It seems, however, that through the centuries our horse breed- 

 ers have made use of grading mostly — they bred from improved and 

 pure-bred stallions because their brood mares were not of a fixed 

 breed although possessing some breeding. 



In 1830-50 when South Africa furnished remounts to the Brit- 

 ish army in India, the type of horse that gained so much fame and 

 that represented the highest stage of development of the Cape Horse 

 was an improved grade from . Cape mares with some of the best 

 Thoroughbreds — a type of sire that is growing scarcer to-day and 

 then was of superior muscular development and greater weight car- 

 rying powers as proved by the fact that several of the sires then 

 imported were the sons of the sires — the Hark-aways, the Pretenders 

 and the Bellfounders — which largely contributed to the foundation 

 and establishment of the Hackney. 



The Cape Horse owes his best qualities to the Arab and Thor- 

 oughbred; but even as the Arab of to-day is unable to impart or 

 even possess many of the good qualities possessed by the breeds that 

 are mainly indebted to him for what they are — the steed of the 

 Thoroughbred, the additional qualities and size of the American 

 Saddler and the weigiit of the Percheron — even so the Thorough- 

 bred in his turn will also become useless for the breeds he has im- 

 proved and established, except where he is selected with many re- 

 strictions as to weight-carrying powers, conformation and muscular 

 development. 



In viev/ of all these difficulties the government and great breed- 

 ers should come to adopt more definite and rigid measures as re- 

 gards our horse breeding. 



Great authorities from European and other countries, to name 

 one, Mr. Alfred West, the great Irish judge, can not speak too high- 

 ly of the wonderful opportunities as afforded by climate, pastures 

 and other economic facilities of South Africa in producing a horse, 

 and large numbers too, second to no other. 



The future , now more than ever before, holds the greatest op- 

 portunities for us. The Cape to Cairo railway will bring us nearer 

 the V'Orld's greatest markets and we know that we can produce bet- 

 ter horses than India and Australia for we have everything in our 

 favor. 



We need have no fear, the best economists and stock raisers 

 tell us, that motor traffic will ever make the horse useless. The 



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