The farmer.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1157, 27 June 1885, Page 2 (Supplement)

The farmer.

Brood Mares.

Bt Captain W. H. Ftfb, in the Live Stock

Journal. Van little encouragement is given at present by the existing agricultural societies to brood mares, for the following reasons:— (l) B*oaase the generality of shows are held during the spring and summer months, timen when mares are either jast about to foal or have their foals at foot, and under either of these circumstances few owners will ran the risk of Bending their mares any distance to compete. The entries of brood mares are, therelore, few, and many shows of moderate importance omit the class altogether. The same U the oase with stallion classes. Both these and brood mare olasses to be successful should be competed between the end of summer and the beginning of spring. (2) There should be more than one class for brood mares. There should be a class for breeding weightearzying banters, and another for light weights. There should also be classes restricted to age, cay for mates in foal under the age of five years ; this would enoourage farmers and others to breed from young mares, which is one of the most profitable ways of breeding hunters, as a foal or two is got from the dam betweeen three and five years old, an age when she is growing into money. There should also be a class for mares writable to breed hunters which have not been used for breeding. This is a class that might, of course, be shown at any time of year, and would, I feel sure, be the means of many a good mare being put to the stud that would not otherwise have beer^bred from. Mares are never allowed a fair chance at shows in having to compete on equal terms with geldings, the latter naturally having the advantage of greater size and substance, so it would be only due to the mares that they should have a separate class for themselves under the heal of " mares suitable for brood marcs, but which have not been used for stud purposes." Tuefarmers' idea of what is the right sort of mare to mate with a thoroughbred horse is often very wide of tbe mark, and such a class would tend to educate their minds as to what is the right sort, and many would be dissuaded from the idea of breeding from an unsuitable one from the fact of her not being in any way noticed in this class, while others who, through want of knowledge, might not have intended breeding from a good one, might be induced by success at the showyard to try their luck by having a foal from the prize-winner.

All such classes as I have named should be encouraged as much as possible, and there Bhould be established a hunters' prize-book for all mares that have taken prizes or have been very highly commended. Thoroughbred stallions also that win prizes or medals at the Hunters' Stallion Show shourd be entered in this book, and also those that win at the Royal and other leading shows. The fact of shows being the key to the prize-book would be an inducement to show mares, and the subject would be more generally studied and ventilated. Should an exhibitor have a mare in the prize-book, and get a filly foal from her by a prize horse, and should he succeed in getting this produce into the prizebook, bhe should be most valuable as a brood mare, and each succeeding generation that could be got into the book on her merits, would be additionally valuable, and it would then be a matter of consideration whether an animal so bred would not be more valuable as a brood mare than she would be to sell for other purposes, and encouragement would thus be given to breed from one of the right povi which, but for the existence of the prizehook, might never have beed bied from till she was worn out and too old to breed strong and healthy stock.