HOW TO BREED AN AUSTRALIAN HORSE 29 



And the third method is a combination of the two. To follow ideal lines, 

 I think the following points are essential to insure the greatest amount of 

 success which it is possible for sinful man to attain: — 



Firstly: A sufficient area of suitable land. The locality is immaterial 

 provided that there is an abundance of feed in favourable seasons, and plenty 

 of limestone in the soil. 1 should have no enclosure, apart from yards, under 

 a hundred acres, and the fencing, which is an expensive item these days, must 

 be of post and rails. The contour of the ground should vary, and the soil 

 must not be too rich. Hill and dale, upland and meadow, river flats, an 

 occasional swamp, are each of them desirable commodities in the way of 

 land, to be made use of in due season. The feet of the youngsters are 

 fashioned by the country they run on. One of the most knowledgeable of 

 all Australian trainers, a breeder himself, Mr. Joe Burton, it was who first 

 impressed this fact upon my mind. Some readers may remember what a 

 number of Gozo horses suffered from bad feet. "They are not Gozo feet," 

 Mr. Burton used to tell me; "they are Tucka Tucka feet." I believe he 

 was perfectly right. 



Horses require frequent change. After a while they may be doing badly 

 in a paddock showing a rare sward of grass, but will suddenly make gigantic 

 strides in growth and welfare when shifted to a worse pasture. They do not 

 appreciate rough, coarse, over-grown grasses. Therefore, bullocks must be 

 used to keep the exuberance of a bountiful nature in rigid check. Their 

 pasturage must be kept clean from the soiling of their own droppings. Chain 

 and brush harrows break this up well, and scatter it over the soil, but unrotted 

 horse manure puts very little back to the earth that has been taken out, and 

 to seek the pitch of perfection the droppings should all be raked together and 

 carted away to a receptacle where it can rot and be used for the garden or 

 the cultivated fields. 



Sheep and horses are like oil and w^ater. They will not mix. You may 

 run your mobs with sheep even amidst abundance, and yet they will be poverty 

 stricken, covered with lice and ticks, unwholesome, and never "growthy." 

 So much shortly, then, for the land. 



Secondly, Shelter: In the Old Country, where housing must be resorted 

 to for a very great portion of the year, this is really not so important as in 

 Australia. "The cold winds of winter blow mournfully here," as the song 

 says, and these are searching beyond belief in Australia. Every paddock must 

 have efficient shelters. Plantations, close-growing hedges, clumps of native 

 pines, groups of box or gum trees, are essentials for the well-being of all horses. 

 The hedges and pines make excellent wind breaks, but shade from the sun 

 in summer is equally a necessity. I like open sheds, thickly thatched, no 

 corrugated iron, please, fairly high in the roof, and far removed from trees. 

 Horses cannot stand the noise of wind-swung boughs on roofing. They, as a 

 rule, believe in ghosts. The flies are a terrible infliction in the spring and early 

 summer. I should like to house my young ones, during the worst months, in 

 dark, but sweet, stables throughout the long, scorching summer days, and turn 

 them out in the paddocks during the grateful coolness of the nights. 



Thirdly, Artificial Feeding: In the average seasons mares carrying their 

 foals require nothing in the way of artificial food, when once the winter has 

 passed away. The grass supplies them with an abundance of good milk, and 

 their offspring are the better for their natural sustenance, unaffected by over- 

 stimulating oats and chaff. Besides, some matrons have a tendency to wax 

 over gross, and when this occurs, it is astonishing to see how little milk they 

 manage to manufacture for their foal. During the spring and early summer, 



