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15. I see no objection to raise the age to 8 in any special case, it being
understood that only a certain percentage of this age should be sent out; but
I cannot agree to the height being raised to 16 bands, as I think experience
proves that as soon as we begin to breed big ones in this country we go to leg,
which of course is useless for Army purposes.
16. As before stated, only one half-bred was received this year. On this
point, Sir John Watson says:—
"The only tolerable half-bred horse which I was able to find was "Pinchbeck Shot," a cross between a
thoroughbred sire and a hackney mare. I think a pure bred hackney would have been preferable, and 1 am
glad to find that no half-bred horses have been indented for this season."
17. I quite agree with Sir John's remarks. "Pinchbeck Shot" is a
horse that shows but very little breeding, has a very short croup, and is alto-
gether mean behind.
18. Two three-quarter breds were sent out, viz.:— "The Wainfleet
King" and "The Wainfleet Beau"— the former is quite the right stamp of
horse for this country, being of a good weight-carrying hunter class; the latter
will, I think, turn out well; he, however, was one of the two-year olds and
I would prefer to postpone a decided opinion on him for another year.
19. The difficulty which is now experienced in obtaining thoroughbred
stallions from England of a stamp suitable for the requirements of this country
is not a new one. As far back as I can remember—1881— the thoroughbreds
sent out were leggy and weedy, and I would place on record my opinion that
a vast improvement has been made in the past few years. My predecessor,
in a letter to Government of India, No. 1 M.D., dated 11th January 1890,
brought to notice the fact that it was a difficult matter to secure thoroughbred
stallions fit for Indian Army Stud purposes or, as he describes them, "horses
possessing good conformation of body and large size bone and joints of limb
likely to get useful Army horses out of the light limbed mares of India." He
then makes the following suggestion:—
"Therefore I have to suggest that probably more powerful and better limbed stallions of thoroughbred
blood can now-a-days be found in the Australian Colonies, and so I recommend that the enquiry be instituted
in that direction."
20. Enquiries were made from breeders in Australia, but it was only
natural to expect that these would not care to see the best blood exported; they
therefore, except in one case, refrained from replying to this office circular, and
the one reply received, was to the effect, that horses of the stamp required,
would be obtained with difficulty, as that noted by Veterinary Colonel Hallen
was exactly the class of horse sought after by breeders in Australia.
21. It is to be regretted that the matter was allowed to drop, as it would
have enabled us to do without the hackney stallion.
22. Hackneys.—Of these, ten were received this year and I can only say
that I trust that this is the last batch that will arrive in India; it certainly
will be if my recommendations are accepted by Government, as I feel we are
ruining many of our best districts by long continuation of strains of stallions
of this class. The conditions under which breeding is carried on in the
Congested Districts of Ireland are so similar to those existing in India, that
the report by the Royal Commission sitting for the discussion of this subject
will be a great guide to us out here.
23. The hackneys received this year are, taken as a whole, a coarse lot;
there are a few nice horses amongst them, such as "Georgian," "Marshal
Ebor," and "Goldchest," but such horses as "Jesuit," "Clansman," and
"Newbiggin Rufus," are not required in this country, their faults being either
coarseness, lightness of bone below the knee, being too big, or being back at
the knee.
24. The Government of India, in Military Department letter No. 3554 D.,
dated 22nd August 1889, called for a full and complete report on the relative
merits of the thoroughbred English sire versus those of the Norfolk Trotter.
and stated that statistics, showing the numbers of produce from each class of
sire, as passed into the ranks of the British Service, prove that the offspring of
the thoroughbred English sire holds their own in point of numbers and
general excellence with those of the Norfolk Trotter stallions. They also gave
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