CUR LIGHT HORSES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13294, 24 May 1907, Page 7

CUR LIGHT HORSES.

■»' (South Island Travelling Correspondent of the "N.Z. Farmer.")

The good quality of the weight-carry-ing hacks of New Zealand used to be one of the leading features of our stock world, and it is a matter for regret, to «:iv nothing of the loss that has been brought about, that the breed lias been allowed to deteriorate, while every effort is being made and no expense spared to improve the breed of draughts, the same cannot be said with regard to the saddle type. I know that large sums are ann'nallly spent in introducing thoioughbu'-d •dies." but comparing the quality of the roadster stock on the one hand and the imported sires on the otlur. the good the hitter are doing in improving the breed is so small as to cause one to think that the thoroughbred sire of later years has been responsible for more harm than good. At all events, the fact remains that the weight-carrying roadster of today is not the horse of twenty years ago. Another reason why the numbers of active, shapely saddle horses have dwindled in number,'is the standard-bred trotting' stallion that has been used so largely by breeders. By Trying to evolve a general purposes animal from the use of the American stallion the country has become overrun with a type of horse that has fallen far short "of expectations, lying rough in the joints, and soft in the bone, fireat things were expected to follow the importation of the trotting horse, but it is yearlv becoming more manifest that the* American trotting sire has failed to improve the breed of general purpose hoises in. this colony. It is true that the standard-bred sires have improved the pace, but speed must not count for everything. A standard-bred trotter has but one pace—he can trot, but as to being a good walkor and able to canter in easy style, it is almost an impossibility, because the animal is not built that way.

Looking" for other reasons -why the shaply,sturdy. saddle horse is seen so seldom," the totalisator may also be fa. ; rly blamed as-being a cause of the deterioration. Earing "clubs always hold up. with a regret degree of show that their chief object is the improvement of the breed of light horses, but this statement may be accepted for what it is worth. Racing, as it has been carried on during recent years, is more directed to the- rearing of flighty sprinting animals than the more useful horse. Look at. any programme of a race meeting, and note the distances. The ehk>f event, may ran into a mile and a- half, but the other races do not extend beyond a mile, and frequently down to a half a. mile. .Ask the officials why there are not longer races on the programme, and the answer would come. " Because they do -not pay.'' Precisely; if- the distances were extended there "would be so few starters that the totalisator investments, would shrink considerably. Though racing clubs boastfully parade "the lofty impulse that they'/are formed for the purpose of improving the breed of horses, they are also formal to study the totalisator, and the tote beats the lofty impulse by the length I of the straight. Thus racing clubs cannot 'be, said to be doing much in the way of improving the stamina, of horses when., by the showing of their own programme:;, t&ey cater only for sprinting weeds. Xo assistance in the matter of bringing back the more .useful type of horse,can be expecte-1. {join racing clubs. Even largo ch.b rlie south have been forced to reduce the length of the race because the fields are so i mall. The Dunedin Cup, a time-hon-oured event, lias been reduced by stages from two miles to a mile and a half, and at the recent Autumn Meeting of the Dunedin Jockey Club only six events out of twenty-four were a. mile or over, the cup il£ miles) being the longest flat race, while of the remaining eighteen races, only three were more than six furlongs. Tf racing is going to be the means of improving the breed of horses, tliers will have to be an increase in the distances and also in the burdens carried. Such a thing is improbable, nay, impossible, as thi' revenue of clubs is, as already stated, ruled by the totalisator. The reflection is left tlial racing clubs are doing nothing in the 'way of improving the breed of useful horses. Had it not been for the totalisator and the fact that the five and six furlong scrambles attract large fields, consequently larger investments, bringing increased profits to the clubs, there would have been, a continuance of the .effort to jiroduce horses of strength and stamina. Viewing the position from the faimerbVeeder's standpoint, it may be said that lie has not much choice from which toselect, a sire likely to beget the type of animal he would like. There is the American trotter, big enough, but the \if rong shape, on the one hand, and the so-called thorough-bred on ■ the other—that is, speaking generally'. A few districts are favoured with English hackney stallions that look stylish in harness. Their high knee action j« events their stock ever coming into favour as 3-pace saddle horses, though the improvement of harness animals they have considerable merit. The thoroughbred sires that are so much in evidence iii all districts tire noted more for their track performances than for any special qualities to improve the type of horse-flesh. Of course there are exceptions ; yet none will deny that the great majority ' of thoroughbred horses at the stud, and especially in the country districts, are animals whose only recommendation is that they have been run off their legs on the race-track. The complaint the average colonial suffers from Is to own a bit of blood ; this eomplaint has become an epidemic, and in the effort to breed something that can go a bit. the lieavier-boned and more strongly-quartered mare that could break twenty-six much easier than sixteen for the .six furlongs, has had to give way to something" more sjieedy. But all do not breed on racing lines, so where have the mare* gone? Ask the ownets of the trashy stallions, and if they are in an honest mood they will tell" you candidly that they have" bred them almost out of existence, and if their horses get a fair chance there will lie none left at all in a few y.ears. > In going the rounds of the agricultural shows it is only too plainly seen that the weight-carrying" hacks are conspicuous more by the smallnoss in number thnn bv anv special merit in the animals shown." At the district shows entries numbc but two or three. wbPe in many there are none at all. Where shows ar-> held within convenient distance of •■■;kh other, the same horse wins at each d T snhiy. It often hapi>ens that there is nodrng oufst Hiding about the winners except that they are the best in rings that are of veiy moderate quality. A great fault in numbers of horses entered a< waiuiit carriers is their bight, exhibitors forgetting that it- is build that is wanted, not inches. Usually men who develop into welter weights do not accumulate avoirdupois until they are well u[j in veal's, thus a heavy, elderly person does not want a horse that can only be conveniently mounted with the aid of a step-lad!* r." It might be said that hunt clubs do a good deal of Liood in improving the weight-carrier. They do. but it is rather unfortunate that they create a demand rather than a- supply". In hunting districts, the fanner "members rely upon buying rather than breeding, and it is !in"thi> that the unfortunate part conies I in. At all events, .in causing a demand [..for horses of the proper hunting type, i good is being done. Hunt clubs are not mnnei'ou*. however, and in the South Island can lie counted on the. fingers of one hand. Cavalry crops are (or should be; i a further means of keeping weight-carriers tip to a- high standard, but members cannot obtain chargers unless at a price that i is prohibitive, thus lighter horses have to i l>c- pressed into the service. My memory

carries me back to 25 years ago, and to the strong, active, good-looking horses that carried the members of the Wairoa. Light Horse Troop at Waverley. . When f compare them in my mind's eye with the animals I saw members riding at a more rtcent period, the old-time horses are belter in every way than those seen out in later years. Sending mares to South Africa was at. the time looked upon as a< mistake, but the few, comparatively speakiti"-. that went away cordd hardly be said to have much appreciable effect on the breed of weight-carriers. Their departure was a loss, as a number of useful sort"? went. awav.

How to* get- back to the old type is a question that is interesting breeders. It is ciear from past experience of the standard-bred trotter that no good can be expected except for harness animals. Neither is the light type of thoroughbred going to do anything beyond perpetuating its like in worse degree. A proposal was before a southern society last winter to procure a. high-class blood horse to mate with draught mares, the iriea of course, being to produce something in the shape .of an Irish hunter. It would take some years before any good result could be shown. The first cross would be a sleepy half draught, showing more of the characteristics of the dam than of the sire, and the second cross might be coming nearer what is requii't'd ,but there would still be a risk, and a. pretty considerable one too. that the animal would not fill the bill. Meanwhile the breder would be losing the chances of breeding draughts that would sell, hence this phase puts the idea out of consideration. It is much easier to lc;e a type of animal than it is to breed back to the lost standard.