Horse-Breeding in Hungary 



The stud machinery in Hungary is elaborate and exten- 

 sive. There are four State breeding-farms where stalhons are 

 bred for the public service. The stallions, which in 1896 

 numbered 2,838, are sent out to 18 central depots, and from 

 these upwards of 946 local covering stations are annually 

 supplied. The service fees range from is. ^d. to 15s. 4^. 

 Large breeders may hire stallions from the central depots for 

 the season. 



Hungarian methods are admirably described by Pro- 

 fessor John Wrightson in his " Report on the Agriculture 

 of the Austro-Hungarian Empire," published in Vol. II. 

 (Second Series) of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society (1874); and by Mr. J. Collins, Principal Veterinary 

 Surgeon to the Forces in 1880, whose Report on the Studi 

 and Breeds of Horses in Hungary was, by permission of the 

 Secretary of State for War, reproduced in the Journal of the 

 Royal Agricultural Society. 



Professor Wrightson in 1873 rnade a tour of ten weeks in 

 Hungary, and visited the great studs belonging to the Crown. 

 He observes that the breeding of horses in that country is 

 one of the most popular branches of rural economy, and is 

 carried on not only by the Government but by most of the 

 great landed proprietors with wonderful results. 



Hungarian breeders are at issue with the many English 

 breeders who look upon the Thoroughbred as essential to the 

 supply of half-bred saddle horses. " We have, in fact, no 

 distinct race of saddle-horses ; but in Hungary they think it 

 quite practicable to raise such a race, possessed of the 

 necessary fixity of character. They still look to England for 

 their supplies of Thoroughbreds and Norfolk Trotters " ; but, 

 as we shall read, they have in recent years succeeded in their 

 object of establishing breeds of their own. 



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