44
6. The number of mares covered by horse and pony stallions fell from 2,017
to 1,869, the decrease being probably due to the smaller number of stallions at
work than in the previous year. This is borne out by the fact that the average
number of mares covered per stallion rose from 31.90 to 33.52, and so far the
work done by stallions has been more satisfactory than in the previous year,
though it is still much below the standard. The Superintendent's remark
regarding the demand for stallions, that in Gujarat a considerable falling off is
noticeable, is not borne out by the figures. It is in Sind and Cutch that a
considerable falling off (of 102 mares) is noticed, the average per stallion going
down from 35.2 to 34.83. The Superintendent ought to have explained this
decline. The only Local Board stallion owned by the Hyderabad Local Board
did a fair amount of work, covering 32 mares as against 5 in the previous year.
7. The following table compares the covering results for the year under
report with those for the previous year. The percentage of produce foaled has
slightly improved ; it is nevertheless small, and the percentage of ' not held ' is
considerably larger than it should be :—
Percentage of produce on mares covered
in the previous year … …
Do.
mares " not held "
do. …
Do.
" unknown results " do. ...
1893-94.
26.3
50.3
23.4
100
1894-95.
27.3
49.0
23.7
100
The number of mares covered during 1892-93 and 1893-94 respectively
amounted to 2,034 and 2,017 and averaged 28.85 and 31.90 per stallion. The
small improvement shown above is noticeable in the produce of Arabs. The
details are as below :—
Class of Stallion.
Thorough-bred English … …
Hackney and Norfolk Trotter … …
Arab Horse … … …
Arab Pony … … …
Average number of
mares covered per
Stallion.
1892-93.
38.31
35.53
26.45
26.56
1893-94.
32.2
40.53
29.61
27.96
Average number of
known produce per
Stallion.
1893-94.
10.36
7.13
5.97
8.3
1894-95.
10.7
7.6
8.01
9.02
Percentage of known
produce to mares
covered .
1893-94.
27.0
20.1
22.6
31.2
1894-95.
25.5
18.8
27.1
32.3
8. The number of remounts purchased during the year amounted to 685
as against 461 purchased in the previous year. This great increase was princi-
pally due to a large number of horses having been purchased for the mounted
police in Sind. Of the total number (222) of remounts purchased by Sind
police, 88 animals were purchased at the Moro and Talhar shows in Hyderabad
Both the shows have only recently been established, and only last year remounts
were purchased at these shows for the first time. The Bombay Native Cavalry
also purchased 80 more remounts than last year. Of the total number of
remounts purchased 38.8 per cent were got at the shows held during the year,
35.9 per cent were at the three Sind shows—Shikárpur, Moro, and Talhár This
may be taken to indicate that shows held in Sind at least have been able to attract
such animals as may be purchased for Government service, and so far the
result is encouraging. But out of the total number of remounts purchased
only 14 per cent were the known produce of Government sires, and though
sufficient allowance were made for the loss of covering certificates and the neglect
on the part of purchasing officers to ascertain the percentage of remounts pur-
chased (the two causes of such a low percentage adverted to by the Superinten-
dent in paras. 15 and 89 of his Annual Report for 1893-94), the result is in no way
satisfactory.