NEW ZEALAND HORSES.

Southern Cross, Volume 9, Issue 4, 27 April 1901, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND HORSES.

Interviewed at Adelaide, Colonel Wyndham was asked ; 1 After seeing the mounts of the local forces, do you still hold the opinion that the New Zealanders have a better lot P His reply was : —Yes. ‘ They show more sleekness, look as if more care had been taken of them, and I should say are better bred. Still your horses look hardy.’ ‘ Perhaps their being reared in rich pastoral country would account for the better looks of the New Zealanders ?’ ‘ Quite likely, but the better breeding has a lot to do with it,’ ‘Do you think the horses raised in New Zealand and fed on their rich grasses would last longer in a campaign than those brought up in this colony on good, bard dry feed?’ ‘Yes, Ido. The blood of the thoroughbred always tells in a campaign. Should the march be an arduous one, you will see the horses of inferior class drop out one by one, but not so the animals with a little blood them. They are too game to say die, and they will take a rider wherever he wants to go, even if it costs them their own lives in the end.’ ‘Well, what would the army authorities say to a horse raised on the good, solid, nourishing feed which may be obtained in this State, horses showing plenty of muscle, and with a bit of good blood running through their veins ?’ ‘They would be only too willing to pay the breeder’s price for them.’ ‘ What shall we breed from ?’ ‘ A good stallion, well bred and thick set, one of the big-little class, and mares of substance should be used.’ ■* A man who begins breeding this class of horse has nothing to fear ?’ ‘I should say not. The authorities in India are always only too anxious to (obtain a good stamp of horses for remount purposes. It would take a tremendous number to cause a glut in the market.’