THE CONDITION OF STUD HORSES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 913, 6 October 1879, Page 2

THE CONDITION OF STUD HORSES.

The following remarks are penned wit h the view of calling the attention of breeders of horses m Poverty Bay to the condition of their stallions. The theory applies to all classes of horses, whether racer, weight-carrying hack, coach horse or draught horse ; at the same time I refer more particularly m this notice to heavy draught stock. By the term "condition," I mean the state of health and system m which .the stud horse should be maintained m order that he mry impart as many as possible of his good, vigorous qualities, and as few as possible of his defects to his progeny. Now, the average condition m which the male horse is kept does not receive nearly enough of attention. The majority of owners appear content to select as a sire, a horse whose shape, size, temper, and pedigree suit them, whilst condition is entirely overloooked, whereas it is almost, if not quite as important a consideration as any of the others. I need not here state that, used, m connection with live stock, the term condition admits of sundry and various interpretations. By it the cattle grazier would generally mean a high state of fatness, the horseman, on the contrary, makes use of the word to indicate the highest state of health and strength, ! producible by working off all superfluous fat, developing and strengthening the muscle'in every portion of the frame, and invigorating the lungs and heart m order that they may discharge their respective functions as fully and perfectly as possible, and suffer no appreciable damage from any undue or unusual exertion. Almost every observant breeder will have noticed that, whenever an ordinary working horse has, by chance, covered a tolerably good mare, the foal thus produced grows into a far better animal than was expected — better m very many cases than the progeny of the highly pampered stallions m the neighborhood. The work horse, had been brought into vigorous health and condition by regular exercise and work, and being constantly kept m this condition, his stock, almost of necessity, inherited his vigorous and robust conatition. How shall we enable our stud horses to attain this condition, and to maintain them at the requisite standard ? is the next point to be enquired into. It appears to me that this is by no means a difficult task, although it certainly requires an average amount of care, knowledge and judgment. A judicious course of training must be instituted according to the method of preparing a horse for a race, the animal must be supplied with sufficient nourishment of the best quality, whilst all due care and attention must be paid to the cleanliness and ventilation of his stable. There are a host of other points too, to be observed. Sufficient time must always be allowed for repose'and digestion ; regular and bracing exercise must be taken. All undue excitement or violent exertion when the stomach is laden with food, should be carefully guarded against. The utmost punctuality should be observed m the hours of feeding. The groom too, should recognise and observe the importance of preserving a uniform kindness of temper, not all petting and caressing the ono day and the reverse the -next. By these means the animal will be maintained m the best possible state of health and cheerfulness. I believe I am correct m stating that the majority of breeders consider it to be an established fact that young stock are more characterised by the traits of the-sire rather than those of the dam. This certainly appears to be a natural inference ; m fact, it. could only be expected that the parent which possesses the stronger character should impart the greater resemblance to its offspring. This I consider to be another very strong argument m support of the theory regarding condition. Exercise, feeding, times of feeding, and grooming, are one and all indispensible towards this end, and by these means only can we expect to attain the desired result. As a matter of fact, the average run of horse breeders do not sufficiently attend to details and principles of breed-, nig, they appear to be too easily satisfied with external appearance, perhaps the majority of them have no knowledge of anything beyond this. Indeed, I doubt very much if such a subject as condition, such as I have endeavored to define, ever occurs to them at all. With the greater number of owners of sires, it seems to be the fashion to feed and keep their animals up so high a state of fatness, that they might be shown to greater advantage as prize animals m point of flesh and weight, rather than as getters of stock. The great point is to get the ticket " First pvisse " tied to the horse's

bridle ; that object attained, and nothing further is considered to be necessary, no especial care is taken regarding feeding, exercise, or anything else, he ceases to occupy the prominent place m the minds of master and groom. Thus the true purpose for which the animal was intended — a sire of sound healthy stock — has never been attained. The progeny all fall miserably short of the mark, the horse's character is depreciated, and. on all sides he is condemned as an inferior, faulty sire, whereas it is the owner, not the horse, who should be saddled with the blame. I would wish it to be noted by all who are interested m horse-breeding, that the above has been written mainly with the object of calling attention to, and evoking comment on the subject, m the hope that abler pens than mine may ventilate the matter. It is certainly a question worthy of discussion. E.V.L. Poverty Bay.