lo Aug., 1 910.] Tlie Stud Horse Industry. 499 



writing of the chapters on the Shire breed in " Horses of the British 

 Empire." He says: — • 



It was not until 1880 that the work of improvement was taken up in earnest, 

 when breeders really began to see what was being lost to them year by year, and 

 what a valuable asset thev had at hand which only needed putting on business 

 lines. From this date up to the present time the best Shire horses have continued 

 to increase in value. It is generallv admited that no animal for breeding purposes 

 will ever command much more than an ordinary price, except where the owner can 

 give a certified pedigree 01 the animals he has for sale. This has been more than 

 proved in the case of the Shire horse since the advent of registration. 



He also mentions that before the formation of the Stud Book — 



It was one of the wonders of the time for a stallion to make over ^loo, and 

 it was not until after the formation of the Stud Book that prices began to increase. 



He adds that — • 



Quite a sensation was caused one morning when it appeared in the papers that 

 Mr. Walter Gilbev had given the unheard of price of ;i^8oo for the future champion 

 Shire horse " Spark." From that day until now the Shire horse has never looked 

 back. Since that time it has not been a very uncommon thing for stallions to make 

 up to 2,000 guineas and mares up to 1,000 guineas." 



I may here interpoLate that the record was reached last year when the 

 Shire stallion " Tatton Dray King." who.se photograph is reproduced on 

 page 502, realized 3.750 guineas. Tindall goes on to say that this increase 

 in prices — 



Is due to a very great extent to the fact that registration enables breeders to 

 know which line of blood produces the soundest and best animals, and this could 

 never have been found out wath any satisfaction except bv the creation of a 

 Stud Book. It mav be said vou can onlv have full value when vou have perfection 

 in the animal (individual) and pedigree together, that is to sav, vou cannot have 

 perfection with pedigree alone, or with the animal alone : the two must and do 

 ru'i together. It is onlv by these means that breeders are enabled to ascertain 

 which animals will reproduce themselves with any degree of certaintv. We mav 

 confidently assert that as the breeders of Shire horses have now agreed as to wdiat 

 type the Shire should be, the improvement which has taken place in the last 

 25 years will be as nothing to what will be seen in the years to come. The 

 demand for Shire horses (both stallions and mares) at home and abroad has 

 considerably increased ; moreover the value of the Stud Book to breeders has 

 proved to be incalculable, as it causes owners to take more interest in the mating 

 cf their animals which, needless to sav, is essential to good breeding ; while the 

 fact of animals being registered has long since enabled members to know which 

 horses bred sound animals or otherwise. 



I have quoted at some length from Tindall on this matter of the bene- 

 ficial influence of a Stud Book on breeding operations. In the same article 

 he pronounces emphatically on the subject of unsoundness, and, lest there 

 are remaining some amongst the draught horse breeders in this State who 

 are still entertaining doubts as to the wisdom of the policy that has been 

 adopted by the Government with the object of eliminating hereditary un- 

 soundness, I may perhaps be pardoned for taking up a little time in read- 

 ing to you the published opinion of the man who, as a successful breeder 

 of life-long experience and as an acknowledged authority on the breed, 

 was selected to write the contribution on Shire Horses for the exhausti^'e 

 and up-to-date treatise on Horses of the Briiisli Empire (1907), which 

 may be described as the last word on horse lore that has been published. 

 Tindall savs : — 



One of the first ami most important rules that the society decided upon was 

 that- no animal should receive a prize without a Certificate of Soundness from a 

 veterinary surgeon, and this has been a most important factor in putting money 

 into the pockets of the breeders of Shire horses, especially tenant farmers. Twenty 

 years ago it was quite common for a very large proportion of horses to be 

 unsound, and as a matter of fact, as the first shows, tip to 20 per cent, or more, 

 were disqualified on account of unsoundness in various forms. Of late years, however. 



