THE HUNTERS' IMPROVEMENT SOCIETY 



Was established to improve and encourage the breeding of Horses for 

 Hunting, Eiding, Driving and Military purposes, and the Council would 



specially draw attention to the following brief record of its work : — 

 1. — Service Premiuins for Thoroughbred Stallions. 



As pioneer in the movement for the encouragement of Horse-breeding, the 

 Society, in 1885, inaugurated the system of giving Sei-vice Premiums for 

 Thoroughbred StaUions, which has resulted in no less a sum than £32,450 being 

 so awarded. 



2.— Hunter Brood Mares and Young Stock. 



The claims of the Hunter Brood Mares and their produce have received full 

 recognition, as Premiums valued at £2500 have been awarded in London and, 

 latterly (with a view to obviating the risk and danger to Brood Mares travelling 

 in the spring) at the summer local shows. THIRTY-POUR Societies offered the 

 Gold Medal this summer. 



3.— Hunter Sires. 



The Council has registered the pedigrees and permits the exhibition of Stallions, 

 not thoroughbred, but with only a remote strain, in compliance with approved 

 rules, whose entries will be of interest to Hunter Breeders. 



4.— Registration of Pedigrees. 



With a view to inducing tenant farmers and breeders to keep a record of the 

 pedigrees of their mares and young stock, the Society has published four 

 Volumes of the Record of Hunter Mares and Sires, containing the registry of 673 

 ]\Iares, while the current book contains the entries of 13 Hunter Stallions and 303 

 Hunter Mares and Fillies. 



5.— Influence of the Society. 



The Society may well claim its share in the present revival of Horse-breeding 

 in the country, and its influence may be discerned in many districts where the 

 prizes for Hunter Brood Mares have been doubled to obtain the Society's Gold 

 Medal. 



6. — Future Spring Shows. 



The increasing entries at the London Shows, held since 1885 in conjunction 

 with the Hackney Horse Society, so taxed the accommodation at the recent show, 

 not only for the exhibits but for the members and public, that it was felt some 

 change was inevitable. It was decided that the Hunters' Improvement Society 

 should hold a separate show, and, on the invitation of the Council, the Royal 

 Commission on Horse-breeding have favourably considered the proposal to there 

 offer the Queen's Premiums for Thoroughbred Stallions. In 189-4, thp: Hunters' 

 Improvement Society therefore holds a show of its own, having 

 as its primary object the promotion and encouragement of the breeding of 

 Hunters. To meet the call on the Society's funds which this new departure 

 demands, the Council wish to make a special appeal to 



Members. That they will bring the Society's past work and future aims before 

 ladies and gentlemen interested in the object for which it was established, and to 



Non-members. That they will become subscribers and thus aid the Council to 

 extend its scope of utility. 



The Society now numbers nearly 1000 Members. 



Members of the Hunters' Improvement Society have the following privileges : — 

 1. Free admission to the Annual Sbow and Grand Stand. 

 •i. Making Entries for the Annual Show at Half rates. 



3. A free copy of the record of Mares and Sires issued periodically by the Society, and the 



purchase of extra or back volumes at reduced rates. 



4. Half rates for making Entries in the Record of Mares and Sires. 



Life Lady Members receive free admission to the Annual Show and Grand Stand, 

 and may purchase any volume of the Record of Mares and Sires at Members Rates. 



