33
21 remounts were obtained for the Alwar Imperial Service Lancers.
231. I have but one recommendation to make with reference to this most
excellently managed stud, it is that more Rissala mares might perhaps have
been covered by the 9 donkeys. I note that 178 mares belonging to Rissalas
were covered by horse stallions, and they are not likely to produce stock that
will prove fit for remounts.
Bharatpur.
232. The coverings in this State have improved. One hundred and fifty-five
mares were covered by horse stallions and 121 by donkeys as compared with 88
and 50 respectively, for the previous year.
233. I am pleased to find that mule-breeding has made a start in this State,
as during the past year 198 mules were purchased for the Imperial Service
Transport Corps, and the drain from our Fairs to supply these is great.
Two new donkeys were purchased.
Jaipur.
234. This State is supplied with four Arab stallions which are kept at
Jaipur, Sambhar, Hindown and Malpura: they have covered 80 mares between
them, exactly the same number covered last year. The stallion kept at Jaipur
has covered his full number, the falling off being in the outlying districts.
Owing to the great famine existing in this part of the country this was to be ex-
pected, but when matters improve I hope to see better results.
235. The stallions kept in the districts are in charge of two Veterinary
Assistants and it is pleasing to note that they treated 290 cases when on tour.
This is a small beginning but it is nevertheless satisfactory.
BOMBAY PRESIDENCY.
Kathiawar.
236. The Superintendent, Civil Veterinary Department, enters fully into
the question of horse-breeding in Native States and as bearing on the question
of the value of the indigenous horse as an animal capable of carrying the weight
now expected of a troop horse, I deem it advisable to give his remarks in
extenso. They also go to prove what I have urged as a system worthy of
adoption in other parts of India, viz., that the first crosses with the indigenous
mare should be the Arab after which that Thoroughbred blood can be
infused: —
" The following studs were visited during the year in Kathiawar, viz., Wankaner, Rajkot, Palitana,
Bhavnagar, Gondal and 8 head of young stock and one mule purchased.
"Kathiawar.—As the horse-breeding resources of this Province had been allowed to lapse for a lengthened
period, I determined in the year 1894 to visit the various studs and make some attempt to revise the then
existing ones and to establish others where suitable conditions existed. The Province now contains 9 studs;
the Chiefs were asked to sell their young stock to Government, to introduce good Arab and Thoroughbred
English sires, to draft all old and unsuitable mares and to attempt mule-breeding. This policy of improvement
has been maintained and is most noticeable in the Wankaner paddocks, where the 2 and 3 year old fillies by the
Thoroughbred Government horse 'Young Chieftain' out of mares with one or two strains of Arab blood are
for size, shape, bone and substance difficult to equal. These fillies are intended to replace old worn out mares,
drafts, etc. They are true types of a successful breed of which the Deccan and Kathiawar contain very many
notable examples. Roomy compact mares, with the best of legs and feet, very sure breeders, and excellent
mothers. You can depend upon them to throw true to type, generation after generation, and no fear need be
entertained that they will ever throw back to a strain that would unfit their offspring to become Cavalry
remounts, as they are descendants of three strains only, all of which are pure, viz., Kathi, Arab and English
Thoroughbred.
"I have gone carefully through the horse-breeding records of this Province for the last 60 years and know
no other part of India where prejudice against what is termed foreign blood, viz., Arab and English Thorough-
bred, exists to the extent that it does in Kathiawar. The Garasia of the present day much prefers his own
undersized unsound Kathi sire whose sole recommendation is that his head is small, that the tips of his ears meet
when pointed forward and that he has the requisite number of lucky marks, to the best Arab or Thoroughbred
that you could produce. This state of affairs in spite of the efforts of the Civil Officers and Officers of this
Department for the last 60 years, still exists and a very large percentage of the owners of mares in this
Province would unhesitatingly utilize the service of a bad Kathi stallion in preference to a good Arab or
Thoroughbred. Prejudices, so deep rooted, are difficult to break down and it is for this reason that many of the
Chiefs who have realized the value of Arabs and Thoroughbreds and the immense superiority of their stock over
the indigenous Kathi, may eventually, through the medium of their studs, overcome the prejudice of the small
owner.
"That a complete change has taken place in this Province the following facts go far to prove. For the
sake of comparison I will take the six years commencing 1850 and the six years commencing 1894. During
the former period, Government purchased in this Province and Cutch 415 remounts for Light Cavalry at an
average of R385. History does not relate what size these horses were; but I have great doubts whether many
of them would be bought at the present day for Cavalry remounts, as the standard required for the Army
Remount Department far exceeds anything that the Kathi could as far as I have been able to ascertain ever
have approached. There is no doubt, however, that these 415 horses were bought from Garasias, were pure
Kathis and that the private studs in that day did not contribute a single remount. Take the latter period,
viz., from 1894. Government have purchased 83 head of young stock and 5 mules. They have, without a
F