1 88 RIDING 



Officers from time to time visit Australia to report on the 

 character of horses which are being bred. The last visit appears 

 to have been in 1886, when it was laid down that these horses 

 should be ' sound, four to five years old, of any colour, with 

 good shoulders, deep in the girth, thick through the heart, good 

 feet and legs, good backs, loins well ribbed up, and a deep 

 well-turned rib.' 



The Government still advertises in Australia for horses from 

 time to time at the standard rate of 600 rupees, but are now 

 inclined to prefer smaller, clean-legged horses with good body 

 and shoulders. 



It is to be regretted that, in the interests of Australia at 

 least, and probably in that of England also, there should at 

 the present time be no successor to the office held by Captain 

 Apperley under the East India Company. The breeders com- 

 plain bitterly of the uncertain nature of the market for Indian 

 remounts. One gentleman who once took a large consignment 

 of horses of about sixteen hands in height was informed by the 

 officer to whom was entrusted the duty of purchasing remounts, 

 that he considered sixteen hands too high for cavalry purposes 

 and for horsing guns. The shipper resolved in future to mend his 

 ways, and the following year he took over a shipment of horses 

 none of which exceeded 15 hds. 3 in. in height ; but mean- 

 while the purchasing officer had been changed, and his suc- 

 cessor entertained a different opinion, holding that horses under 

 sixteen hands in height were not fitted for military purposes ; 

 and for the second time the unfortunate shipper had to dispose 

 of his cargo by auction to the highest bidder. But, in spite of 

 this discouragement, some thousands find their way annually to 

 Indian markets. 



One of the largest breeders of horses in New Zealand com- 

 plains that he has sent four shipments to Calcutta, and the 

 result has been a loss on the whole. If whole cargoes could 

 be sold at the regulation price, or even 75 per cent., horse- 

 breeding would pay ; whereas the Indian Government rarely 

 take more than 50 per cent., no matter how suitable the horses 



