116
624. The inspection of the stallions and mares of the Rissalas was of great
interest. I might mention that, before the matter was taken in hand by the
Political Agent, these were mounted on any class of animal irrespective of size,
color, soundness, age, or anything else, and naturally the placing of these corps
under any system must be a work of time. I might further mention that there
are 12 of these local corps, and with each, one Arab stallion and one donkey
will be placed; these, in addition to covering the mares of the corps to which
they are attached, will also cover Jagir and Zemindari mares.
625. At the inspection, 14 stallions were present, viz., 11 Arabs, 1 Persian,
1 Turkoman, and 1 Kathiawar; some are excellent, but, after careful consider-
ation, I felt compelled to recommend that 7 should be got rid of as opportuni.
ties offered to replace them, and already one has been purchased by the State.
626. At the inspection 152 mares were present: these were representative
mares from 11 different Rissalas which, at the present time, number about 450
mares. The system is perfect; every mare is told off, either to be covered by
the horse or by the donkey stallion, but it is in this direction that I am able to
offer assistance. I carefully inspected each mare, and recommended in 31 cases
that mares put down for horse-breeding should be relegated to mule-breeding,
the reasons being either attributable to unsoundness or bad conformation. This
left the numbers as follows :—
Horse-breeding .
Mule-breeding .
Unfit . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. .
. .
. .
.
.
.
. 64
. 78
. 10
—152
The progeny of these mares covered by Arab sires will give better stock
for these Rissalas, and in time we should have some very fine brood stock to
breed from. But, to my mind, one of the most useful points to be gained by
this system will be the number of mules available for transport, as the mares
are calculated to get excellent mules, and in this way the State should soon be
independent of outside supply. To effect this, however, more donkey power is
required, and at the request of the Political Agent, the Government of India
have been asked to sanction the importation of 5 donkeys from Cyprus, which
will be paid for by the State.
627. A perusal of the above notes will prove how deeply interested this
State is in the question of horse and mule-breeding. It is in a great measure
due to the great interest taken in the matter by Major Pears, the Political
Agent; but, at the same time, I cannot but bring to notice the most excellent
work done by the Superintendent, Veterinary Assistant Yakoob Khan.
628. In connection with the horse-breeding in this State, a horse show was
held in October: this will be found fully described under the "Review of
Horse Fairs and Shows."
Kapurthala.
629. It is a pleasing duty when an inspection proves as satisfactory as
that at Kapurthala did in November last when I visited this State. The
system and all arrangements are quite as perfect as those existing in old-estab-
lished horse-breeding districts of the Punjab; and when it is considered that
these have only been in existence two years, it proves the interest taken in the
matter by Sardar Bhagat Singh, C.I.E., Chief Secretary of the State, and of the
good work done by the Superintendent of the Stud Department, Azmat Ali; to
him is due the credit of having initiated the system of Covering and Produce
Certificates, which is now very complete.
Stallions.—At present, 4 horse and 4 donkey stallions are employed.
Stables previously existed at Kapurthala, but have been built at Sultanpore and
Baluth, and I trust that shortly, arragements will be made to commence oper-
ations at Phugwara.
630. When I paid my visit to this State in November, returns were made
up to 3 1st October 1896, and I found that 229 mares had been covered by th
horses, and 264 by the donkey stallions, giving an average of 57 per horse and
66 per donkey stallion employed. This is highly satisfactory, still I felt it my
duty to inform the State that, if this high percentage is maintained for any
length of time, it must ultimately lead to the detriment of the stallions.