HORSE-BREEDING AND THE WAR.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1314, 1 July 1915, Page 7

HORSE-BREEDING AND THE WAR.

“The wastages of the war will mean a scarcity of horses for years to come. The deficiency will not be confined to this country,” says the London “Times,” “nor to the belligerent nations, but will be general n al! horsebreeding and horse using countries. Even if it were to end at once, the war would already have decimated the studs of the world, for the neutral as well as the combatant territories have been drained to an extent unparallel since the breeding of horses became an organised industry. This aspect of the war has a direct and double bear’ng upon farming. It has already reduced the supply of animals of all types below normal requirements, and further reductions are threatened, and will undoubtedly occur, if hostilities be prolonged.

‘ Farming perhaps feels the lack of horses more acu.ely than any other industry, now tha- motor vehicles have acquired the ascendency on the streets and roads, but the farmer has left to him the comforting knowledge that he alone can restore the supply to the normal level. No one can deprive him of the advantages of a market, the requirement of which will be insufficiently supplied for some years to come. The existing dearth of horses will no doubt give impetus to the process of substituting motor for horse power, but when' full allowance is made for the d.minished need of the future there remains a bright prospect for the man who breeds a class of animal serviceable either for draught or saddle purposes.

“Tlie farmer was never presented with a better opportunity for turning the mares in his working teams to good account, alike to himself and to ihe nation. Every mare of a suitable type should be put to the stud this year, and there is evidence of such an inten ion in the high prices that, were paid for work ng mares at the Islington and other sa es in the early spring. Horse-breeding brings a slow return to those who rear the young stock to maturity, but h is not neces-

sarily exacting either in cnpßi;.! or in

labour. Apart from the service, fee—and if the owner of the mare be a member of a local horse breeding society this need not be high even for a stallion of proved merit —there is little outlay until the foal is weaned. The mare can continue to do her allotted share of work on the land except that it would be wise not to overtax her energies, particularly in carting operations, in the spring, while a little indulgence in food and leisure when she is nursing her offspring would also be prudent. Although the breeder who does not possess facilities for the rearing of young stock might have to sacrifice a proportion of the profit accruing from his enterprise' he need not be deterred on this account from breeding as many foals as possible. There is always an appreciative market for young stock of good breeding and promise from the time of weaning onwards, and in the next few years the demand will probably be greater than ever. “There might be some hesitation in advocating the breeding of horses on an extended scale if it were conducted as a separate' enterprise, but manaegd as an adjunct to other pursuits, as it usually is, it offers exceedingly liberal prospects for those who produce a useful type of animal. As far as the market is concerned, it seems to mat-

ter little whether the farmer breeds for the collar or the saddle. The supply of riding horses has been the more severely depleted, and a rich reward will await the man who can help in replenishing the hunting stables; but the outlook is bright for draught animals also, and the farmer may consider himself fortunate who includes in his working teams a class of mare which, when suitably mated, w ill be capable of breeding a type of foal for which the market will be impa'ient long before i. has attained maturity.”