FIXING A TYPE

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1717, 25 January 1905, Page 64

FIXING A TYPE

A correspondent of the "Live Stock Journal” writes thus on the question of faring a typle: I —i" The difficulties which beset the horsebreeder who, possessing ideas of his own upon the question of type, endeavours to produce animals which conform thereto, are so great that it often requires a man of iron will to face the disappointments which are sure to confront him should hestray much beyond the beaten path. The existence of so many shows and the establishment of so many ‘‘Stud Books,” on the face of it, may be regarded as instruments which may be useful to the breeder in ihe course of his operations, and so they unquestionably are up to a certain point; bnt shows are responsible for the popularity of certain fashionable strains, and "Stud Books” are the records of the victories thereof, so they can scarcely bo accepted ae of much real assistance to the man who desires to establish a strain of other than the type which finds favour with judges. A HORSE OCR A FAMILY

winch can win at shows very naturally is run after by breeders who may be in search of a ready return for their money, and no one can deny the good sense which inspires them, any more than the existence of much, very much, merit in the best representatives of the prevailing type in that breed of horse. It must not be forgotten, however, that every equine family and every individual member, therefore, possess certain imperfections, which are more or less strongly impressed upon them in consequence of the popularity of the family or individual. At the outset, when a Strain is being commenced, the bad J properties of the various tap roots are ust as likely to appear in the young stock as the good ones are, and in trying to breed out the former, the breeder must not forget that he runs a fair chance of introducing some other undesirable characteristics into his strain. The only way to minimise this danger is to carefully study the back blood of the animals you are breeding from, and to assure yourself what the failings as well as the grx>d points of their remote ancestors were. It is not a bit of good to judge entirely of the appearance of the horse or mare before you, for, although good looks and action count for a great deal, there may be a hereditary blemish lying dormant which may not be developed for generations. How very often we hear it said, "I’ll send my mar® to Mr Blank's horse, he’ll give the foal bone, and as she is all right about the head she’ll remedy his ugly one.” Yet one or both of these animals may be quite chance bred, and not in the least degree more likely to perpetuate their good than they are their bad points. One thing is certain, if a man contemplates succeeding in establishing a strain of his own, which in due course of time may be expected to breed true to type, and this is that a certain amount of inbreeding is absolutely necessary. Hence the imperative necessity for avoiding, if possible, the blood of an animal which possess even a remote bar sinister in its pedigree. The danger of using such a her.so or mare for close breeding is evident by the fact that though the taintunsuspected or otherwise—remains dormant for years, it is, nevertheless, becoming stronger in every successive inbred foal, and is, therefore, quite as likely to appear after several generations with disastrous results. Very often an entirely new start has to be made; but, happily, this re not invariably the case. As to the crossing of two DISTINCT VARIETIES, if the ancestry, and consequently, the good and bad points of both parents have been studied, some valuable information will have been gained when the time comes for breeding the foal to the family

of either its sirfc or its dam. Some breeders believe in incestuous crosses and others do not; but in adopting the former it would appear that they are morte likely to be successful in fixing type, and so they can be defended on fh.ita ground if upon, no other. Speaking from general observation, and a small personal experience, I should say that putting a sire to his daughter or mother to her son was more likely to produce good results than breeding from brother and sister; but here again, ideas differ. I may, however, venture upon the very strong expression of opinion that there are colt-breeding as well as filly-breeding sires, and that it is the same thing with mares. It is not invariably so, of course; but, being positive that such things do exist, my counsel to prospective breeders is to look over the stock of the horse they are thinking of using very carefully, if they are desirous of breeding a high-class foal of one particular sex. In fact, in establishing a new strain, nothing should be left undone that may tend to affect a saving of time, as years, if lost, can never be recalled. A man cannot always be breeding from his two and three-year-olds, and he cannot make sure of a foal from his mare every year. Consequently, mistakes are expensive, as well as annoying, so if it i 3 possible to avoid, them by the exercise of a little forethought, it is as well to do so.