142 The Management of Light Horses 



tively small farm. Her first foal brought 300 gs. ; another colt sold 

 for 200 gs., and so on; and in the long run the mare and her 

 descendants made her owner a very comfortable little fortune. 

 And George Easby had one policy. He would never sell a filly off 

 any of his mares until he had another filly from her that he liked. 



The other case is of a man who is still living, and for that 

 reason I do not give his name. He was a hard-working and 

 industrious young man, willing to turn his hand to anything, and 

 he did a good deal of leading. He saved a little money and bought 

 a good brood mare of a famous strain. She bred him a filly and 

 another foal or two. The filly he kept for a brood mare. He took 

 a small farm and kept on breeding. The filly's first foal was a 

 filly, and he was offered 30 gs. for it. He refused, though he could 

 have done well with the money, and 30 gs. is not a bad price for 

 a foal. But his policy was the same as George Easby's; he sold 

 no filly till he had another from the mare that he liked. His 

 resolution did well for him. The mare bred six colts before she 

 bred a filly, and all of them were sold as stallions. Then she bred 

 a filly that was a better than her dam. When the filly was old 

 enough to take her dam's place the latter was sold. Needless to 

 say that, good as she was, she has always had to take second place 

 to her daughter. It must be emphasized that these two men were 

 horse lovers. They delighted in their horses ; nothing was a trouble 

 in connection with them. I have been at the house of the latter 

 gentleman, and seen all his horses out. In the course of conver- 

 sation afterwards, when some point was being discussed, perhaps 

 it was suggested that a second look at one of the horses would be 

 appreciated. The suggestion was no sooner made than acted upon, 

 but instead of the horse in question, the whole lot were had out 

 again. And my friend's sons are as keen as he is. 



Now, the point I would emphasize is this, that unless a man 

 really loves horses, and takes a keen interest in their progress and 

 wellbeing, he will be well advised if he has nothing to do with the 

 breeding of light horses. There is nothing of the kodak policy — 

 you press the button and we do the rest — about light-horse breeding 

 any more than there is about any other branch of the farming 

 industry. The unremitting attention derived from a love of horses 

 is the great factor which is necessary for success. 



It is a matter of common knowledge that the supply of light 

 horses in the country has been rapidly decreasing during the 

 last few years, and that it has been given as a reason that, since 

 the introduction of motor traffic, it does not pay to breed light 

 horses. Consequently the Government has taken the matter in 



