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558. Sir John Watson then brings forward two points connected with the
Remount Depôts. The first is that purchasing officers should be allowed to
purchase foals as they are weaned at seven or eight months. I quite agree
with him in saying that liberty is most essential, still I feel that the difficulties
in the selection of young stock at 18 months, the minimum age at which they
are now purchased, are sufficiently great, and if they were bought at a younger
age, the number of failures would be increased greatly.
559. The second point brought forward referring to the Remount Depôt
is, that the Depôt Superintendents should be allowed to breed from a certain
number of the best fillies on the Runs, between the ages of 3 and 5 years.
With reference to this point, I shall say but little. The Government of India
have already decided to leave breeding in the hands of the zemindars, and not
to interfere with private enterprise, and I can only add that I fully agree with
this decision. If once breeding were embarked in by Government, it would
paralyse private enterprise. I think this argument alone is sufficient to crush
the proposal, but if it is not, I shall be prepared to show that Government can
never embark in the enterprise with any chance of financial success.
560. Sir J. Watson then propounds a theory that we are breeding on
totally wrong lines; that we should have started with the indigenous breed of
horses, which, by careful development and by wise selection and training,
would have so improved that we would have had at this day stallions more
valuable to us than any English or even Arab stallion that we can import. He
then proceeds to state that in the human race the cross between European and
Indian blood leads to no permanent or useful improvement, but rather to dete-
rioration and sterility; and then he proceeds to ask the question, if the equine
race has the same tendency, is it wise to trust entirely to the English horse to
improve the native breed ? He also states that in his opinion the importation
of the English sire into India has not led to the permanent improvement of the
Indian breed of horses.
561. With the above I regret I cannot agree, if by permanent improve-
ment he means that it is the intention of Government to improve the breed and
then to have it to take care of itself. I agree with him in thinking that a
permanent improvement has not taken place, but if he means that a perma-
nent improvement cannot be maintained by the importation of fresh blood, be
it English, Arab, or Australian, I cannot agree. I contend that not only will
the improvement be maintained, but I feel confident that it will still be greater
than it is at present if only careful selection of stallions is exercised, and that
these stallions are allotted to districts with care by officers who are trained in
the matter of proper mating, and this is one of my reasons for deprecating the
constant changes of officers of this Department in horse-breeding appointments.
562. With reference to sterility, this cannot be borne out by experience;
in fact, if we consider the subject, we will be able to bring to our minds many
cases where fecundity, rather than sterility, is the result of the cross.
563. I regret that Sir J. Watson should have come to the conclusion that
the Native Cavalry is not better horsed now than it was 30 or 40 years ago.
This is not the opinion held by officers of this branch of the service, and with
20 years' experience in this country and with very close observance of the
troop horses of the Native Cavalry, I can safely assert that those I saw in the
ranks 20 years ago would have been unable to carry the weights now imposed
on the horses, nor would they have been able to undergo the work which is
now expected of them with the weight they now carry.
564. Sir J. Watson advocates the retention of local and indigenous breeds.
These can now be said to consist of Kathiawars, Marwars, and Beloochees, and
I have recommended that local authorities in these districts, who possess a
knowledge of horse flesh, should be consulted; that they should be told the
requirements expected from a cavalry horse of the present day—this should
include the distance to be travelled, the pace required, and the weight to be
carried—and that they should be asked to state whether they are of opinion
that by the selection of any of these breeds, it might ever be expected that we
could breed, without the aid of foreign blood, horses that could meet the above
requirements.