HORSE-BREEDING.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2239, 13 November 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

HORSE-BREEDING.

Some Interesting Facts. We are indebted to our valued correspondent "Wasp," who lately contributed a very practical letter on the important subject of horse-breeding, for the following extracts bearing on the questions. They are taken from a letter written by a correspondent of The Field, Rent to inspect hunter sires in the counties of Durham, Westmoreland and Cumberland. It will be seen that the writer fully corroborates " Wasp's" views as to a blood horse being the right sire for huutora. ****** As a general rule, I think the different types can be made considerable use of, as, in my opinion, there are very few districts in England suitable for the same description of stallion. In the heavy soils, where the working mares- must be of a very powerful stamp and heavy, it appears to be out of all reason to place a very big thoroughbred horse inclined to be strong in his shoulders. The bone required is a commodity of the district, and to a certain extent it might be dispensed with in the sire, in favour of excessive quality and level ness of form. It is generally conceded in these days that the late Lord Glasgow's horses did a deal of harm in a variety of districts, in getting animals better suited to draw vans than to carry heavy weights over a country. Different results were anticipated for them, as they were tine horse*, possessing great bone and substance ; and at the annual lettings the best judges pronounced them all that could be desired to give valuable hunters, on the principle of like ha\ ing a tendency to get like. How very few hunters were got by them, though; and I think, of the lot, Makehaste and Rapid Rhone did the beat in Devonshire, where they had the chance to be mated with pony-bred mares. Alcibiade was another horse thrown away by being quartered in a district where big hunting mares and heavy agricultural mares were his most likely consorts. He was a big horse, but bred from a nice medium stock, in being by Cossack out of an Epirus mare, and so there might well have been a return of quality if he had been mated with little Devonshire or Welsh mares. As it was, I have never seen commoner-looking horses than those got be Alcibiade, and I never heard of a good one by him. There was Pontifex, ag.un, described to me always as a great, overgrown, common brute, though bsautifully bred, as an own brother to Surplice, by Tonchstone, out of Crucifix, Placed as Alcibiade was, he would probably have done no better; but in Wales he got some of the most beautiful mares I have seen, by reason, perhaps, that the Welsh pony blood brought back the family quality. To compare statistics on the other side, there was Perion, measuring under 15 hands, doing better in Yorkshire, at the time when the big Cleveland mares were about, than any other stallion before or since, by all accounts. Tho value of little stallions for certain districts is here fairly suggested, and if I am not very much mistaken, the best sires of late years, in the northern counties to be first of all extensively patronised by the Royal Agricultural Society, have been rather small or medium-sized stallions than by those of Lord Glasgow's type. I can bear in mind admiring Outragan 11., by Monarque out of Sunrise, by Sir Hercules ; and if my memory of sixteen or seventeen years ago has not failed, he was a long, low horse about 15.3. I saw several of his stock years afterwards that were bred in the Border counties, and they were the prizetakers at the shows. George Osbaldiston, also, I remember seeing in the stallion boxes at John Day's Danebury paddocks, and he was not a very big one, but a most successful hunting sire afterwards in the North. It strikes mo that this soit of statistics bhould be looked to for proofs as to what stamp of horses have done the most good in certain districts. If big ones have got valuable hunters, by all means select big ones again ; but it' little stallions have been the genuine articles, they should be selected, irrespective of the views about like getting like. ***** When farmers can have a fairly good chance to breed, say one in four, that is likely to release 3oo soys as a hunter at five years old, it will pay much better to breed hunters than cart-horses, as smaller amounts than 300 soys will show good margins of profit ; but now too many are bred that are not worth 40 soys at five year old, and that must mean considerable loss. ***** There ia no other way to get hunters than by thoroughbred sires ; and, for the sake of our own national prestige, sportsmen should be more particular than they aie in making quite sure that they have the genuine article, instead of the spurious imitations that are passed off as weightcarriers. They are sure to find it out in the j long run, as a twenty minutes' burst with ; hounds will bring out some \ery undesir- j able indications, and, long before a, season is out, the bad-bred one on the sire's side as well as the dam's, is certain to go all to pieces. It seems to be the one essential in a hunter that his sire should be thoroughbred, though any amount of allowance 1 may be given to the dam for coarse hairs in her composition. Her inferiority of blood only appears to come out when her offspring is put into racehorse sort of training ; but in a hunter proper it may never show. It is told, though, that the best of hunters, wh«n kept as stallions, if they are only half-bred, never get their own merit. There was a noticable caso of this in Devonshire years ago. Gainsborough, by Rubens, was the best sire ever known in the western countries, as everything he got was a hunter. To make a hunter breed, as it was anticipated, a young Gainsborough was kept, by Gainsborough out of a half-bred mare ; and always, under the most jealous if not the hardest rider in the hunt, nothing could beat him over auy country with anything like a start. With this sort of reputation, he was as largely patronised by the farmors as tho old horse, but he never got one worth two ten pound notes. I have never heard of a half-bred mare that did, and there have been a good many in the country since Gainsborough's ■ time, and there are a great many in the country still, with many people, I am sorry t» siy, foolish enough to use them. There h time, indeed, to be lost when breeding in the orthodox fashion by the true thoroughbred, without trying other expensive experiments; and when those who are now using their best efforts towards the encouragement of the best thoroughbred hunting sires can succeed in lessening the risk of failures, they will deserve well of their countrymen. At the Buxton Horse Show held on August the 18th, the roadster mares and foals, as usual, had a large entry, and among them all sizes ; so much so, "that it certainly would improve tho show if some division could be made, say into mires 15 hands and under, and marcs exceeding In hands. With twenty-one entries, the committee could easily offer two sets of pi izes, and this would give tho lesser mares a fair chance. The Stand Stud Company sent the well-known British Queen, who a fewyears ago was high up in the saddle and harness classess at the principal shows ; she was first here, and a good sort of mare she is ; she had a nice filly foal by Reality at her heels, and il took first as best roadster foal. Messra Hyde, of Chapel-en-le-Frith, were second, and Mr Haslewond third, both good sorts ; with Mr Hereford, of Botlington, H.C. for a nice bay mare, with a capital foal by Greenback, which took second for best foal by tint sire ; Mr Swaffield taking the first for Greenback's foals, ten of which were shown, and a remarkably nice lot they were. Mossis Harrisons and Co.'s mare was " out of it," as being a hunting m we, but her foal by Queen's Messenger took second as best roadster foal. Tho yearling roadsters vei o h nica lot, though some of them were a bit under-sized. Mr Nelon's firsl piize till y i» a nice onft, and the second, Mr JXinbui y's colt, by Velleda, looks like making a fr"ie goer. All the winners are by thorough* bced or three-parts bred howes'i