INSPECTION OF STALLIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2818, 18 March 1908, Page 6

INSPECTION OF STALLIONS.

An important step towards the general adoption of a system of veterinary inspection of stallions at shows has been i?ken by the Clydesdale Horse Society. In settling the competition for the fourth Cawdor Cvp — the "blue riband," so to 6peak, of the Clydesdale show-ring, and 1 in which three previous cups have been won outright — it was decided that all horses competing must pass a veterinary examination for soundness. The regulation is regarded as revolutionary, and it is believed that the rule will ere long be adopted at all the principal shows in Scotland. Th© credit for the innovation rests with Mr Robert Brydon, the eminent breeder and authority on the Clydesdale, and donor of the Brydon Shield, a trophy only less highly prized than the Cawdor Cup. The conditions of the competition for the Brydon shield include a wteiinary examination for soundness and height, and the thiid Cawdor Cup was won by a horse which, for valid reasons, was not submitted to the veterinary test. The council recognised that the position \was anomalous, and the action which it has taken appears to have met general approval in. Scotland. There are other stringent conditions attached to the Cawdor Cup competition — no horse rising four years old will be allowed to compete, unle&s it is proved to the satisfaction of a committee appointed by the council of the Clydesdale Horse to have left at least 35 per cent, of foals in the preceding season ; also it must be won four times by an exhibitor with different animals before it becomes his absolute property. The adoption of the former of these rules might keep some prominent New Zealand winners out of the prize list, to the advantage of the owners of some of the mares sent to them on the strength of their appearance, pedigree, and showyard success. The veterinary examination at New Zealand shows generally consists of calling in a veterinary surgeon when the judges differ, or when they do not wish to incur the odium of sending a horse out of the ring. Many hereditarily and notoriously unsound horses have received the highest awards at shows, and more have been given the sop of a minor award when they should have been unhesitatingly disqualified. On tiie other hand, there have been frequent instances of a hoTse suffering from a temporary injury being wrongly pa&&ed over by judges, when a veterinary surgeon could have certified that the animal was sound for breeding purposes. The qualified veterinary surgeon is as essential as the judge in a horse show ring, and colonial societies' should follow the example of the parent society, and make the veterinary examination a sine qua non in classes for breeding horses. __ The present practice — it cannot be called a system — is of no practical value. The Clydesdale Society has lagged long in this matter, but now that it has moved it is to be hop«d that the anticipations wfl be realised and the regulation generally adopted.