid within six years. At
the end of 1895, ^i associations had taken advantage of this
fund, the total lent being ^5,275.

Brood-mares may be purchased on very easy conditions
from the Government Supply Depot at Kalkreuth ; the
principal stipulation being that the buyer shall have the mare
covered by a good half-bred stallion belonging to an Imperial
stud, and shall offer the produce when three years old to the
Army buyer as a Remount. If, however, the owner wish to
employ the produce for stud purposes he is not bound to put
it on the Remount market. Pecuniary inducements are also
offered to breeders to retain good brood mares and rear young
stock.

For the convenience of breeders the War Office agents
arrange markets at suitable times and places, where young
animals on sale as Remounts for the Army may be inspected
and bought ; no middlemen are employed.

Horses are purchased by the military buyers at three
years old. The average price paid is about /"sS, but
purchasing officers are, or were a few years since, instructed
to deal liberally with the breeders. I am informed that it
was the rule not to try and beat down the price asked for
a horse if it were reasonable ; and giving a small breeder
more than he demanded Avas not unknown if the animal
appeared more valuable than the owner supposed it. The
young horses thus purchased are kept at the Remount Depots
for about fifteen months and are then distributed among
regiments. Before this distribution takes place, breeders rnay
select any mares that promise to make particularly good
brood-mares, paying a little more than the average price for
the animals so chosen. Few, however, take advantage of this
privilege.

Mr. Frederick Wrench, in the Badminton Magazine of
December, 1899, describes the stallions in the Rural Stud at
Celle, near Hanover. There were, at the time of his visit, 250

27

horses in this establishment, fourteen of which were Thorough-
bred and all the rest Half-bred Hanoverian. Of these latter
Mr. Wrench says: "The regular Hanoverian type is a dark
brown or chestnut placid-looking harness-horse, standing at
least 1 6. 1, with great limbs, a good look-out, a fairly good
back, and long enough to fill any harness." These Hanoverian
horses trace their ancestry back to Hackney stock, which was
imported into Germany fifty or sixty years ago by Mr. H. R.
Phillips. The names of both Irish and Yorkshire half-bred
horses still appear on a few of the pedigree cards fixed in each
stall at Celle.

Hackney blood was widely diffused over the horse-
breeding districts of Germany, Hanover, Oldenbourg, Holstein,
Mecklenburg, and East Friesland ; for, once Mr. Phillips had
introduced the Hackney to his German customers, sires and
dams with the blood of Performer (foaled 1810) and Rams-
dale's Phenomenon (foaled 1835) were eagerly bought up to
cross with the local stock. It is exceedingly probable that the
inter-trade in harness-horses between England and Germany
dates back to a much earlier period ; the best of the (lerman
coach-horses and our own have so much of the same character
in common that they would seem to be descended from
practically the same stock.

In addition to the 17 "Rural Studs" referred to on
page 26, there are four State breeding-studs with about 660
mares and 30 stallions. Of these Graditz and Trakehnen
are the more important. The stallions bred at these
establishments are sent to the Rural Studs if they can fulfil the
standard of merit required by the committee which is
assembled to examine them. Those that fail to satisfy the
committee are sold by public auction.

The largest of these studs is that at Trakehnen in East
Prussia. When Mr. Wrench paid his visit to this estate,
which covers about 10,300 acres, the breeding-stock comprised
4 Thoroughbred and 12 Half-bred stallions, with o\er 400
mares. The Trakehnen horse, as it may be called, for it now

28

breeds true to type, is generally a long, low black horse, about
i6 hands high, with the best of limbs and a beautiful head,
" a trifle long in the back, according to English ideas, but a
valual)le stamp of horse, especially for harness purposes."
The extreme quietness and docility of these Trakehnen horses,
young and old, evoked comment from Mr. Wrench.

By the distribution of illustrated pamphlets the German
Government endeavours to instruct breeders in the best
methods of managing stock, and also concerning the stamps
of horse required for the Army. A typical Artillery and heavy-
weight saddle-horse is described as follows, for the guidance of
breeders : —

" Height at 3 years, 15. i to 15.2! ; height when full-grown, 15.2! to
i6.i|^. Activity, speed, freedom of action and endurance are required as
in the artillery horse. The breast need not be so broad as in the artillery
horse. The fetlock should not be too short ; while, on the other hand,
if too long it bends too low and causes the heavy weight carried to produce
fatigue on a long march. A good back for the saddle is as necessary in
the cavalry horse as a good shoulder for the collar in the artillery horse."

The " general requirements " in horses for the German
Army are thus detailed : —

"(I) Small, blood-like head, neck well set on. (2) Strong, well-
placed legs with big joints. (3) Well-arched ribs and good sloping
shoulders. (4) Well-formed, strong back, not too long, well-coupled and
high-lying kidneys. (5) Strong hocks, free from disease. (6) Round,
sound hoofs with healthy frogs. (7) Sound constitution and good
digestion ; and (8) Free, energetic action."

The mares whose portraits are here given are of the
Oldenbourg breed. The province of Oldenbourg has long
been famous for coach-horses. Oliver Cromwell, when
Protector, received as a gift a team of coach -horses from the
Duke of Oldenbourg.

The net cost of Germany's horse-breeding establishments
is about ^190,000 a year.

29

Horse-Breeding in Hungary.

The stud machinery in Hiinj:,^ary is elaborate and exten-
sive. There are four State breeding-farms Vvhere stallions are
bred for the public service. The stallions, which in 1896
numbered 2,838, are sent out to 18 central depots, and from
these upwards of 946 local covering stations are annually
supplied. The service fees range from 15. 4^. to 15s. 4^.
Large breeders may hire stallions from the central depots for
the season.

Hungarian methods are admirably described by Pro-
fessor John Wrightson in his " Report on the Agriculture
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire," published in \o\. 11.
(Second Series) of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural
Society (1874) ; and by Mr. J. Collins, Principal Veterinary
Surgeon to the Forces in 1880, whose Report on the Studs
and Breeds of Horses in Hungary was, by permission of the
Secretary of State for War, reproduced in the Journal of the
Royal Agricultural Society.

Professor Wrightson in 1873 made a tour of ten weeks in
Hungary, and visited the great studs belonging to the Crown.
He observes that the breeding of horses in that country is
one of the most popular branches of rural economy, and is
carried on not only by the Government but by most of the
great landed proprietors with wonderful results.

Hungarian breeders are at issue witli the many English
breeders who look upon the thoroughbred as essential to the
supply of half-bred saddle horses. " We have, in fact, no
distinct race of saddle-horses ; but in Hungary they tliink it
quite practicable to raise such a race, possessed of the
necessary fixity of character. They still look to England for
their supplies of Thoroughbreds and Norfolk Trotters " ; but,
as we shall read, they have in recent years succeeded in their
object of establishing breeds of their own.

30

These Crown studs in Hungary are conducted upon a

very large scale. At Mezoheyges there were upwards of 650

brood-mares. Colonel Horvath, the officer in charge of the

latter stud, addressed to Professor Wrightson a letter of great

interest, which shows how the Hungarians have succeeded in

establishing fixed breeds of saddle-horses.

" The race of horses is throughout half-bred. We have had two
studs of half-blood Arabian mares since the years 1825 and 1S27 ; two
studs of English mares (Furiosa and Abugress) since the years 1S41 and
1842 ; also the family of Nonius, obtained from France in 1815 ; two studs
of the ancient blood of Lippieza, which is a mixture of Spanish and Arabian
blood, since the year 1807 ; and lately we have begun to form a stud of
Norfolk blood with stallions of that race and mares of different indigenous
families."

Colonel Horvath proceeds to give the numbers of the
mares of the several strains he has named. At that time
there were at the stud he directed 136 half-blood Arabs, 148
English, 113 mares of various strains from Lippieza, 220
Nonius or Anglo-Norman mares, and 33 of the Norfolk
mares as the beginning of a stud of this breed. The stallions
used included English Thoroughbred, pure Arabs or half-breds
belonging to the families named.

Colonel Horvath states that the principle kept in view in
breeding suitable stallions is very simple. It is the gradual
improvement of a family by the introduction of nobler and
higher blood, while at the same time the type of the family is
retained. Where more blood is wanted full-blood horses are
used according to the previous breeding of the particular family.
The produce, when strong enough, is served once more by a
Thoroughbred, and then the breeder resorts again to a sire of
the original strain of the family. It is, in fact, a system of
breeding from half-bred stock, with the occasional use of
Thoroughbreds when there is a tendency to coarseness.

Colonel Horvath was asked this question, " Do you hope
to establish fixed or permanent half-bred races which may be
bred truly inter se?" and the answer was: "The families of
Nonius, Majestosa (Lippieza blood), Gidran and Schagya
(Arab blood) are already constant. Furiosa and Abugress
(English Thoroughbred) and Norfolk breeds will require 10 or
12 years more of careful breeding."

31

I should explain that the Nonius strain derives its name
from a famous sire of that name which was procured from
France in the year 1815. The original Nonius was got by an
English horse named Orion out of a mare of the Anglo-Norman
breed; which breed was largely built up on Norfolk Trotter
blood. To what breed Orion belonged the writer has not been
able to discover ; the name does not occur in the lists of
Thoroughbreds sent abroad which are printed in the General
Stud Book.

There were few more interesting stables at the Paris
International Show in September last than that of the Hungarian
Government. The horses had been selected to illustrate the
results of the cross-breeding system described; and these
furnished living proof of the sound, practical wisdom which
directs stud operations in Hungary. Among them were horses
the very model of what the fifteen-stone Hunter should be, and
perfectly shaped carriage-horses. The best were perhaps
those of Nonius (Norfolk Trotter) and North Star (Thorough-
bred) strains.

On the estate of the Archduke Albrecht, in Lower
Hungary, there are imported Clydesdales ; but, with this
exception, no other horses but Thoroughbreds and Norfolk
Trotters were to be seen from Britain. Reviewing all he
had seen during his ten weeks tour. Professor W'rightson
says, " The result of much observation was to show me
that the best horses in Hungary are descended from English
stock."

A number of the stallions foaled every year at the Royal
studs and about 200 yearlings, which are purchased annually at
an average price of 235 florins (^23 105.), are set apart and
reared with the view of use as public stallions. At the age of
three years these are mspected and classified : about one-half
the number are rejected as stallions and cut ; the best, to the
proportion of about 20 per cent., are kept for service in the
Royal studs, and 25 per cent, are sold as " Communal
stallions " ; death accounts for the remaining four or five per
cent, of the total.

32

The Communal stallions are sold to the chiefs of the
agricultural divisions known as Communes at prices varying
from £^o to ^50, payable in four annual instalments. Each
Commune undertakes to maintain its stallion at its own
expense and in a suitable manner, the proper discharge of its
obligations being the care of one or two government officials.
The stallion is available for service within the limits of the
Commune at a maximum fee of two florins (four shillings). In
one part of Hungary the method of service is similar to that in
vogue in this country ; in another it is usual to turn out the
stallion with the mares, which may not number more than
eighty-eight.

Should the horse not be kept in a proper manner, he is,
after repeated cautions, liable to be withdrawn from the
Commune at the end of the third year, and the Commune
forfeits the instalments of the price paid. If the stallion dies
or fails as a stock-getter during the first three years, the
authorities replace him by another. At the end of the third
year he becomes the property of the Commune, which is then
able to dispose of him as it pleases. Many Communes believe
it advantageous to change their stallion every three years,
which they can do in accordance w-ith the regulation that
makes him then their own property. The wisdom of this step
of course depends upon circumstances.

The estimates for the Hungarian Horse-Breeding Depart-
ment for the year 1897 amounted to ;^233,333.

33

HoRSE-BrEEDING in Al'STRIA.

In the year 1876 a Committee of Intiuiry on Horse-
Breeding was appointed by the Austrian Government, and the
result of its investigations was the di\ision of the whole country
into five districts, with the view of providing stallions suited
to the varying requirements of each. From Central Depots in
each of these five districts over 2,000 stallions are distributed
among 522 stations, each station accommodatmg from one to
ten stallions. There are no fewer than thirteen different breeds
of horse in use, and care is taken that each station shall
receive a stallion or stallions suited to local requirements.

In fulfilment of the scheme suggested by this Com-
mittee, good local breeds are retained pure, approved stallions
of each being used for public service ; in districts where
the local breed have degenerated or stand in need of
improvement, the stallions are carefully chosen to raise the
general standard. Thus, Thoroughbreds of English descent
but bred in the country are used on strong mares to supply
Remounts. In other districts Roadster, Clydesdale, and Suffolk
stallions are sent to be mated with mares of a class to throw
heavy artillery riding and draught horses.

In the mountainous regions, where small, acti\e, and liardy
horses are required for draught and pack work, e\ery endeaxour
is made to keep the local breed pure. The Pinzancr horses are
highly spoken of for such work in hilly districts ; they are very
strong and hardy, and have good action ; the lighter class trot
quite well enough to perform hea\y carriage work over bad
ground. Their colour is peculiar — white or light, " splashed
with dark spots.

In 1897 the Austrian State stud included, among other
stallions, 94 English Thoroughbreds, 766 English Half-breds,
and 208 Hackneys.

34

Special inducements are held out to private breeders
to keep brood-mares, and prizes for mares and young stock
are freely offered. The regulations concerning privately-
owned stallions vary in \arious provinces of Austria ; but,
broadly, it may be said that private stallions are only
encouraged if suitable for stud purposes. Such horses are
licensed ; the horse in some parts must be inspected once a
month during the covering season. Anyone who uses an un-
licensed stallion to cover mares other than his own, whether
for a fee or gratis ; or knowingly allows a mare to be covered
by an unlicensed stallion ; or suffers entire colts of one year
old or more to pastvire with mares of any age, is liable to a
fine equal to £S 6s. Sd.

In addition to the five Central Depots there are two State
breeding-studs. These are maintained for the purpose of
producing stallions for public service ; one is at Radautz and
the other at Fiber. At Radautz there are over a thousand
animals, including about 250 brood-mares. Pains are taken
to keep all the young stock at Radautz in condition ; they are
kept as much as possible in the open air, and are exercised
for at least three hours daily by mounted drovers, who are
assisted by dogs.

During the summer, from May to September, the young
horses are driven to the hills or on to distant wild ground,
and left to their own devices. At the age of three years the
young horses are taken in hand and broken, and those
stallions which are considered suitable for service are got into
condition and distributed among the Central Depots in their
fourth year.

There are, in addition to these two breeding-studs,
establishments at Kladrub and Lippieza, where carriage-
horses are bred. The Kladruber horses are very large and
showy animals, with great action ; they are descended from
Spanish and Italian stock, but careful mating for generations
has greatly increased their size, which is now often as much
as 17 hands 2 inches. These horses are chiefly used in the
Royal carriages on State occasions.

35

The Lippizienne horses have marked character of their
own, having been obtained from Spanish, ItaHan, and Arab
stock, carefully crossed. They are long-bodied, short-legged
horses, with good quarters, legs and feet, and stand from 15 to
16 hands. They make remarkably good carriage-horses, being
very handsome, hardy, and fast.

The covering fees in Austria range from 15. Sd. to i6s. 8i.
for ordinary stallions ; in some very poor districts mares are
covered by the State horses free of charge. Her horse-breeding
operations cost Austria /"i 40,000 a year.

Horse-Breeding in Italy.

For stud purposes the country is divided into seven districts,
which include 377 covering stations, each of which accommo-
dates one or more stalhons. Only ten of these stations receive
four or more sires, the large majority receiving one or two.
In 1895 there were 582 Government stallions distributed
among the covering stations ; this total comprised 72 English
thoroughbreds, 78 Arabs, 6 Anglo-Arabs, 396 Hackney and
half-breds, 29 heavy draught-horses and one American Trotter.

^^'ith the object of ensuring uniformity, it is con-
sidered advisable to keep the same stallions at one covering
station as long as possible. With the exception of one or
two thoroughbreds, whose services are only requisitioned by
wealthy owners of racing-stock, the service fees are low, though
higher than in most Continental countries. In 1895, 18,846
mares were served by Government horses at a fee of gs. yd.
each; 1,021 at £1 each, and 258 at ^i 125. each. The War
Department buys Remounts at 3 and 4 years old, paying, on the
average, ;^24 for three-year-olds, and ^32 for four-year-olds.
The horses so purchased are sent to one of the Remount
Depots, and are issued to regiments when 4^^ years old
perfectly unbroken. About 3,500 young horses are annually
purchased by the Remount Committees.

Greater stringency in examination of late years has
produced a considerable decrease in the number of privately-
owned stallions performing public service. There were 645
private stallions standing for public service in 1895.

It is from Colonel Needham's Reports on stud work in
Italy that some of the above particulars have been taken ; he
states that the great defect of the Italian horse is want of size
and substance, but he admits that the cavalry horses show
great endurance when carrying heavy weights and performing
long marches.

Italy spends about ^30,000 net on horse-breeding
annually.

37

Hokse-Breeimng in Russia.

In no European country is more attention devoted to the
breeding of horses than in Russia. The oldest Imperial stud
now in existence is that at Derkoulsk, established in 1750;
but, without re\iewing the history of tlie Russian horse-
breeding department, it may be said that it has been an object
of solicitude to successive soxereigns for the last 400 years.
Ivan 111., who reigned during the last forty years of the
hfteenth century, established the first Government stud of
which there is record near Moscow, and compelled all great
landed proprietors to establish breeding-studs.

The Government maintains about 1,100 stallions at 15
depots ; from these depots the horses are distributed among
covering stations all o\'er the country, wherever horse-breeding
has place among the local industries. As in other countries,
the number of stallions at each covering station varies in
accordance with the needs of the district. They vary in
number from two to nine, but four is the usual complement.

The fees charged for service range from the equivalent of
35. 2d. to jQ2 ys. 6d., in ratio with the merits of the stallion
selected ; each mare is allowed three leaps, if necessary, but
not more ; the covering season lasts from the 3rd February to
18th June. The stallions are put to service at five years old,
and in their first season are restricted to 40 mares ; when six
years old they are permitted to cover 60 mares, and in \ery
exceptional cases as many as 90. Stallions which are old, l>ut
still capable of service, are given away on condition that the
recipient uses them for stud work.

Since the year 1862, shows for all horses bred in Russia
have been held annually ; about ^22,500 are given annually
in prizes, and honorary awards are also distributed. The 26
'I'urf Societies in Russia receive among them ^14,000 a year

3^

to be given in stakes. Horse fairs are encouraged ; there are
460 of these in various parts of the country, at which some
300,000 horses change hands.

Independent of the 15 Stallion Depots there are four
Government breeding-studs. There is one at Khrenovoi, which
was purchased in 1845 from the daughter of Count Alexis Orloff,
the descendant of the noble who founded the famous breed of
trotting-horses known by his name. This stud consists of
saddle-horses (17 stallions and 100 brood mares); trotters
(13 stallions and 100 brood mares), and English Thoroughbreds
(5 stallions and 45 brood mares). It is also celebrated for the
Rostophschine breed of trotters, which was founded by
Count Rostophschine, a contemporary of the founder of
the Orloff breed. The best mares here are those got
by Arab stallions from English mares. Klirenovoi is also
one of the stallion depots.

The Belevodsk stud embraces four separate establish-
ments : — (i) Derkoulsk, referred to above as the oldest stud in
Russia, is given up to the breeding of carriage-horses, and the
stud consists of about 22 stallions and 150 mares. (2) Streletz,
devoted to a stud of Arabs — about 20 stallions and 150 mares.
The Streletz stud has given its name to a breed of horses
which differs only in its superior size from the Eastern-bred
Arab; the Streletz horses shown at Paris in September, 1900,
were among the exhibits that attracted most attention.
(3) Limarveo, where Arabs only are bred ; and (4) Novo
Alexandrov, for half-breds (about 20 stallions and 150 mares).
All these four establishments are known collectively as the
Belevodsk stud.

The third stud, at Janow% a comparatively small one for
half-bred horses ; and the fourth, at Orenbourg (12 stallions
and about 85 mares) is for breeding only Kirghiz or steppe horses.

For more than a century the Russian Government and
private ow^ners have imported Thoroughbreds from England.
The English Thoroughbred stallion Grey Diomed and
four mares formed the foundation stock of the Golowkowa
Stud in 1794. Traveller and Orelius, son of Eclipse, were

39

imported in 1799, Doncaster in 1810, Cerberus in 1812,
Memnon, winner of the St. Leger of 1825, a few years
later. In 1833 a special mission w'as sent to England to huy
stock ; the stallions Birmingham, Middleton and Admiral
were purchased, and numerous mares, among them Lalla
Rookh, Executrice, Teedlewings (by Touchstone), Metal (by
Glaucus), and Marchioness. Mr. Kirby of York says " The
Druid" began his business with the Russians in 1791, when
he Avas 21, and repeated his visits till he reached the age of 60,
taking with him " the choicest blood of Yorkshire." The
iiighest prices Mr. Kirby ever received from the Czar Nicholas
(1825-1855) were 2,000 guineas for Van Tromp, and 2,250 for
General Chasse.

The Imperial studs are directed with great judgment ; the
utmost care is exercised in the choice of forage ; all horses are
exercised regularly every day, and young horses when 3^ years
old are tested for strength and staying-power according to
their class and breeding. No mare is given up to breeding
until she is five years old and is fully developed.

Attached to each Government stud farm is a school of
horsemanship, where breeders receive instruction in the
principles of the industry, and where riding is taught. At
Khrenovoi is a special school wliere trainers, jockeys, hunts-
men and coachmen are taught the best methods of training
young horses.

Private enterprise is encouraged in every way, and very
many of the Russian nobility maintain large breeding-studs on
their estates. At Slawuta, Prince Sanguszko has, or had,
a stud of pure-bred Eastern horses, which, Mons. Salvi
observes, show to what a pitch of perfection the typical Arab
may be brought wdien wisely mated, well nourished, and
reared under favourable conditions ; " it has the height, bone,
and spirit of an Irisli horse, and yet is the Bedouin horse,
preserving all its Eastern characteristics, but bigger and
stronger." Many private owners de\-ote their attention
entirely to the Anglo-Arab. At least one, however, makes a
speciality of carriage-horses, which he has succeeded in bringing

40

to a high standard, using Mecklenburg stallions upon Eastern
mares.

The twelve regiments of Horse Guards and 8th (Reserve)
Cavalry Brigade, are horsed from the Imperial studs, as the
steppe-bred animals are not powerful enough to carry the men.

About 7,200 horses are required annually for the Russian
cavalry of the line, and for information concerning these we
cannot do better than turn to Captain H. Hayes' excellent
book. ■ There are seven " brigade stations " to which the
Remount officers send the young horses which they buy from
the breeders ; these horses have run wild, or half wild, on the
steppes until caught for sale, and their entire education is carried
out by the regimental breakers. They cost on the average
about /'13 55., but by the time they are fit to take their places
in the ranks have cost about ;^37 each. Dragoon Remounts
must not be less than i4.2f in height, and are bought from the
age of 3 off to rising 5. Captain Hayes says of a batch of 800
remounts which had been sent in by the buyers a few days
before : —

" As these dragoon Remounts average about 15. li, they are somewhat
small, and to English eyes would probably appear at first sight rather
light ; but closer inspection shows that they have capital bone, are
compactly built, and have no superfluous lumber to carry. They are,
with very few exceptions, entirely free from cart blood, and consequently,
if their fore-legs in some cases seem a bit deficient below the knee, the
back tendons run more or less parallel to the cannon bone, and we find
no coarseness about the fetlocks, which is evidence of inability to stand
work imder the saddle. These Russian Remounts have, as a rule, short
backs, muscular loins, good feet, fairly small heads, and are well ribbed
up. They are particularly good across the loins, which is a point that
receives much attention from Russian breeders. Formerly the horses of
the Don, from which country the best Remounts are obtained, were
generally " back at the knees " — " calf-kneed " — but this defect has been
almost entirely eliminated by careful crossing. The members of the
selection committees, which pass or reject the animals brought up by the
buyers of Remounts, are specially critical as regards the quality of the
pasterns. On the whole, they have very good fore-legs. Their shoulders
are inclined to be short ; but their worst point is undoubtedly their hocks,
which in many instances are weak, too much bent (sickle-hocked), or
inclined to curb. These Remounts, especially those which come from the
country of the Don, have a strong infusion of Arab blood, with a dash of
the thoroughbred. They are essentially saddle-horses bred for ca\alry
purposes : the Russian horses are reared under conditions of privation
and hard work to get their living, and are consequently more useful as
slaves and campaigners than they appear to be."

* Among Horses in Russia. By Captain M. H. Haves. R. A. Everett
& Co., London, 1900.

41

With re^^ard to Captain Hayes' reference to Aral) and
thoroughbred blood, it must be observed that four * of the
fifteen Imperial stallion depots are situated in the horse-
breeding regions of the Don.

* Khrenovoi (distributing loo stallions) ; Tambov (Go) ; Kharkov (60),
and Saratov (50).

42

Horse-Breeding in Turkey.

The Ottoman Government possesses four important studs,
all of which are situated in Asia Minor and are organised on
lines similar to the great Hungarian establishments, Alezoheyges,
Babolna, S:c., and which are under the control of the IMinister
for War.

The Tchifteler stud, situated in the province of Brousse,
on the sea of Marmora, was established in the year 1S32 ; the
lands, covering over 29,600 acres, consist of somewhat varied
pasture and of vast prairies watered by three streams. After
the Crimean War a thousand mares were received at Tchifteler
from the English and French Armies, and these, like the animals
already at the farm, were allowed to range at liberty until the
year 1886, when nearly the whole stock perished through
drought.

In 1886 three hundred Hungarian mares of inferior and
unsuitable strains were sent to this stud ; these were kept under
cover, but the native mares and their produce continued to roam
at large. As stable accommodation was built, however, the
latter were housed, as well as fifty brood mares which had
been purchased in Russia.

Since 1892 Arab blood has been introduced, and only since
this step was taken the Tchifteler stud has been able to furnish
annually over a hundred good and efficient Remounts. The
progress made has, however, been continuous, and this year the
total number available for the Army will be three hundred.

The Arab stud consists of 55 stallions of pure blood and
eleven half-bred stallions got by Arabs out of native mares ;
there are ten pure Arab mares, and 188 half-bred mares.

In addition to these, there are 91 native stallions and six
Normans, which were bought in igoo, 13 Hungarian, and

43

II Russian stallions. There were last year 660 brood mares
and fillies, of which 35 were Russian, 93 Hungarian and
the remainder native-bred.

The officer in charge of the stud is a Colonel, who has
under him a military staff.

The second stud is that of Sultan Sou, between 18 and 16
miles from the town of Malatia, in the province of Harpout, in
the interior. It controls an area about 600 miles square,
which includes 32 villages, having some 5,000 inhabitants ;
part of this area is given up to agriculture and the remainder is
devoted to horse-breeding.

The Sultan Sou stud was founded in 1861 and was
reorganised in 1889; attached to it is another farm — that of
Osman Dide — w^here there are enormous hill pastures, to which
the droves of horses are sent in summer. There are at
Sultan Sou 12 pure Arab stallions, 6 Kurdish and i Hungarian ;
7 pvire Arab mares, 21 Kurdish and 12 Hungarians. The
object of this establishment is the improvement of the Kurdish
breed of horses : the number of Kurdish brood mares will this
year be increased to 200 ; how many mares of this strain are
running at large in the district is unknown.

The Tehoukourova stud owes its name to a once famous
breed of horses which is said to be now nearly extinct. It is
situated in the province of Adana, which is bounded on the south
by the Mediterranean, and consists of two vast estates, one
covering 197,680 acres, or about 20,000 acres more than the
county of Middlesex, and the other covering about 74,160
acres. The larger estate consists of prairie land comparable to
the pampas of South America ; the second, and less extensive,
lies on the shores of the Mediterranean, and along the mouth
of the river Djihan which flows into it.

This stud was established in 1892. There are now eight
pure Arab stallions, three Kurdish, and five horses described as
" Anatoliotes," obviously after the province of Anatolia in
Western Asia Minor. There are 21 pure Arab mares and 62 of
the Tehoukourova breed. Many native horses also run at large
on the two estates. The special object of this stud is to

44

re-establish the Tehoukourova breed. It is under the direction
of a Colonel of the Turkish Army, who, besides a ci\il staft",
has a troop of cavalry under him.

The Vezirie stud farm covers about 131,780 acres, and lies
close to the city of Bagdad, between the rivers Tigris and
Diala. This stud, which is under the direction of a General of
Brigade, was founded in the year 1896, and the progress made
so far does not appear to have been very great. The stock
last year consisted of 10 stallions and 57 mares, all pure Arabs,
the object of the Vezirie establishment being the production
of Arabs of the best strains. Endeavours are made e\ery
year to buy the best young horses from the wandering tribes-
men, but good ones are rarely obtainable ; in igoo it was hoped
that one hundred would be secured, but three foals and one filly
of the highest stamp w^ere all that the director of the stud was
able to buy from the tribesmen.

Local covering stations are established in various districts,
and these are supplied with stallions from the four large
Government studs ; and pure bred Arab stallions are often lent
to village communities far distant from the stud headquarters
for the sole purpose of improving the breed of horses.

Whether service fees are charged or service is rendered
free does not appear from the information Avhich has been
kindly placed at the writer's disposal by the French Minister
of Agriculture.

Each stud has a stud-book, which contains the guarantees
and proofs given by the sheiks in respect of the horses obtained
from the tribesmen. These warranties are verified by the
Inspectors who travel in the interior and pay regular visits to
the tribes in question.

45

Horse-Breeding in India.
OPINIONS OF THE LATE VETERINARY COLONEL H ALLEN

Since the following pages were written, the Commission,
which was sent out in the autumn of igoo to enquire into the
causes of the failure of the present system of Horse-breeding
in India, has returned to England. It is expected that the
Report of the Commission will soon be published, and it is
much to be hoped that some light may be thrown on the
(juestion, which is one of the first importance.

The first endeavours to improve the native breeds of horses
were begun by the East India Company in the year 1794,
and the " Stud Department " then established continued in
existence until 1876, when it was abolished. This institution
had accomplished a certain measure of success ; some excellent
horses were bred there, and were drafted into the stables of
our cavalry regiments ; but experience showed that the results
achieved were not commensurate with the cost of maintaining
the studs, and in the year named (1876) the Department
was abolished and the Army Remount and Horse-Breeding
Departments were created.

The " Department of Army Remounts " had for its duty the
selection and purchase of Australian and Persian horses in the
local markets, and also of as many suitable country-breds as
might be procurable. The Department of Horse-Breeding
Operations was organised with the object of encouraging
productions of suitable country-bred horses ; and it is to
this Department that we direct our attention.

In a remarkably able and instructive paper * by the late
Veterinary Colonel J. H. B. Hallen, the then General Super-
intendent of Horse-Breeding Operations in India, we find the

* Goiciiiincnt IIoisc-Byccding in India : Past, Picscnt, and Eiitiin-.
(Read at a meeting of the United Service Institution of India, 6th May,
1S87.)

46

plan of the new scheme clearly laid down. It was, broadly
speaking, to establish a native breed of horses, which should in
course of time render the Army in India independent of foreign
markets. The Government was to maintain a supply of
stallions of the classes most suitable for improving the native
breeds ; only selected native mares were to be eligible for
service (always gratis) by the Government stallions, these
niares being branded to prove their right to service, antl also
to prevent their purchase by native cavalry or police horse
buyers. A system of prize-giving at fairs and shows, with
some slight advantages to the produce of branded mares, was
instituted ; some assistance was to be given in teaching and
encouraging the practice of castration among native breeders ;
and all horses fit for Army service were to be purchased at
remunerative prices by Government. The number of Remounts
required for horse and field artillery, British and native cavalry,
amount, on the average, to 2,824 each year in time of peace.

For all reasons, both political and economical, it has
always been held most desirable that India should produce the
horses necessary to mount both British and native cavalry, and
to horse the artillery. Colonel Hallen gave a list of thirteen
breeds of Indian horses (excluding the Arab and Persian), all
of which he described as " possessing good powers of endur-
ance, and showing thereby blood, but generally wanting in size,
and many too small for the W'ork of the Indian Army, consti-
tuted as it now is ; though some of purely local breeds can be
found fit for native cavalry." In another paper* Colonel
Hallen described these breeds with more exactness.

'• The majority of country-bred mares may be said to range in height
from 13 hands 2 inches to 14 hands 2 inches, and some few are found as
high as 15 hands, and in weight from 6 to S cwts. They are, as a rule,
remarkably well-bred, rather light in barrel, not evejily put together, often
of an angular and ragged appearance, with small but steel-like bone of joints
and limbs, and measuring from 6} to 7^ inches under the knee at the top
of the shank bone. They have wonderful powers of endurance under
either tropical sun heat or intense cold, with a light weight, say from
10 to 12 stones in saddle or light draught, and after the hardest day's
work are never off their feed, but always ready for it ; moreover, they will
continue doing work on the scantiest of food."

* Horses Required for the Indian Army. (Read at a meeting of the
United Service Institution of India, 25th August, 188S.)

47

Colonel Hallen observed that these mares offer a grand
structure on which to engraft more power and size — that,
indeed, a more suitable basis to work on could not be desired.
It may be observed that the officers in charge of the Indian
horse-breeding operations have peculiar difficulties to contend
against. The native disinclination to castrate had to be over-
come to prevent the excessive use of weedy sires ; in a country
whose fields are unfenced, and where horse-stealing is (in
some regions) common, the natives could not give their young
stock the degree of liberty necessary for their full dexelopment.
The practice of closely hobbling, or even chaining and
padlocking the fore-legs together, w^as universal, and its natural
result was deformity of limb, narrowness of chest, and ruined
action. In recent years, however, castration has been more
favourably regarded, and the beneficial effects of allowing
larger liberty to young stock has been increasingly recognised.

To gain greater size and power the Government sanctioned
in 1876 the purchase of 300 stallions, and, with an eye to the
lack of substance displayed by native mares, roadster blood
was largely introduced. These 300 stallions were sanctioned
merely as a beginning ; the number was increased as
the new scheme developed. In the year 1886 the
Indian stud was composed of the following stallions : —
go Englisli Thoroughbreds, 159 Hackneys and Norfolk
Trotters, 146 Arabs, 10 stud-bred horses, 6 Australian
Thoroughbreds, 2 Turkoman stallions and i Persian. In
addition to these, pony stallions were provided in suitable
districts, under the control of District Committees, to cover
small and unbranded mares. Some 19,588 branded (i.e.,
officially approved) mares were on the registers in 1886. In
the year 1900 the mmiber of stallions was returned at 3:^4.

For some few years after the new system was inaugurated
endeavours were made to buy full-grown horses for immediate
use as Remounts, but with little success. A change was
therefore made, and in 1881 the purchase annually of 150
horses aged 2^ years and upwards was sanctioned. This plan
gave satisfactory results, and it was extended, young horses

48

being purchased in larger numbers and distributed among the
rearing depots, Hapur, Kurnal and Ahmednuggur, to be Ivept
and trained for uhimate issue as Remounts. From i88g one
thousand young horses have been purchased every year, but
when the number was thus increased it was found necessary to
take the animals at a much earlier age, and the minimum was,
in the year mentioned, fixed at six months.

It must be added, in this connection, that the question of
mounting the native cavalry had in i88g reached an acute
stage.'''

Colonel Hallen's description of the stock got by the
several imported breeds of stallion is exceedingly instructive.
It will be borne in mind that his observations were made after
the new system had been twelve years in operation, and there
had been, therefore, time to see what impression had been
made on the native stock.

The animal got by the English thoroughbred

" is, as a rule, handsome in top and outlines of back, hind quarters, and
carriage of head and tail, but is often shallow in girth and back rib, light
in barrel, and from 70 to 80 per cent, are legg}- and deficient in bone of
limb. Diseases of legs are more common among Thoroughbred stock —
e.g., curb, bone spavin, bog spavin and ring-bone are not infrequently
shown. Few of this stock prove fit for British cavalry, and hardly one
for horse or field artillery, but some are purchased for native cavalry.
Many native breeders are distrustful of this class of sire, as they find
their stock do not realise a good price in the market."

Of the stock got by Australian sires, which are English
Thoroughbreds foaled and reared in the Colony —

"The young stock often prove better-boned in limb than the stock
of imported Thoroughbreds from England, but in other points are similar
to the stock of the English Thoroughbreds."

Turning to the Report of Colonel Queripel, the Inspector-
General, ten years after the foregoing remarks were written, we
find the complaint that English Thoroughbreds of the stamp
required to get Remounts grow scarcer and harder to obtain
each recurring year. " Breeders aim at long-legged, striding
animals," which are exactly what India does not require ; and,

* Opi>iio]is on tJie Supply of Remounts to British and Native Cavalry,
and on Horse-breeding in India ; expressed at an Infoitnal Meeting held at
Simla on '^oth August, 1889.

49

though treated with the most jealous care, the English

Thoroughbred is liable to develop unsoundness in so hot and

dry a climate. Specific objection is made to their feet, which

" appear to be getting smaller and weaker every year." In

Beluchistan, which has the driest climate of any region in

which the Department conducts its work, the dryness and

rocky soil combine to ruin their feet, which, Colonel Queripel

says, " break away until there is absolutely nothing left." On

the other hand, a better stamp of Australian Thoroughbred

had been obtainable in small numbers ; seven imported during

the official year 1897-8 were between 15.2 and 15.3^ in height,

girthed from 68 to 72^ inches, and only one had less than

eight inches of bone below the knee. How these stallions

have succeeded at the stud time has not yet shown.

Reverting to Colonel Hallen's paper of 1888, he said of

the Hackneys and trotters : —

"These have, with country-bred mares, produced stock of good bone
and power, proving suitable and sufficiently well-bred for Army work in
India. I may mention that, as a rule, most of the best-boned stock in the
late Stud Department had half-bred blood in them. The Special Stud
Commissioners bore this fact in mind, and advised the employing of more
half-bred sires, these to be of pure breeds and showing quality.* Some of
the half-bred sires that had been imported from England were, in the
opinion of the Commissioners, of not sufficient quality, but they found
their produce proving excellent for artillery purposes. I, of course, do not
wish to imply that every stallion has proved a success ; but I do most
distinctly affirm that at least 90 per cent, of the half-bred sires have fully
realised the expectations formed of them."

After referring to the prejudice with which these horses
were first regarded by men accustomed only to the Thorough-
bred and Arab, Colonel Hallen said : —

" The practical results of horse-breeding that have obtained and are
obtaining in India, indicate that such horses (horses capable of doing good
work by having blood, bone, and power to enable them to carry and
draw the heavy weights of British cavalry and artillery) cannot be produced
from the present country-bred mares by mating them with thoroughbred
or Arab stock ; that very few per cent, of Remounts so bred prove fit for
those branches of the service ; but we are having, day by day, more proof
that the produce of these mares by half-bred English horses (or, as they
are now called in England, Hackneys) of pure breed, is well adapted for
general army work in India, thus indicating that the more this class of
sire — the u'dl-hrcd lialj-byed — is employed, a greater chance will be aftbrded
of securing larger-framed country-bred brood stock, which in turn will yield
still larger framed and boned produce. The mares of this improve'd and

* In writing of pure breeds. Colonel Ilallen means those breeds which
have Stud Books in England.

50

developed stock may in time become large enough in bulk to allow of their
being mated to Arab sires, should it be deemed desirable to add more
quality and compactness in bone with powers of endurance, which are the
well-known characteristics of the true Arab."

Colonel Hallen added that when his employment in stud

work began in the Bombay Presidency, 26 years previously,

he believed it right to use Thoroughbred and Arab stallions on

the country-bred mares.

" I have now to confess that on visiting, three years ago, one of the
best breeding districts in the Bombay Presidency, and attending an
annual horse show held there, I found the stock resulting from the use of
these sires, though very handsome in top and pretty in carriage of head
and tail, lamentably deficient in bone and sinew of limb. The Director
of the Army Remount Department was present, with the hope of finding
Remounts, but he did not succeed in seeing one fit for the British services ;
I believe that not one country-bred Remount for the British services has
been secured in the Bombay Presidency. May I, therefore, ask you to
remember that Thoroughbred and Arab stallions have brought about this
result. . . We should, I believe, rely on the pure half-bred* of England
as a sire to give more bone and substance to our stock."

Colonel Hallen ceased to direct the horse-breeding opera-
tions of India some ten years ago, and the opinions to which
his long experience had brought him not having been shared by
his successors the Thoroughbred policy has been resumed.
The Report for 1897-8 says that some 60 horses got by
English Thoroughbreds (or about one for each stallion!) were
issued as Remounts to British cavalry.

A curious commentary on the relative merits of the
produce got by the different breeds of stallion in use is
furnished by the officials of the Department themselves. I
am indebted to Colonel Biddulph for a copy of the " Figures
of Merit " showing " The Percentage of Prizes Won by Each
Class iVccording to the Number of Stallions Employed.'*
These figures cover the six official years, 1886- 1892, and show
the stock by "Half-Bred English" or Hackney sires easily
first, the Australian stallions taking second place, and the
English Thoroughbreds third. Figures relating to subsequent
years, I am informed, show the Thoroughbreds imported from
Australia in the first place.

Without anticipating the conclusions of the Commission,
to which reference has been made on a previous page, it may be

* Known in England as the Hackney breed

observed that the original scheme, in the opinion of some good
authorities, never had a fair chance. Apart from the absence
of continuity of method, which alone would most seriously
retard progress in the desired direction, it was considered that
the main purpose of the scheme was subverted at the outset.

The infinitely more important branch, the Horse-
Breeding Department, with its larger aims, was subordinated
to the Remount Department, whose purpose was the
immediate provision of horses for the Army ; and as a
natural result, the objects of the latter become paramount.
The Remount agents and committees made it their business to
l)uy as cheaply as they could ; it was their duty to do so ; but
this policy of cheapening a commodity it was particularly desired
to improve was, on the face of it, a fatal mistake ; it discouraged
native breeders instead of encouraging them. At the meeting
held at Simla on August 30, 1889, to which reference has
been made on page 49, the Director of Land Records for the
Punjaub said that the method of purchasing horses pursued by
the Indian Government had a l:)ad effect; that native owners
of good large mares fit to produce Remounts had begun to sell
these animals, and were purchasing pony mares to produce
ponies and mules. We have seen on what very different lines
the German Government goes to work.

Our national love of sport makes its effect felt in India
as it does in England, and the effect is not a good one. There ■
is in India always a ready market and a high price awaiting
the animal suitable for racing or for polo ; and thus the
breeder's ambition is to produce such a horse or pony, and to
ignore the animal suitable for military use. Opinions are
divided concerning the effect the temptation to produce a
racing or polo pony has upon horse-breeding as an industry
in Northern India ; but such authorities as Colonel Hallen
and General Luck regard it as a factor which must be
reckoned with.

In this connection, one great difficulty that makes for
failure of the most wisely directed endeavour must be borne in
mind. The three hundred stallions employed by the Indian

52

Government are scattered over thinly populated regions,
and in charge of natives; and it seems to be generalh'
admitted that the natives in charge of these stallions cannot be
depended on to refuse service to unbranded mares if a
trifling present be offered by the owners of such mares. Further,
when there are two stallions at a local covering station it
usually happens that the native owners of mares give their
preference to one to the exclusion of the other ; whereby the
favourite does all the work, even being brought out several
times in the same day. Hence the popular stallions are liable
to be overworked, and serve many mares w^hich are of a stamp
not at all likely to throw good foals.

Owing to these difficulties and errors of policy the
establishment of a native breed, the work of many years
under the most favourable conditions, has never been seriously
attempted, and the production of Remounts for immediate
use has been made the objective of the Horse-Breeding
Department. It was impossible that its work under these
circumstances should have succeeded as it would have done
had those in control been able to ignore the question of an
immediate supply of Remounts. Horse-breeding, it may be
suggested, is essentially an agricultural business, and therefore
one to be undertaken by a civil department ; the business of
procuring Remounts for troops, on the other hand, is essentially
a soldier's task. The error lay in the attempt to combine the
two.

Of the Arab sire Colonel Hallen considered his small size
is the only point in his disfavour. It had been Colonel Hallen's
hope to gradually grade up with the Hackney and trotter cross
large-boned and sizeable mares ; and he looked to these to throw
to Arab sires animals of the right stamp for the Remount
Department.

It must not be forgotten that climate and the prevailing
normal conditions of life are paramount in determining what
the size and character of the horse of any given country shall
be. In temperate climes, with good feed, horses of great size
can be produced and depended on to maintain their size. In

53^

very hot, dry countries, which offer comparati\ely poor feed,
such as Arabia, Persia, and Northern India, as described by
Colonel Hallen, we find the native races small, wiry, and active ;
and, again, in cold regions we find the smallest and most
stunted horses.

Only within certain limits, to he ascertained by years of
costly experiment, can we hope by cross-breeding to override
the natural laws which determine the size of the horse of any
country without materially impairing its valuable qualities.
In India, the old Stud Department, for various reasons, failed
to establish an improved breed of horses in the eighty years
of its existence ; it would be unreasonable to expect that the
reorganised Horse-Breeding Department should have accom-
plished the task during the twenty and odd years it has been
at work.

OPINIONS OF MAJOR-GENERAL SIR JOHN WATSON, KC.B.

General Sir John Watson, who has been good enough to
read the foregoing pages, favours me with his views on the
subject of Horse-Breeding in India. As the outconie of long
experience in that country, Sir John's remarks carry great
weight.

He points out that the old Bengal studs, which were
abolished in 1876, supplied both cavalry and artillery with a
remarkably fine class of stud-bred Remount for many years.
Deterioration and infertility followed upon the continued use of
English sires of different classes.

The " Diffused System " was then introduced. As
described in the preceding pages, the gist of this scheme was
the distribution over the horse-breeding areas of Northern India
of a large number of English Thoroughbred, Hackney and Arab
Stallions, which give gratuitous service to appro\ed mares.
Sir }ohn Watson is entirely at variance with the authorities
who adopted this " Diffused System." The operations of the

54

Horse- Breeding Department as now constituted are, he points
out, supervised by the Inspector General of the Civil
\'eterinary Department, assisted by about a dozen veterinary
surgeons who have various other duties to perform, in taking
measures for prevention of cattle disease, in directing veterinary
education, including colleges for natives who are being trained
in bacteriological research, &c., &c.

The multiplicity of their duties permits the officers of the
Department to devote only a very limited degree of supervision
to the work of the stallions ; and, further, the veterinary
surgeons employed have never studied breeding as a science.
There is also the fact that after a few years' service in the
Department they revert to their duties with the Army ;
whereby no continuous system of supervision is possible.

The gravest objection, however, in Sir John Watson's
opinion, to the " Diffused System " is that it treats the thirteen
different Indian breeds of horse as one, all mares being classed
as " country-bred mares ; " it provides no means nor machinery
whereby the result of using any given stallion on any given
mare can be ascertained. There does not now exist in India
even an experimental stud in which the results of different
crosses can be observed. The Returns, in a word, take
account only of the stallions, and pay no attention whatever to
the mares. No attempt has been made to preserve these
breeds in their purity ; mares of each and all are covered
indiscriminately by English sires of different classes and by
Arabs of greater or less purity of blood. Sir John observes
that under these circumstances it is not wonderful that wide
divergence of opinion concerning the relative merits of
Thoroughbred, Hackney and Arab should exist. " If nothing
is known of the breeding or quality of a Remount dam, how is
it possible to ascribe good or evil to the sire alone ? " This
being the case, he dismisses the " Figures of Merit " quoted on
page 51 as valueless.

Sir John Watson says he is not aware that the main
purpose of the scheme was subverted at the outset, as stated,
upon the authority of another expert, on page 52 ; or that the

55

Ilorse-Breedinj,' Department was subordinate to the Army
Remount Department : this, he says, has certainly not been
the case for many years. Neither does he understand that any
attempt has been made to combine the two, as stated on
page ^2- " '^^^6 Army Remount Department purchase v/hat
they find in the market ; the Ci\'il Veterinary Department
endeavours to supply that market; but it has a free hand to
do it in its own way."

In Sir John's opinion our endeavour to create an Anglo-
Indian type of horse capable of reproducing itself can never
succeed ; the endeavour has been persevered in for a century,
has failed, and will fail ; " for we are fighting against nature,
and nature will beat us in the long run." This is simply a
more pointed way of saying what has been asserted as a
general principle by the writer on page 53 — i.e., that "climate
and the prevailing normal conditions of life are paramount in
determining what the size and character of the horse of any
given country shall be." Sir John Watson, if I understand
him rightly, is opposed to the importation of English stock
altogether, as he asserts that " English and Asiatic blood will
never mingle with advantage."

Holding these views, he is firm in the belief that the
present system of Indian horse-breeding is radically wrong and
doomed to failure.

5^^

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