STUD NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20300, 6 July 1929, Page 11

STUD NOTES.

BY PIfAETOM.

THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE.

Extensive length or excessive height are not necessarily good or essentia] characteristics of a racehorse. Obviously excessive length would ho a disability from a weight carrying point of view. Of course, horses gallop in all shapes, but a well-balanced individual will, it is strongly argued, usually have ii great racing advantage over the more irregular typo. Writing on this subject, LieutenantColonel P. E. Rickets, D.5.0., in "The Modern Racehorse," says that "at four years Ormonde and St. Simon wtro higher than they were long. Persimmon and Spearfelt were about square, Cyllene and Bayardo were longer th:in they were 'high, and many another almost coual celebrity could be added to each category. For this reason it is foolish to dogmatise or to lay down any exact proportion as being tho absolute test, but 1 venturo to say that any wide divergence from these proportions would be most unlikely to benefit a borne - rather tho reverse; ho would far more probably suffer unless compensated in some other way. If. for example, a horso is unusually long, his length must bring extra work on the loin muscles in holding up tho forehead at the gallop, and Iheso muscles will have to be more than avcragely strong, and probably wider. Bayardo and Cyllene were, 1 believe, broader for their length than Ormonde or St. Simon, who were both rather on tho narrow side, especially the latter. " Pretty Polly, who was longer than she was high, was wider than Sceptre, who was higher than she was lons at the same ago. There is a belief that as the thoroughbred increased in size his height off tho ground, i.e., his length of leg, has increased in greater ratio than his length of body, and he is. therefore, proportionately taller than he was formerly. Certain, the long, low horse, which presumably did exist in the old days, to some extent is hardly ever scon now. On the other hand, the very tall, leggy horse, which was not uncommon 25 or 30 years ago, has become scarcer, and the balance between tho two may fairly bo said to have been reached. There is a moro general levelness than there used to be tlie natural result of care taken by breeders."

IMPORTED "CULLS." In the course of a rccenl article the Australasian remarked :—" Except for a very small percentage, tho imported stallions which liavo been used ill Australia in the last CO years have been English cullo, montly unsound." Thin' question of " culls" has been mentioned in other Quarters, but it has to bo admitted that come of these horses that would have been termed " culls" at the time of their importation have proved marked stud successes in Now Zealand. It is a well-established fact that Musket was bought in England with a view to his uhu as n sire of carriage stock! No one reQuires to bo told how that horse furnished a great line. Then there was Soult, who would certainly have been ruled right out on his looks when he reached New Zealand, and yet ho put up a record far in excess of many horses of much more attractive appearance. Several other horses that would have been termed " culls" have won famo as sires in New Zealand, so that it mny be contended there is always a chance of a great prize being obtained even from tho ranks of horses that come within the category heading this crticle. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. An interesting fact in connection with the pedigree of ITotweed, two 'years winner of tho Grand Prix <ie Paris, is t lint Carbine's nsrao figures therein. The Carbine strain comes to Ilotweed through his dum, Seaweed, who is by Spearmint (son of Carbine). Spearmint won the Grand Prix of 190G under the colours of the lato Major Eustace Loder.