1906 



ON HORSE BREEDING IN ONTARIO. 89 



Peteeborougii. 



hummer in 



As regards the townships of Belmont, Methnen, and Du^^ix^. .^ 

 this county, the Inspectors report a decided improvement in the clas« of 

 neavy horses inspected, ana there is evidence of more intelligent interest 

 being taken by farmers in horse breeding. The "scrub" is much com- 

 plained of, however, and any legislation that will protect the owners of 

 • ri'^if^' Worses and encourage systematic breeding will be favorably r«s- 

 ceived by most of the horsemen here. Stallion iBspection and a license fee 

 appear to be the only form of legislation considered likely to improve the 

 present state of the horse industry. With but two exceptions, a Clydesdale 

 1^1 ^^^^^^^^°^> all the sires inspected were grades, viz., a Coach, Clydes- 

 dale, Percheron, and two Standard-breds. One is not sound, but on th« 

 whole they average up fairly well. The maximum for stud fees is |10, and 

 minimum |5. Mares in these townships are a little better and heavier than 

 m some of the other districts, but show no particular line of breeding with 

 the exception of some gtade Clydesdales. There are also a few registered 

 mares of that breed. While there are a large number of light mares, there 

 are not many high class drivers among them. 



Peterborough town being adjacent to the townships of Otonabee and 

 Asphodel, there are naturally a large number of stallions travelling in that 

 section. Included in them are five pure-bred Clydesda'les, and seven grades, 

 eight pure-bred Shires, a German Coach horse, three pure-bred and two 

 grade Standard-breds, a Percheron, a French Canadian, a pure-bred and 

 a grade Hackney and a nondescript. There is a good deal of unsoundnegf 

 amoBg these horses, and some, at least, should not be travelling on this 

 account, and also for poor conformation. There are some good sires 

 amongst them, however, and some have good reports about them as stock 

 getters. There is a pretty wide range of fees from $5 to $15, the former 

 for grades. Mares here show some improvement along draft lines, not 

 too many are old and worn out and not suited to give the best results in 

 breeding. Very few give evidence of breed quality, and most of them are 

 too light to mate with heavy stallions. Here, again, horsemen are nearly 

 all a unit in asking that steps be taken to banish the "scrub" stallion, but 

 opinions differ as to what action should be taken. Some would make reg- 

 istration a necessary qualification for all stallions, while a large number 

 seem to favor inspection of all stallions as well as their progeny. The fact 

 that some registered stallions have been failures in the stud, while some 

 unregistered horses are recognized in the community as excellent stock 

 getters, is put forward as an argument against pedigree qualification being 

 made the standard. Many express the conviction that educating farm- 

 ers as to the advantages of line breeding and the proper mating of their 

 mares should be ■ attempted before compulsory legislation is introduced. 



The township«i of North Monaghan, Smith, and Ennismore also bene- 

 fit by the proximity of Peterborough, and no less than twenty-three stal- 

 lions are found in this district. In this list are three nure-bred and six 

 grade Clydesdales", three pure-bred and one grade Percheron, one Shire, 

 four pure-bred and four grade Standard-breds and a grade Coach horse. 

 Here, too, there is some unsoundness, but even among the grades there are 

 some pretty goood, horses. Six dollars is the lowest stud fee and |15, the 

 highest. Mares are of fair average quality, but the age average is too 

 hio-h. The general purpose type of about 1,200 lbs. predominates, but 

 there are a few Clydesdales and some good road mares. Stallion owneri 



