46 FOREIGX BREEDS OF HORSES. 



land of tlie best quality, and is surrounded in its -whole extent, which is 

 15 leagues, by a broad and deep ditch, and by a broad plantation 60 

 feet wide. It was formerly designed to supply horses to recniit the 

 cavalry ; at present its object is to obtain stallions of a good breed, whi'ch 

 are sent to certain depots for the supply of the various provinces. To 

 produce these, 1,000 brood mares and 48 stallions are kept ; 200 additional 

 mares, and 600 oxen are employed in cultivating the ground. The plain 

 is divided into four equal parts, and each of these subdivided into portions, 

 resembling so many farms. At the age of four years the young horses are 

 all collected in the centre of the establishment. A selection is first made 

 of the best animals to supply the deficiencies in the establishment, in order 

 alwavs to keep it on the same footing. A second selection is then made 

 for the use of the other : none of these, however, are sent away until they 

 are five years old ; but the horses that are not of sufficient value to be 

 selected are sold by auction, or sent to the army to remount the cavalry, 

 as circumstances may require. 



' The whole number of horses at present here, including the stallions, 

 brood-mares, colts, and fillies, is 3,000. The persons emploj^ed in the 

 cultivation of the ground, the care of the animals, and the management of 

 ihe establishment generally, are a major- director, 12 subaltern officers, and 

 1,170 soldiers. 



' The Imperial treasury advances to the establishment every year 118,000 

 florins (the half rix-dollar or florin is in value about 2s. Id. English 

 money), and is reimbursed by the sale of 150 stallions, which are sent 

 every year to the provinces at the pi^ice of 1,000 florins each, and by the 

 value of the horses supplied to the cavalry. The other expenses of every 

 description are paid for by the produce of the establishment, which is 

 required to defray, and does defray all. This is, therefore, an immense 

 estate — a farm on a colossal scale — with a stud in proportion managed on 

 account of the sovereign, and which produces a considerable revenue, 

 independently of the principal object which is attained, the propagation 

 and multiplication of the best breeds of horses. He can always supply the 

 wants of his army at a price almost incredibly small. For a horse of the 

 light cavalry he pays only 110 florins, for the dragoons 120, for the 

 cuirassiers 140, for the train 160, and for the artillery 180. It is a great 

 element of power to possess at home such an immense resource against a 

 time of war, at an expense so far below that which the powers of the Avest 

 and south of Europe are compelled to incur.' 



So early as 1790, a very superior Arabian, named Turkmainath, Avas 

 imported into Germany, and his stock became celebrated, not only in 

 Hungary, but throughout most of the German provinces. In 1819 the 

 Archduke Maximilian, brother to the emperor, purchased some valuable 

 racers and hunters in England, and sent them to Austria. Some of them 

 went to the Imperial establishment of which mention has just been made, 

 and the others contributed materially to the improvement of the horses 

 wherever they Avere distributed. Races have been established in various 

 parts of the Austrian dominions, and particularly at Buda and at Pest, in 

 Hungary. Of the good eflTect A\diich this Avill have on the breed of horses, 

 there can be no dispute, proAdded the race do not degenerate into a mere 

 contest of superiority of speed, and exhibited in an animal that from his 

 youth must inevitably be injured or ruined in the struggle. 



The gipsies used to be the principal horse-dealers in Hungarj^, but they 

 have been getting into comparative disrepute since the establishment of 

 the noble studs scattered through this district. He who Avants a horse, 

 or to speculate in horses, may noAV go to head- quarters and choose for 

 himself. 



