REMOUNTS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 206, 20 May 1918, Page 8

REMOUNTS

Horse-breeders, and particularly ■those smaller farmers who will probably be fairly considerable breeders of horsf3 suitable for military purposes in the future, should pay special attention • to the remount exhibit by the Defence Department at the Royal Show, said' a recent issue of "Sydney Morning Her-, aid." It is there for instructive purposes, and instruction is needed badly. • While we have prizes at different country shows for remount sires and mares, there is no general standard agreed upon by judges. Tt is no exaggeration to say that no one in the past really definitely knew what' was required exactly in such competitions, and results depended mainly unon the judges' individual notions. • the breeding of horses for military purposes l'iis this advantage, that it means producing good general utility horses' tlint should always secure a profitable market Owing to there heint; so inany classes of horses that can be used for military service, there should bo no actual hard and fast law in breeding as to size and standard. As long as conformation and soundness are secured there should be a use ior any horses produced. Tll the caso of the stallione shown by Ihe Apricnltural Department, for instance, the matter of big hone has not boon vitally considered, because in crossbred marcs the (issue generally is coarser and (ho 'quality of tho higher class thoroughbred is necessary to infuse the needed fineness of texture in the progeny. It must be remembered that cavalry horses have lo go fast and far' at times—think of tho work they may bo doing in France just now-and have to carry a great weight. Pew thoroughbreds are strong enough for the wort, so tho utilisation in breeding of a baser breed is necessary-where the production of large number of Jiorses is concerned, ltecognilion of this basic fact accounts no doubt for many-horse-breeders expressing approval of the type of mares shown by tho Department, which are typical of the sorts being used in this breeding scheme.