224 



Horse Breeding in Italy. 



Horse Breeding in Italy. 



The Board have received, through the Foreign Office, a 

 report prepared by Mr, E. Neville-Rolfe, Her Majesty's 

 Consul at Naples, relating to the breeding of horses and 

 mules in Italy. 



Mr. Neville-Rolfe states that scientific or rational horse- 

 breeding is much more advanced in the northern half of the 

 kingdom than in the south. In the northern portion, and as 

 far as Rome, cart-horses worthy of the name may be seen in 

 fair quantities, whereas to the south of the capital such 

 horses do not exist, and the traction of a furniture van 

 presents a problem. At Rome it will be drawn to the station 

 by a pair of horses : on arrival at Naples it is drawn by a 

 heterogeneous collection of animals, often consisting of two 

 cows, a donkey, and a pony or two. 



In the north of Italy cart-horses are bred from Norman, 

 Flemish, and English sires. They are usually of the Per- 

 cheron type. In southern Italy there seems to be no notion 

 of scientific horse breeding or crossing, the fallacy that a 

 degenerate breed will be in every case improved by a 

 thoroughbred cross is still rampant, with the result that the 

 animals cast by the little native mares from thoroughbred 

 sires are wretched weeds. The good breeds which existed 

 there only a few years ago have degenerated, especially those 

 of the neighbourhood of Salerno, such as the Moschetti, 

 Farina, and Composti. They still, however, and especially 

 the Farina breed, turn out some good stock. These horses 

 have good shoulders and chests, but are somewhat long in 

 the back and have sloping quarters ; they are, therefore, 

 more suited for carriage than for saddle work, and correspond 

 to the Hackney class in England. Their bone and sinews 

 are remarkably good and strong, as are also their hoofs. A 

 good five-year-old Salerno is worth from ;,r3o to £60. In 

 Calabria the Baracco breed still stands in good repute. 

 These horses are sturdy and sure-footed, though somewhat 

 small. 



The great obstacle to breeding horses in Italy is the want 

 of a remunerative market ; the onl}^ sure and large purchaser 



