8
at the horse shows, the quality of the horses obtained this year was better than
I have previously seen in any show ring.
67. The following regiments may be said not to have bought country-
breds:—
5th Bengal Cavalry
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
6th
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
8th
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
14th Bengal Lancers
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Nil.
1
Nil.
1
68. The number bought at Lahore was nearly as great as it was last year,
showing that the dealers are still driving a brisk trade with Native Cavalry re-
giments. In my review on Horse Shows the opinion of certain purchasing
officers is given on this point, and there can, I think, be no doubt that the com-
petition of the dealers in the market tends greatly to raise the price of Native
Cavalry remounts, besides which I may add that the general run of horses thus
bought is not as good as that of those purchased at fairs.
69. The number of pedigrees obtained by Native Cavalry regiments was
22.19 per cent., against 23 per cent. last year; it cannot be argued from this that
there were less stock by Government stallions; the reasons to which this must
be attributed are that more were purchased from dealers, and that many pedi-
grees which were obtained were omitted in the Remount Rolls which are
furnished annually; this I proved to be the case by comparing the rolls
attached to the fair reports with those received at the end of the year. This
has been brought to the notice of the Government of India.
70. One other point is worthy of notice in the numbers purchased by Native
Cavalry. I allude to the large number of mares bought. Of the 1,613 re-
mounts obtained, 762 were mares, or over 47 per cent. Although I recognize
that some must be taken, still it appears to me to be a high average, and it
must have a deleterious effect on horse-breeding.
71. Army Remount Department.—The Army Remount Department secured
122 head of young stock, and it is satisfactory to learn that 89.34 were sired by
Government stallions, and that in only 10.66 cases was the breeding unknown.
This should lead to more satisfactory results in the final outturns from the
depôts.
72. The sires of the 122 head of young stock were as follow:—
Thoroughbred English
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Thoroughbred Australian
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Arabs
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Hackneys
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Stud-breds
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Unknown
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Number
purchased.
44
20
31
11
3
13
Average of remounts
per stallion of each
class employed.
0.44
0.42
0.23
010
0.60
73. The best percentages are shown in the case of thorough-bred English
and thorough-bred Australian sires. I have not taken into consideration the
stud-breds, as only three stallions of this class are on our registers. The largest
number of stock by any one individual stallion was got by the thorough-bred
Australian 'Glenmark,' bought from Messrs. Krcrouse and Madden. Five
head of stock by this stallion were obtained.
74. More would have been purchased had not the prices asked been above
what the Remount Agent was prepared to pay. It will be seen by reference
to my remarks on collections of young stock that in Baluchistan 12 were suit-
able, but that only 6 were purchased, as the prices asked for the remainder
were too high. Again, at Bulandshahr, the Remount Agent states that he
tried to buy many more, but the owners would not deal.