68
that Major MacIvor, the Deputy Commissioner, represented that the grant
was insufficient; the result of this year's Show, at which 393 mares and 310
head of young stock were present, fully justified the extra grant.
436. The allotments for the various Fairs and Shows now stand:—
North-Western Provinces and Oudh ...
Punjab ... ... ...
Baluchistan
... ... ...
Bengal ... ... ...
Horse Runs, kept by Zemindars ...
5
16
2
1
Shows ...
„ ...
„ ...
„ ...
... ...
Total ...
Rs.
5,200
13,100
1,850
500
350
21,000
Alteration in
Horse
Show
Rules.
437. During the year under review, I deemed it advisable to recommend
the following alterations in the Rules for the guidance of Judging Committees
at District Horse Shows and Fairs, which were sanctioned by the Government
of India and which have been found to work well:—
(a) Rule XII, as it stood, was as follows :—
"XII.— One or more of the District Officers of each district represented, and the Superintendent, Civil
Veterinary Department, will act as Judges of the Committee."
I recommended that the above should be expunged, and the following
substituted as Rule XII:—
"Endeavours will be made for the appointment of Judging Committees, composed of Military Officers,
failing which it will be locally arranged to obtain the services of officers attending the Show to act as Judges.
The Deputy Commissioner or Collector of the district will ex-officio be President, and the Superintendent, Civil
Veterinary Department, will act as one of the Judges in the absence of a Veterinary officer belonging to the Army
Veterinary Department."
(b) Rule XIII, as it stood, was as follows:—
"XIII.—Discretion is to be used by the Judging Committee in awarding only a portion of prizes to any
class, if the stock of that class be not considered worthy of all prizes noted; and the money not
awarded may be devoted to the giving of extra prizes in other classes deemed, by the Judging
Committee, as worthy of them; as it is the desire of Government to award the total sum granted,
provided any of the classes of stock competing are in any way worthy of it."
I recommended that the following should be added to the above Rule:—
"Discretion is also to be exercised by the Judging Committee to reduce the value of the bigger prizes, and
to add smaller ones, in classes where the numbers competing are large."
(c) Rule IV ran as follows:—
"IV.—The system of marks will be adopted as follows:—
"For Mares.
Soundness
...
... ...
Power
...
... ...
Quality
...
... ...
Produce at foot ...
... ...
Total
25
25
25
25
100
All other stock.
Soundness ... ... ...
Power ... ... ...
Quality ... ... ...
Action ... ... ...
Total
25
25
25
25
100
"If no produce, the total will be 75.
"Practical soundness in a horse shall, however, be the sine qua non for taking a prize, and should not
merely count equally with other points of merit; it is therefore ruled that any animal that does not obtain 15
of 25 marks for soundness will be debarred from getting a prize.
"Marks for action have not been accorded to mares, as some competing may be too heavy in foal to allow of
their action being shown. The Judging Committee are requested to be good enough to attach a return to their
reports, showing the number of the several marks allotted to winners of prizes."
I recommended that the above should be expunged, and the following
substituted:—
"The system of judging the animals competing is left to the discretion of the Committee; but practical
soundness in a horse shall, however, be the sine qua non for taking a prize, and should not merely count equally
with other points of merit. (Should any branded mares or fillies be affected with any unsoundness which may be
considered hereditary, they will be debarred from the receipt of any prizes)."