10 May, 1917.] Government Certification of Stallions. 



259 



Disapproval. 



With regard to refusal of certificates for " di.sapproval " — as it is 

 termed for convenience — and which indicates the horse as being below 

 a reasonable standard in respect of breed type and conformation, 

 the percentage of rejections has progressively increased, as the following 

 figures show : — 



1907/8. 1908/9. 1909/10. 1910/11. 1911/12. 1912/13. 1913/14. 1914/15. 1915/16. 1916/17. 

 8-38 8-24 14-65 9-6 12- 15 10-27 20-14 20-4 23-1 30-9 



This must not be taken to indicate that the horses of the present 

 day are not as good as they were ten years ago; during the early years 

 only those horses absolutely of low type were refused, whilst of later 

 years there has been a desire to require a higher and higher standard, 

 which is supported by breeders, who so frequently have passed the 

 remark : " There are too many certificates issued." Yet the average 

 type present in Victoria is to-day far superior to that seen when the 

 first examinations were conducted. 



As further evidence of the support of breeders under this head, and 

 also of the judgment of veterinary officers, it is worthy of note that 

 only five appeals were lodged against refusal of certificates for 

 disapproval, and that the Appeal Boards upheld the action in four 

 eases and reversed the decision in only one. 



The accompanying table shows an analysis of the examinations 

 made during the last season : — 



12. 



