HORSE BREEDING IN ENGLAND.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 10023, 29 April 1898, Page 7

HORSE BREEDING IN ENGLAND.

From the Book of the Horse,

, ~_*•* keen conclusively shown that there had been a great difficulty in procuring the necessary remounts for military purposes, •od that if we were compelled, by reason of to*} scarcity of our home supply, to depend Jfpon Canada and our colonial dependencies V"* 0 P erß " n t ' ,e nour ot need i the service would sutler in many ways. -' It seems to "»"-. added Lord Coventry, "• that we can waoe the decline in the number of useful horses bred to two causes. In the first place, because it i 3 more profitable to breed **!!»• rße3 » which are a marketable comat six months old; and secondly, •"•"wauie for many years past it has been a west difficult task for the breeder to discover in hia immediate neighbourhood a really good and sound thoroughbred sire, whose services ho could procure at a reasonable fee." The nm difficulty will always continue to exist: ""it toe second, which was dwelt upon by all the speakers and writers on the subject, was n °T *° K ove inß "i*-»oiintable. In 1885 there waa formed the Hunters' "■provament Sooiety, for the initiatory expensea of which Sir Walter Gilbey held "uovwif responsible. Advantage waa taken *»the London biiow of the Hackney Horse •Society in that year to offer seven prizes, JWging in value from £100 to £25, for woroughbred stallions, the owners of whioh "fere obliged to allow nominations from Urmera at a reasonable service fee. The wperiment proved successful, and the ••"ample was followed by the Royal Agricultural Society of England, which, in view °} the national importance of maintaining «"*-• wpply of hunters and other half-bred Sk™™!" " a PP° mte d a committee to consider *"» best means of securing the services of Moroughbred stallions at reasonable fee." lft»c comn - it tee was appointed in February, *wo, and on the motion of Sir Jacob Wilson, ■bonded by Colonel Sir Nigel Kingscote, a ""c equal premiums of £200 were offered for •"wrougbbred stallions at Newcastle in the •jj-ru-g of 1887. Although these premiums were larger in amount than those offered by we Hunters' Improvement Society, the con«Hions were very similar as to the'obligation •or cheap Bervice fees. These experiments were quite successful for their own purpose, "Ot it was at once seen that the money available was not auflicient. . . . In March, 1887, Lord Ribblesdale brought *'ie matter before the House of Lords. His "fro-bip followed up a of Sir falter Gilbey's that it be represented to her •Majesty the Queen that the Queen's Plate »ouey be diverted from the Turf, and given ,n „. e s hape of premiums for thoroughbred •talhons at shows. The subject was brought ""-der the notice of Her Majesty the Queen, * Dd "n December, 1887, a Royal Commission *#M appointed. . . . The Commissioners •tated that th«*y had come to the conclusion, bavu-j- r c _ard to the time of year at which

the Commission bad been issued and the amount of the funds at their disposal, that they would best lie expended in the forthcoming year in premiums for thoroughbred stallions, suitable for getting half-bred horses of general utility, to be offered at a show in conjunction with that of the Royal Agricultural Society to be held at Nottingham in February, 1888. . . . The show was accordingly h»ld at Nottingham, and twentytwo premiums of _200 each were allocated to thoroughbred st.-Uions, the owners undertaking to allow fifty mares to bo served at a fee of £2 2* 6d. Tiie result was very satisfactory, and in their .-econd report the Com-niis*ionei-s were aid- to state that the owners of mares bad eagerly availed themselves of the opportunity of having them served by animal* of approved soundness standing at a moderate fe-;. . . . The second, third and fourth shows of the Royal Commission were held in London in 1839", 1890 and 1891, and nt the last-mentioned show Her Majesty the Queen and the Prince of Wales were present, when His Royal Highness presented Sir Walter Gilbey with his portrait, painted by Mr Orchanlson, R.A., and subscribed by many agriculturists, in recognition of hi*»aid to horse-breeding. Tbe shows have been continued in London.