THE SHIRE HORSE.

Mataura Ensign, Volume V, Issue 224, 26 January 1883, Page 6

THE SHIRE HORSE.

The demand for sound, weighty, active draught horses, as well as the establishment of a stud book for recording their pedigree, is already inducing breeders to gay much greater attention to the selection oth of sires and dams ; few men will now breed from old, decrepid animals, or from those suffering from diseases of> a hereditary character ; a well-bred, comparatively old horse, when put to a young and vigorous mare, is almost certain to indelibly stamp the produce. The value of the sire depends altogether on the character of his stock; a very celebrated prize-winner, who parried all

before him in the prize-ring, has been a ' failure at the stud— the best of his produce hasnot been above mediocrity, hence the greatest care should be exercised in selecting a sire suited to the special characteristics of the mare, and whose stock are known to possess some merit. A popular sire frequently gets too much to do ; a horsa who travelled a midland district this seasou had close on 200 mares booked to him ; the fee, including groom, was 12s 6d down and LI if the mare proves in foal. It would have been much more satisfactory to both interests had the fees been doubled, and only half the number of mares served. A really' first-class stallion is very difficult to meet with. Many are led away by a massive carcase; this is a frequent accompaniment of upright shoulders, weak arms, and round cannons : the walk is the pace of a cart-horse. Hence a sloping well-formed shoulder is as essential in the formation of cart-horses as in a hack. The legs should be placed well outside the body, so that, viewed either from the front or behind, the side, from shoulder to quarter, should form a straight line ; arms broad and muscular ; cannon bone flat, clothed with a . fringe of nice, flowing, silky hair; short, upright pasterns are a very objectionable point in a cart-horse. The feet should be of moderate sizie, wide at the heels, and well dished. The strength, durability, and usefulness of the animal is mainly dependent on the conformation of the feet and legs. The most valuable characteristics of the Clydesdale is the well-formed shoulder and the superior conformation of their feet and legs. The most valuable horses to breed are not those best suited for the purposes of agriculture, but those of a heavier stamp, standing 16 hands and upwards, proportionately grown, such as find favour with the railway companies and town draymen, though this class is generally worked on the farm until they reach the mature age of five or six years. At this stage sound, good specimens readily make from LBO to Ll2O each. — G,G. in the Agricultural Gazette.