CHAPTER II. 



METHODS IN BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT OP HORSES 



IN THE UNION. 



The melliods practised in the rearing and management or horses 

 in South Africa are very simple and primitive j^et very effective. 

 They conform to the natural order of things. The horses are 

 reared in the open, they provide for themselves except in droughts 

 and poor seasons and enjoy that vitality and stamnia which is the 

 birthright of the wild troop, subjected only to man's will and the 

 laws of nature which are most favorable to the strong and merciless 

 to the weak. 



In the beginning of its history horse-breeding was for a time 

 conducted on European lines, that means the animals were kept at 

 stable during nights and for the greater part of the day, owing to 

 the numerous wild animals and thieving hordes of natives that 

 prowled about. In 1654 the only stallion then at the Cape was torn 

 to pieces by lions in broad day-light and under the very nose of the 

 fort's cannon.^ Frequent mention is also made of elaborate stabl- 

 ing and provisions for the horses owned by the Company, and this 

 method was adopted by the farmers since 1665 when through the 

 first public sale of horses by the Company they undertook horse- 

 breeding as a new undertaking in their agricultural and pastoral 

 pursuits.^ 



This state of affairs must have been in practice for over a cen- 

 tury, for the 18th century was well advanced before the great hinter- 

 land-beyond the several mountain ranges of the Drakenstein and the 

 Eastern districts of Swellendam and Graaf-Reinet were opened up. 



As the flocks of sheep increased and with them the troops of 

 horses and herds of cattle the farmers moved more inland to find 

 fresh pastures and since the great pastoral system of farming came 

 in vogue, all additional feeding and stabling were discarded. : 



Agricultural implements were primitive, the wooden plow was 

 only dispensed with in the beginning of the 19th century and such 



(1) Jan van Mebeeck. " Vagverhaal van" 165S-166S. 



(2) Archives of the Cape of Good Rope. 165^-1795. 



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