HORSE BREEDING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 207, 22 August 1908, Page 6

HORSE BREEDING.

• The dispersal of the late Mr. Stead's • famous stud has caused general regret amongst those interested in horses, especially since it has been found that tiie most valuable of the animals are going out of the country. The fact that the average price paid was a record for Aus tralasia is a testimony to the place the Valdhurst horses occupy in the sporting world of the colonies. Regrets that the establishment is to be broken up are, of. course, useless now, but the presence of so many Australian buyers in Xew Zealand serves to introduce the subject '■( horse-breeding as an industry. It has frequently been urged that insufficient attention is paid to this remunerative branch of farming. In J\'ew Zealand we have a country eminently suited for the industry, and there is an unsatisfied demand for the right class of animal. In the breeding of thoroughbreds a high standard has been reached, largely owing to the enterprise of the wealthy patrons of. the turf, while the Dominion is widely renowned for the quality and stamina of her draughts. But the most remunerative branch of the industry has not been seriously entered into—this is the supply of army remounts. Mr. C. J. Eeakes, Chief Assistant Veterinarian, in an article in a British journal, points out that while numbers of good, useful, hardy animals are available, no attempt has .been made to produce anything like a standard type of horse for either cavalry, mounted infantry, or artillery purposes. Mr. Reakes points out that the Empire may at any time have to trust her fortune to liter army, and it is now, in times of peace, that every effort should be made to provide an always available supply of thoroughly sound, useful remounts. Possessing, as New Zealand does, all the conditions that are necessary for success as a horse-producing country, it would be surprising if this means of acquiring wealth were not used to the utmost by J our farmers. As we have seen so often the country which docs not rely on one market is better able to withstand periods of depression, and herein lies another reason for encouraging the breeding of horses to take its place amongst the. staple industries of the Dominion.— Palinerston Standard.