2
English
stal-
lions.
6. During the past year, 22 horses have been received from England, and,
as will be found stated elsewhere, no deaths occurred on the voyage; the full
number was therefore received in India; of these, two were sent to Bombay,
the remainder being sent to Northern India.
7. Of the 22 imported, 18 were thoroughbreds, three were hackneys, and
one was a half-bred. This Department has been fortunate in securing a most
valuable addition to its strength in the 18 thorough-breds received during
the past year, and I am of opinion that General Sir J. Watson is to be con-
gratulated in having put such a good batch together. I would specially
mention "Harvester," "The Dummy," "St. Porcaire," "Studley Royal," and
"Government"; but in mentioning these I do not wish it to be understood
that the rest were inferior. I have never been present at an allotment of
stallions to the different provinces where the last horse selected showed so little
difference when compared with the first, as these did on my allotment in April
last; in fact they can best be described as a good level lot.
8. The only half-bred obtainable was "Orlando" by "Hilarious"; Dam,
"Nance," by "Promised Land." This horse was purchased from Sir W.
Gilbey, but was not the class of horse required for this country being long on
the leg and light in bone. From Sir John Watson's letter it would appear
that this class of horse is very difficult to obtain, and that this was the only one
he could purchase last year.
9. Of the three hackneys imported, "Captious" and "The King" were
just the class of horse required for this country, being small horses, measur-
ing 15 and 15 hands one inch, respectively; they were also compact and very
well bred. To ensure success in horse breeding operations, a certain number
of hackneys will be required to guard against weediness, and if this class of
horse is sent out when hackneys are indented for, success will be ensured.
The third hackney, "Warfield Marshal," although thought a great deal of in
England and being by the fashionable sire "Field Marshal," is the class of horse
I wish to avoid as much as possible, being too big and too heavy. In addition
to difficulty being found to make the zemindars avail themselves of the ser-
vices of horses of this kind, I feel convinced that his produce will be unsuit-
able to the conditions under which young stock is reared in this country.
10. During the year under review, two horses, two years of age, were sent
out; these were three years' old on arrival in this country, and as all horses are
kept in the depôt for nearly a year before being sent out, and as these young
horses do very well at the depôt at Babugarh, I see no objection to a few being
bought at that age; frequently it would mean that if a good horse of two
years of age were seen by Sir J. Watson, he would be lost unless he was pur-
chased at once. The Bombay Government, however, objected to take any
horse under four years of age and it has, therefore, been decided that in future
no stallion under that age, is to be sent to that Presidency, and Sir John
Watson has been asked when allotting horses for Bombay, to be so good as to
comply with that Government's request.
Thorough-bred
Australian stal-
lions.
11. In the last Annual Administration Report, I stated that the Govern-
ment of India had been pleased to sanction the importation of six thorough-bred
Australian stallions, and that the commission had been entrusted to Mr. Madden
of the firm of Krcrouse and Madden. These stallions were landed in Novem-
ber last: the terms of the agreement were that they were to be landed at the
shipper's risk, that they were to be inspected by me within one month of their
landing, and that they were to be purchased only on the understanding that
they fully came up to the standard given to Mr. Madden, and that they were
approved of by me. I mention these points to show that the terms of the
agreement are very advantageous to Government. The six stallions were landed
at Madras in splendid condition, but I regret to state that one of them died short-
ly after landing. I greatly regret that the Firm should have incurred this
loss, especially as they carried out the order to my entire satisfaction. The
Hon'ble Military Member, General Sir Henry Brackenbury, being in Madras at
the time, I took the opportunity of showing them to him, and he fully agreed
with me in saying that they were grand horses. The measurements agreed
upon between Mr. Madden and myself were as follows:—Height 15-1 to 15-3,
girth 70 inches, shank 8 inches, age five to eight years.