REGISTRATION OF STALLIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 8

REGISTRATION OF STALLIONS.

F. W L., writing in the Australasian, publishes portion of the report of the chief veterinary officer of the Victorian Agricultural Department, dealing with the registration of stallions. In order to N counteract the great deterioration which has been, taking place in all classes of horses, the de partment initiated an optional system of inspection, which has given gratifying reeults. The co-operation of the various agricultural societies was invited, and on their, j request an examination by approved | veterinary officers was made free of cost to the owner. On the result of this examination Government certificates • for soundness were issued. The scheme has proved succe&sful, and has met with public approval, and nearly all tj*e v breeders have fallen into line. -There is no reason why similar results' should not be obtained here. Tjbe report of the chief verberinauy officer (Mr Cameron) givea some interesting par-ticula-s of the working of the scheme: — "Fifty-six societies in different parts of the State responded to the invitation, and up to the present 49 parades and 29 shows have been dealt with- At these parades and shows a tota} of 889 sfallions have been examined for the Government certificate to date. / " This number represents, as nearly as can be estimated, between 70 and 80 per cent, of the etallions standing for public use in th© State. "The following 10 conditions have beeT regarded ag h^editary linsSundness, the existence of which in any degree would ■warrant refusal of a. Government certificate :— Broken wind, roaring, cataraot (eye), nasal disease (oßteo-^orosia), ringbone, sidebone, bpne-spaVlO, big-spavln> curb, thorpughpjn, «iw2 bursal enlaEgeeients. " Of all horses examined 15.17 have been refused ceftifioates on the ground of hereditary solely. Thie percentage is small, and shows that our horses compare favpurably with those of other countries in this respect, " Of the 869 stalllpns examined 684 have heen giveg certificates, and 205 have refused. The percentage of refusals is thus 23J05. Of these 70, or 7.88 per cent,, wfcre rofueed on the gixnajd of their being defective in (ooniformatlod, nonfiesoript in type, or below a rftasottjabje Bj&rui§rd for Gov§rnmenf approval. 3ghe femaTrang refusals—viz., 135, or 15.17 par cenfc., wer.fi •made on the ground of hereditary unsoundnepji solely. "Draught Horses.— While the percentage of all-r'-ound rejections for UtiSSandntss tn&y give room for some congratulation, the percentage of draught sires found io be unsound ie a .matter that cannot be regarded as other than serious; 32.47 per cent, ef .

J the draught stallions examined have teen ; refused certificates. Of these refusals 24.41 ! per cent, have been for unsoundness. The . bane of draught horses here, as elsewhere, • in sidebone; 20.78 per cent, of all draughts examined having been so effected. Large as this percentage is, it compares favourably with -the 33 per cent, of sidebone horses found to exist among show exhibits t in England, when the system of veterinary j inspection was first adopted by the Royal ■ Shire Horse Society." j As evidence of the hereditary transmis- | sion of this disease, Mr Cameron instances I two oases which have come under his notice. In one 12 male entire descendants of one sire were on examination found, with one J exception, to have sidebones. In the other case 10 direct descendants were examined, and no fewer than eight — seven males and one female — were affected. "Light horses show a much less per1 oentage of rejection for unsoundness — viz., 10.45. The principal unsoundness met with wae bone-spavin, 14- horses (4-.70 per cent.) having been rejected on that account. Curb was the next most common unsoundness, six horses having been rejected for this infirmity. Ringbone, was met with four times and sidebone thrice, while bog-spavin accounted for four other rejections. "Thoroughbred stud-book horses, grade blood horses, and trotters have been included light horses. " Ponies. — It is practically the freedom ! of ponies from unsoundness that reduces the all-round percentage of hereditary unsoundness met with to such favourable proportions. Only 4.82 per cent of pony stallions have been rejected for unsoundness. As with the other breeds, however, many of the ponies submitted have been nonde1 scripts, and 7.74 per cent, have been ro- ! fused certificates on that account — about the same proportion as in other breeds."