BREEDING FOR SIZE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2572, 8 July 1903, Page 54

BREEDING FOR SIZE.

Over tho initials "V. 8." appeared the following interesting letter in th© London Live £tock Journal- on the interesting topic of breeding hors©3 for «se. The writer is evidently on© who thoroughly understands what lie ia wri<tjsng about. He says: — The question of bre«<iins for size appears to" bo at nrc sent the most important of all tho many "difficulties that horse raiser3 have to face. It hi the serious consideration of tho Shire horseman, the hackney lover, tho supporter of tli© hunter, and the pony breeder; but with the ercontion of tho lafit-naaned, thero Is -nothing approaching a definite standard that I know of to guide the foqteteps of the inexperienced. Even in the easo of the ponies, wliere there is a limit of tho maximum height, any amount, of latitude is permitted in tho direction of smallness, and so -those who take up horse

breeding as a business are confronted with the anoinply that though the size of their animals will be a most imnjortant factor, very fevr people seem to know exactly what is wanted, or how to produce it if they did.

A matter of great obscurity in connection with the eize of horses is to determine whether it is -wise or otherwise to neglect everything but mere height at shouicter. In other countries I believe the question of -weight is taken, into consideration, and on the face of it the practice is deserving of support in England. Size, I presume, is associated not only with inches, but with bone, substance, and general nutesiveness in horae as in man, for we should never refer to a human being as big it he had nothing but 6ft in length, without breadth, lo justify the description. So in the case of horseflesh, an animal can scarcely justify a claim to be described a 9 big if ho does not combine with his height a corresponding amount oi substance; and even if tho claim -was ■allowed him, tLe wealthy claE3 of purchasers, who demand big horses, would soon discover anotJier name for the sort of animal thoy are prepared to pay for.

Whether the- publio display good judgment in insisting upon big horses is a matter that is entirely outeido the scope of this letter, tho faot toeing thtt a good big one wiH, in 99 cases out of 103, command a longer price than a good little one. In harness for i»nrk work, it is obvious thai thelarge massive animals -make- 11 moro imposing display than the 25.2 ones, for they can cany more harness and metal furniture, •and convoy a greater impression of power and importance to the ontoolcer. To" tho hunting man who ' dcea not happen to be -o^irbnrdcntv 1 v.-itli piuck a loads hoise makes the fences look smaller than the symmetrically built animal of 2An leas, and so on all .along tlie line until the ponies are reached— the Bigger the horse* the move- he i& in request. It is only reasonable, "therefore, that breeders W. I .© &r& desirous of making money should endeavour to try and produce the eort of article <Lhat is in most demand, and assuming that the public who bay really want a big horse, and not a mere scaffold -n'iudi bUckls l&bds or over at the shoulders, though ho scales a coupte -of hundred pounds lighter than he would if he Tvece properly put together and furnished, there aw> plenty of difficulties to be «rrmounted before he can be bred. In the first place, i<* it not invariably the ease that a well-built animal, ■wh&tbor he b* man or <horee, or any other living thing, always looks smaller than he really is? And this being 60, the symmetrically formed horse is at a disadvantage when compared with » less well built one. This is, however, rather a minor point after all, tiie main object being to produce something that will sell, and if a moderate horse, which looks big ail ovi'v, a-iid is ccnij.sriLtnT.ly ra-y co produce, will sell as well as tho good ellroumter — '>vhy, t-he men who raise- him should havo no legitimate reason for complaint. The prejudice that exists against the socalled little stallion is, 1 am positive, unfair to a very valuable dasa of sire, that is to say, fiubjeot to the provito "that be is not pony bred. One has only to consult the , oataioguors of the great shows, and then the pages cf the itud books of the various breed societies, to satisfy oneself that there are ncf &no, but maixy horses, which, in blio vernacular of the horse world, might be referred tons " little," bu* which continuously .get sizeable ttock. When it comes to tho qnestion of lite dam, however, the boot is v&ty decidedly ou tlte other leg, as it in almost beyond any reasonable doubt th** tho s;z« 0/ '.ho fan 1 i* lis-b.e to bo very cotsiderably influenced by the size and 'brooding of the mother that bears it. It has often occurred to me, there-fore, that the societies which are interested in the production ;(iit! irru>rowmcmt of orrf-vn br' «k!s of horses, would be assisting and furthering the object they have in view if they were to ado:>+ SGioc means for cncoHrag-inr bhe krger-framed class of mares, which, although they might not necessarily be iihsohitay purebred, possess a certain stipulated cross of the blood, pml aro ndantetl for putting to t!ve sires of the breed. Encouraging siros is excellent; but ought not mares to bo rtrovidfcd for them, rud especially in tho oase of harness varieties? At present, thanks to the efforts of the Royal Commissioners and of the Hunters' Improvement Society, the country is being supplied every breeding season by thor^-. r ghbred sire*. These may — I don't say -that all of them, by a long way, will — get hunters or hacks, but they are spoiling tho stock of foundation harnea? mares, for tiie nearer one gete to blood tlie closer comes the stiff-kneed, daisy-cropping action and the irritability of temper which is juat what one never expects to find in that most saleable of all equine commodities, tho high-class harness horse.