SHOW OF STUD HORSES.

Southland Times, Issue 1648, 15 October 1872, Page 3

SHOW OF STUD HORSES.

I This Show came off as advertised on Saturday, 12th inst., at noon, upon the grounds of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association. Considering the fineness of the day, and the interest ordinarily attaching to exhibitions of this kind, the muster of spectators was scarcely as large as might have been expected, and the settlers, for whom as a class tbe exhibition would be supposed to have a special attraction, as affording opportunity for the selection of sires, were not present in great force. The absence of many whom we missed from the grouud may be accounted for by the work going on, and to suspend which just now would require an unusually strong inducement. Tue horses exhibited had moreover been for a longer or shorter time before the public, and no " dark horse" or " horses" existed to wheb the public curiosity. The stroke of the hour brought forward seven competitors for approval in the draught line, three as thoroughbreds, and one hack or roadster. It may be safely written as regards the whole, that the show was very good, yet as each separate horse baa its own knot of admirers, and no animal is more subject to diametrically opposite conclusions as tc the same points than " the noble creature," we are not at all sanguine as to our verdict being acquiesced in as to individual merits. It is however orthodox to deal with the subject individually, and we will therefore premise that among the blood stock " Croydon " fully sustained the prestige of f ormer years, with the slight drawback, I i in the opinion of some, of carrying too much flesh to bring out his points to advantage. "Prince Alfred" was in remarkably good form, and showed well 1 as a clean-made active horse, and one that will prove a useful sire in the district. The remaining horse in this class was a showy animal, with some good points, but " weedy." Among the draught stock, Dan O'Connell stood prominently forward as a splendid jet-black animal, with a magnificent crest, forepart, and barrel, with immense bone and muscle, well developed, and of first-rate action. A beautifully compact but somewhat small horse, " Sir Colin Campbell," attracted much attention, combining all the points of a good draugbt in miniature. " Lord Raglan," before the public last season, is of course well known, and whatever good points he may possess, the unfortunate apparent tendency to " grease" is much against him, and hia walking action is admitted to be awkward and ungainly. The horses having been paraded on the ground for about an hour, and the attendants in charge of each having endeavored to enlist as far as practicable the pecuniary iympathies of the visitors in behalf of their respective pets, the show closed shortly after one o'clock.