10
"To express my opinion as to the sire to use now, I unhesitatingly say the Thoroughbred who has been
truly bred for generations, but he should only be the very best of his class which cannot be purchased with
the money paid for him in England—judging from some of the horses at present standing at the Studs.
"Until we have one class of sire to breed from we cannot be expected to produce one class of animal.
A 'continuity of action' is most essential. Uniformity can never be reached if Thoroughbreds, Hackneys,
Norfolk Trotters, Half-breds, Stud-breds and Arabs, to say nothing of the Country-bred (owned by the native),
are to serve indiscriminately mares of all sorts, size, condition, color and breeding, which they practically do.
By using one breed of sire only, eventually one class of stock will result. If such a result is not heavy
enough or big enough for Cavalry Regiments, then cross with another breed that possesses those points
"If the breeder in the Punjab knew what we want from him and he had any idea of judgment in select-
ing the stallions most suitable for his mare, there would not be so much harm in having two or three breeds
of sire. But he knows nothing of the principles of breeding according to our ideas,—not even the educated
men. They are not an experienced enough nation, their cattle are an example of how little they care for or
try to improve them. The Zemindar's only present idea seems to be that his mare should be covered by the
Thoroughbred stallion."
50. I cannot agree with Mr. Trydell as to the total want of knowledge
of the Zemindar in horseflesh. In such districts as Shahpur, the breeders
are very knowledgeable.
51. This Officer's views as to maintaining one class of stallion would
undoubtedly be correct if we possessed only one class of mare in a Province,
but any one acquainted with the various districts of the Punjab knows how
the mares in each differ. Unless we lay our foundation properly, failure must
result, and I maintain that the solid foundation of all horse-breeding in this
country is the Arab sire.
Stallions which pro-
duce the most suit-
able stock for the
Army.
52. On this point the Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department,
North-Western Provinces and Oudh, states:—
"To any one who has attended the Fairs and Shows or who has seen the young stock in the various dis-
tricts in these Provinces, there cannot be any difficulty in unhesitatingly deciding in favor of the Thorough-
breds. The progeny of the Norfolk Trotter or Hackney is not to be compared with the youngsters obtained
from the Thoroughbred Australian or Thoroughbred English. There is no doubt about it that most of these
Norfolk Trotter colts turn out failures: some of them may look fairly well as three or four year olds, and may
be bought cheap, but they are utterly useless as chargers or in fact for riding purposes unless one is content
to go at a walk or trot. They might possibly, in course of time, make light draught animals, but at present
this is quite out of the question. Take these youngsters as a class and what do we see,—but a short-necked,
straight shouldered, short pasterned, under-bred animal, quite unfit for riding purposes, without speed, and
without staying powers. It is stated by the advocates of this class that they have bone and large feet, but
when it is seen that this bone is of bad quality and the feet soft, these qualifications are not desirable.
"Although I am of the opinion that Thoroughbred Australians and Thoroughbred English are the most
suitable stallions for breeding remounts, yet we must not lose sight of that very valuable class, the 'Arab'.
The Arab stallion is, I consider, the most valuable animal for the general improvement of the equine stock in
this country. I will also go a step further and say that I think they give sufficient bone, good conformation
and speed to their progeny as to render them quite capable to take their places as remounts. I would also add
that no animal stamps his progeny like the Arab stallion. The Norfolk Trotter stallion was, I believe, introduced
into this country to give the country-breds barrel, size, bone, feet and substance; this was, in my opinion, like
bringing coals to Newcastle, for we have the very animal for this purpose at our doors, viz., the big Arab
stallion. He will give to the offspring points which we shall not have to eventually breed out again."
53. When we consider the fact that no young stock was bought by the
Army Remount Department at either Aligarh or Muzaffarnagar Horse Shows,
and that only seven were purchased at Bulandshahr and Meerut, we are led to
enquire into the cause, and we undoubtedly find it attributable to the fact that
the North-Western Provinces have been overdone with Norfolk Trotter or
Hackney strains. The Remount Officers have no doubt learnt by experience that
the progeny of this class of horse develops badly, and therefore they leave them
alone. One point brought forward by Veterinary-Major Ringe is one that must
not be lost sight of, viz., the value of the Arab stallion to us in India.
54. The Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department, Baluchistan and
Sind, states with reference to Baluchistan:—
"There are only two stands in Baluchistan where British Remount Officers come to purchase young
stock, viz., Quetta and Sibi, where Fairs are held. The rolls of remounts show that the majority of the
stock purchased at Quetta and Sibi were by Thoroughbred English stallions, but the Australian sires are fast
catching them up and becoming more and more popular. At the Quetta Show, nine prize-winners were sired by
Australians, while at Sibi they produced 16. Out of 10 prizes awarded for colt foals, 50 per cent. of them
went to the progeny of Thoroughbred Australian horses.
"The batch of 15 youngsters purchased by Captain Gough at Sibi for the Hapur Depôt, were sired as
follows:—
"5 by Thoroughbred English.
"4 by Thoroughbred Australian.
"2 by Half-bred English.
"1 by Hackney.
"2 by Arabs.
"1
unknown.
"Good Arab sires I consider are essential, for although the first cross with indigenous stock is often small,
that crossed against by a Thoroughbred English or Australian gives an excellent remount."