FACTS FOR FARMERS. REARING AND BREEDING OF HORSES.

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 271, 5 February 1874, Page 2

FACTS FOR FARMERS. REARING AND BREEDING OF HORSES.

At a meeting of (the Warrnambool Farmers' Club, in Decembjr last, Sir It. Wjocl read the following essay on the rearing and breeding of horses :—: — In breeding any kin.l of stock both care and judgment arc required m keeping the breed fr>>m ('etenorating, but morn care is requited in brocling horses than any other stock. If we chance to breed an ugly or misshapen bullock, lie will grow to b"el :md pay for his feed ; but not so w ith an unshapely colt or fill^v ; they will never pay for the grass they eat. We have now got good market*, and also a large demand for all our good horses, whether draught or saddle, but only for the good. If the demand vere for all forts the case would be different. I would therefore *&y that to make the breeding of hjise* an industry that would pay well, the farmer must uae all din judgment in trying to improve the diOf'ent breeds, and also to consider what breid will pay him best, wbe'her it will be the ca^ airy horsn for the Indian market, or the heavy draught for the othdr colonies, which are draining off a great number of our best (lock al the present linir. Although we had a good turn out of noises at our late show, and mostly all of them goodlooking auuuaU, yet 1 Lhiuk I mu\ mi} that *c have f(\*i.r good ho.bt-s in the WeHlern district in the present dny that wo lmd some years ago. Ihe consequence will be tl at if we lose all our good marrs, and (he sanio demand keep up for good horses, we sball bo left with the culls only to breed from. There ure m tiny other breprts as well as the cavalry horbe th»l would pay well if only bred to the right stamp. There is the good hack, the hunter, or the caiuage home, alwaytt in good do maiul, or in place of tho heavy drauglt or waggon horse there is tho more compact and active hoive for the farm, or the y«t more active cob that could work ttve duj* in the woek and do a long journ y on the sixth ; that is one of the useful breeds we v-tj seldom meet with. There are some of our useful and nio.it durable breeds which we huve alieady nearly lost sight cf. Where, for instance, can we find this good old stock horse that could carry vi fifty or sixty miles a day for weeks together , or in fact h>« tow of anything reaily first-class i* tnere to be met with in the market. T.ie tanner, before pairing his mares with any sire, ought, to consider well what kind of a hor.-e they are best adapted for ; and, aibO, if they h .re been used tor breeding purpose* before, to see te what kind of n stallion they (irsi mitud with, w he 1 her the blood or the draught. It is a well-kuown fact that from th« first impregnation all future offspring will have a similar resemblance. I recollect nome 25 years ago a gentleman in the home countiy toot a fancy for breeding mules with a large Spanish ass, and in bleeding from some of his draught mares. There vrai one in particular which had her lirst foal to the as^ and afterwards breeding from a dranght stallion, the offspring resembled nearly as much the mule as the horse, and a second trial had u similar ri>ult j they had tlie heinj ho«d, the long uuia, and also tha stubborn temper of the mule. Now,"l consider that marcs who have produced their first foal to a draught horse are not eligible for breeding hunters or other stock for fast work, they will alw.iys have a resemblance to tho lirst impregnation ; but a mare that has first been paired to a blood giro may produce a Tory usetul uraugut borae. Tueieforeif a mare is not considered good enough to breed draught stock after first bang use < for tnat puipose, sue ou^lit to be rejected alt >geiuer. If we <cad ttu auctioneer q repoit ot prices, we often see quoted first-class hoiaen and stylish hacks and oarriage horses from £30 to £40 up to £30 ; weeds unsaleable. Now it may have been that soiuo ot these horses and some of these unsaleable weeds have been got by tho same stallion, but out of quito diilereut mares, the former out of A mare woithy of h»r breeding, the other oat of a uiaro taat should never have been mated with a nurse of any kind. It is often the case that a ma! e disabled from work through dißenso ortt broken down constitution, is put to some horse to breed a foal ; the chances are that the ottering will never pay for the services of ( he hor-o, but w ill .ilwajs add on j mci-e to the number of mif arable wood? Therefore, in breeding first-class horses, that will pa/ well for their un-bringing, too much cure cannot be taken m selecting dams and mares of good sound constitution, good tuuipei, free from all outward disease. Such may be considered lit to breed from, but even with all these good qualities in many instances they disappoint their owner. Their ago also should be a consideration ; n filly that breeds before site arrives near to maturity is not only deprived of attaining the size that nature intended her to be, but in many instances brings up a weakly foal, and is often rendered unfit for breediu^ in after life. The sire should also possess all the good qualities of tho cUm, good temper, high bpiritu, and be free from all woe, with a good constitution, and novcr be overloaded with fat. A horse in a pamueied *<tiile is more slug? ish vid lc=>s capable of continued exertion than a horso in good lair condition, and the same effect may probably follow h's offspring ; for instance, afonl that has been got by a bush horso, or what is termed n chance get, is mostly in every instance more wiry, moie hardy, and endures more fatigue with less food than one got by a flue-looking horse in high condition, or if we look back to 2few Sjuth Wulea or Sjduey scrubbers, as thi-y are generally called, there wus scarcely a chance of weauug them out. Alauy a noble-looking «talhou hat proved him sell but a very nidiflerJiii sire even with good marei, whtoh ■hows that sonioiiiing must be wioiig either in the cou*titutiou or in the blood. Such hiuvee ought to be rejected, for it is not only with good dams, but also with good sires, that the breeds ot horses can be Kept anything near to per. fiction, and it ib inoio to the farmer's interest to breed one yood horao than twentj uusaloable Meeds. Hut after wo have done our best in selecting good sires iu>d good dams which may produeo a fane foal, care is yet wanted in tho np-briueing of thnt foal to make it a fine horse. The Arabians, who esteem their hones above all other people, never givo them any food m tho day-time, and only twict in the 'M hours. And it is said the Tartars can hnug up their horses to do some very long jourueya without feel, auihan travel. ing fortunooi fourdajs with i>nl_) a mouthful of grass oven eight or fen hours, and 24 hours without water. I should think thut cruelty to animals, but 1 do believe there is a grrar deal in the np-bringing of a Noung horse to tnnke him hardy and durable. The general practice here is, when a foal is weaned, to turn it adrift and lot it shift for itself until it be considered fit either for tho uarketor to break in to work, in uuine seasons of the year it may have too mueti fond, in the winter months it may bo scarcely able to exist, ar.d in many instances through tbe foeding ou <\it boiu- gma* tliuj get lull ol worms that >ever leave them to long a* they live. A bom ihould ueur b> iorced to maturity too early ; it allowed to grow and fail <>vt until his proper t.me, In will »i«a\s repay it bv being a useful horso in his latter life 5 a colt that looks a horse at three years old in t )0 often pu to n It >rsp'- «oik, when Ins b.nesaro only grwtlo, and is often a broken-down hone when he should be ir his rrimo Neither should young hones be stinted in fo .a , t,hm »i-f nj-t to grow leggy, with a httle body, and nluo alow opiut. 1 thmk it would pa>

th < breedsra of good horses to take more care of joung mUvk than ia generally dove in the winter mont'is, nuoh <u filling them with good dry, camping ground, and alto a oh ango of food at times. Tboy will always atand the cold if the.y get a dry bed and a B-iTlcuMit quantity of dry food. Every colt or filly should be bruken in to work when young, cm, ruing throp yoaru old ; it set* their jointi, and makes them harder, and they also grow larger, bat a young horse th mid not bo put to hoavv work until he has arrived near in.it urn y; hr will l*Mt mang h year longer, and will also be a moie useful horse all his lifetime; la » Tery hot climate they cannot breed good hordot,they grow op to be too weak and washy. In h very cold chmatf they are rough, rigid, and diminutive, but generally very hardy. Here our climate it. neither too hot nor too cold. In breeding the heary du ught or Clydesdale hor*», I don't think we can breed thorn with tho same quality of hair on their legs as they do in the homo country, because nature appears to declare that our climate doea not require the same covering ; but we j could breed them with equal bone and muscle, which is the m.iin point. And I would saj , n ith proper care and good judgment, and once having the right ttrain of blood in both •ne and dam, and the favorable climate we hare got here, we could breed horsed equal to — if foot superior to — any in thu world.