The Management of Light Horses 143 



hand, has given premiums to stallions of various breeds, has en- 

 couraged the loaning of brood mares, and has generally undertaken 

 the encouragement of horse breeding. It is no part of my task to 

 comment on these various schemes, but I would point out that, 

 though the premiums given to the stallions are comparatively small, 

 this policy is far-reaching in its effects, and it is scarcely possible 

 to estimate the ultimate benefit which may be derived from it. 

 There would have been no necessity for the brood-mare scheme 

 if breeders had adopted the wise policy of the shrewd men referred 

 to above. 



There never has been much difficulty in selling really high-class 

 horses of any kind, and perhaps good horses never realized so much 

 money as they do now. But, necessarily, really high-class horses 

 are comparatively scarce, and the price realized for misfits has 

 much to do with the economic aspect of light-horse breeding. The 

 omnibus and the cab provided a good market before motor traffic 

 did away to a considerable extent with horses in the streets. A 

 well-known breeder, and a successful one too, has been heard to 

 say that if he can be guaranteed the cost price of his misfits, he 

 will do all the rest himself without any Government assistance. 

 He has undoubtedly touched upon the real crux of the question. 

 " Misfits ", of course, means horses in the second or third class — not 

 unsound horses. 



It has been shown that the omnibus and the cab no longer 

 provide the outlet for these horses that they did. There remains 

 the Cavalry Remounts department, which gives the same amount 

 of money for remounts that it did forty or fifty years ago. If an 

 appreciable increase were made in the price given for remounts, 

 there would be, at any rate, a greater inducement to breed light 

 horses. 



The brood mare is too frequently bred from because she happens 

 to be on the farm. She has been a good servant, has for many 

 years served the master as a hack or a harness horse, or both, and 

 now she can no longer work. Her legs have given way, or some- 

 thing has happened, and so, says the owner, " We will take a foal 

 off" her ". Sometimes, if the breakdown is the result of an accident, 

 she makes a very good brood mare indeed ; but too frequently she 

 never breeds anything so good as herself, and is a constant source 

 of disappointment to her owner. In the majority of cases an old 

 mare such as this had better be sold to someone who would give 

 her a good home or else put off". Though somehow sentiment does 

 enter into horse breeding, it is dangerous to give way to it, for it 

 frequently entails serious loss. 



