24 REPORT OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATION No. '65 



SPECIAL REPORT OF INSPECTORS. 



In the first place we wish to say that it is not possible flor us to give as 

 full and comprehensive a report as we would have' done had more time been 

 placed at our disposal. We were not able to inspect every stallion in each 

 district, and therefore did not come in contact with the breeders and users of 

 such animals. 



However, we are of the opinion that the Department could not have made 

 a more popular move than to give consideration to the adoption of an Inspec- 

 tion and License Act. Resolutions in favor of these points have been unani- 

 mously adopted at all our meetings, and in fact by all individuals with whom 

 we had the privilege of talking about these subjects. 



As to the condition of the horse breeding industry, we might say that 

 it certainly requires some directing. There are many causes for Ihe present 

 -condition. The first and greatest has been indiscriminate and careless breed- 

 ing. In the second place we hear complaints from the owners of! stallions, 

 of the great scarcity of good mares of all breeds or types to breed from. Dur- 

 ing our trip this was a very noticeable fact. Some attribute it to the high 

 prices being offered by farmers and breeders of Manitoba and the other west- 

 ern provinces. This may be partially true at the present time; still we can- 

 not but think that carelessness and lack of interest, or, in other words, la ck 

 of foresight on the part of the farmers and breeders, is to a great extent re- 

 sponsible for the present bad conditions of our brood mares. 



As a Province we are peculiarly situated, having perhaps better facilities 

 in this country than in any other for the breeding of high class, well 

 bred horses of any type or breed. Our surroundings are such as to bring us 

 in close proximity to the best markets of America. In fact, some years ago 

 the great republic to the south of us were purchasers of a great number of 

 high class horses which were bred in our Province at that time, namely, the 

 draught horse, and the high class harness and saddle horse; and we venture 

 to say if the people of this Province had been more careful to breed along 

 the lines of the foundation laid in this country thirty or forty years ago, we 

 would to-day be head and shoulders above any other country in being able 

 to produce the best of the above mentioned classes. 



The existing evils can partially be remedied by education, but the gen- 

 eral opinion is that an Inspection Act will have the greatest tendency to im- 

 prove the present conditions, from the fact that no stallion inferior in breed- 

 ing and individuality would then be given a permit to go into commission. 

 Therefore the breeders and users will not have to withstand the solicitations 

 of wily horse owners inducing them to use undesirable animals, which, coupled 

 with a desire for a cheap fee, has been one of the chief factors in bringing 

 about the present low standard. It is impossible to buy a first-class horse 

 for commercial use from the farmers of this Province. 



Another cause which stands out prominently as a factor leading to the 

 present conditions is the syndicating system. This fact has been impressed 

 upon us for a number of years, and we found on our trip over five counties 

 that in nearly every case animals sold by this system were of a very inferior 

 quality, and cost from twenty to thirty per cent, more than a first-class ani- 

 mal of the same breed cost private individuals. This has also been the opin- 

 ion of most of the people we met, and we believe that it is high time that 

 this kind of unscrupulous plundering was stopped. 



Another reason why an inspection placed in competent hands would be 

 of great service, is that it would have a tendency to make importers and 

 speculators more careful in making their selections, knowing that individuals 



