HORSE-BREEDING

Waikato Times, Volume 117, Issue 19545, 6 April 1935, Page 19 (Supplement)

HORSE-BREEDING

VIEWS OF AN AMERICAN. TRIBUTE TO ENGLAND. A GOOD DEAL TO LEARN. Major Everett Conant (who accompanied Dr. W. W. Dimock, of the 'Kentucky Agricultural Experimental Station, Lexington, on Ills recent fourth trip to England and 'France under the direction of the British Bloods took Agency) -seems 'to think that America has a good deal to learn from England In the matter of breeding and handling 'bloodstock. Major Conant said:—“l was strongly impressed by the emphasis which the English place on horses of superior conformation. They apparently determine very early whether a horse is desirable as a stud prospect, and if he is not desirable, he 'is castrated. They use fewer stallions than in America, hut the average in quality is much higher than here. “At Hurst Park, in England, I saw six races one day. In -the paddock I looked at every horse in every race. Among all those horses there was only one which was unsound; it had a small osselet. There was not a single fired .or blistered horse. In England I -saw the best-legged horses, with the best feet and bone, that I have ever seen, speaking generally. I came to the conclusion-that the good legs were the result of selection in breeding, slow work, and the character of ground they work over. . . . Tlie turf ot' Newmarket feels like a rubber cushion. “English breeders are paying a great deal of attention to preventive' measures against parasites, which are even more of a problem there than In America. Most, of them do not put manure on fields, at all, and those who do 'use only manure which has been composted for a year. Effeot of Climatic Changes.

“I was 'interested to note 'that they recognise the effect of climatic changes 'on horses. Out of the breeding season, they will move a stallion from the place where he stands to another place for a change of air, sometimes 150 to 200 miles away. There is a sound medical basis for this, and the results appear to be beneficial. “I noted that Jock Crawford never allows a horse at his place to be castrated without an -anaesthetic. The horse stands up, a muzzle containing chloroform -is put on him. When the horse goes -down the -casting harness is put on him, and he is tied up. When he is entirely under the 'anaesthetic, he is castrated. The harness is taken off while he is still ‘out,’ and lie is left 'in the paddock. ■Crawford thinks a horse which has been hurt in any way, loses heart, and that’s a very -s-ound idea. If I had a good horse 1 wouldn’t want anything done to him to give him the idea that'lie couldn’t conquer whatever lie went up against."