large numbers of English horses have been 

 sent to Natal for military service, but the 

 results were not satisfactory ; all became 

 useless, and the large majority died ; the 

 change from English stables and English 

 methods of management to those in vogue 

 in the Colony almost invariably proved fatal. 



Some five years ago, when discussing with 

 Mr. Cecil Rhodes the advisability of intro- 

 ducing into Cape Colony English sires to 

 improve the stamp of horse bred in South 

 Africa, he gave his opinion against such 

 measures. He pointed out that highly bred 

 and large horses were unsuitable for the 

 work required in the Colony ; they needed 

 greater care in housing, feeding, and groom- 

 ing than the conditions of life in South 

 Africa would allow owners to bestow upon 

 them. The hardships attendant upon long 

 journeys over rough country, the extremes 

 of heat and cold which horses must endure 

 with insufficient shelter or none at all, 

 must inevitably overtax the stamina which 

 has been weakened by generations of lux- 

 urious existence in England. 



Mr. Rhodes considered that no infusion of 

 English blood would enhance the powers of 

 the small colonial bred horse to perform the 

 work required of him under local conditions ; 



