LIVE STOCK 



Horses 



THE HOKSES, ASSES AND MULES 



Special Selection. 



Bit and Bridle. 



Early Hindu 

 Influence. 



Indian 

 Breeds. 



Direct 

 Adaptation. 



Improvement 

 Assured. 



Kathiawar. 



all the existing races and breeds of horses have descended from one common 

 stock, which Darwin believed was dun-coloured and more or less striped. 

 In Neolithic times a wild horse would appear to have existed in Europe, 

 but the animals of the present time have probably not been developed 

 from these, but from animals which it is well known were imported from 

 Asia into Greece and Italy. But even these Asiatic ancestors were doubt- 

 less only a consequence of a still earlier long-continued selection from a 

 stock or stocks that to some extent may be indicated by the fossil 

 remains discovered. The artificial selection conducted by man has 

 been toward specific purposes. The English thoroughbred may be men- 

 tioned as the final manifestation in speed ; the English draught-horse in 

 working capacity ; and the Shetland pony in sure-footedness and suita- 

 bility for mountainous regions. What may be true of England can be 

 shown as equally applicable to all countries wherever the horse has been 

 appreciated in agricultural, industrial and political life. The most ancient 

 histories and traditions of India point to a specialisation in warfare. ^Elian 

 describes the King's stables ; the use of the bit and bridle in making the 

 horses move at a measured pace ; the breaking in of the animals by forcing 

 them to gallop round and round in a ring ; and when on the march, we are 

 told the war chariots were drawn by oxen and the horses led on a halter 

 so that their legs might not be galled nor their spirits damped by drawing 

 the chariot to the battle-field. None of the early writers would seem to 

 make even the most distant allusion to the Indian horse being used for 

 agricultural purposes or for transport ; adaptation, therefore, to riding 

 and swiftness were the directions of early Hindu influence on the horse. 

 The establishment of the rule of peace under British supremacy of neces- 

 sity meant the overthrow of martial power and the loss of the races of 

 fiery chargers that doubtless previously existed in India. 



Principal Indian Breeds. There seems at all events little doubt that 

 the Native breeds of horses have diminished and deteriorated since the 

 establishment of British rule in India. The suppression of the predatory 

 system lessened the demand, and the superior Lakhi and Cutch breeds 

 which for centuries had been famous became almost, if not altogether, 

 extinct. It is probable also that the requirements of modern warfare 

 for larger and more powerful animals than India naturally produced, led 

 to a system of artificial breeding, in which size was the object mainly 

 aimed at, an object that might easily have resulted in the deterioration of 

 the original small, hardy and swift breeds and the production of badly 

 formed and weedy animals. Within recent years the Government of India 

 have adopted, in the Civil Veterinary Department, a policy of supplying 

 specially selected stallions to each important centre. These have been 

 chosen in consideration of the most hopeful directions of improvement of 

 existing stock, and their services are placed at the disposal of horse- 

 breeders free of charge, provided the mares have been examined, approved 

 and branded, by a representative of the Department. According to uni- 

 versal repute this has had a most beneficial effect. The following are some 

 of the better known indigenous breeds : 



1. Kathiawar and Rajputana. The Chiefs in these States still continue to 

 give attention to horse-breeding and many of them keep up very large stables, 

 in which the most careful selection is observed. The original breed known as 

 the Kathi was noted for its great powers of endurance. The peculiarities of the 

 ammal are that it is generally under-sized and small-boned and has a distinctive 

 mark, a black cross down the back and black bars on the legs, the colour of the 



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