46 
Half-bred  Horses  for  Field  or  Road : 
his  brood  mare  or  one  likely  to  prove  one.  I well  remember 
a large  dealer,  being  anxious  to  obtain  a good  huntress,  tried 
every  means  without  success  until  he  put  a hundred  bright 
sovereigns  on  the  table,  the  sight  of  which  was  too  much  for  Pat. 
Many  reasons  can  he  given  for  the  scarcity  of  good  half-bred 
horses,  but  the  thing  to  do  is  to  endeavour  to  regain  the  position 
we  have  lost.  We  shall  never  succeed  in  doing  much  in 
England — in  Yorkshire,  parts  of  Worcestershire,  Lincolnshire, 
and  Shropshire— the  latter,  years  ago,  being  the  best  county  in 
England  for  hunters — owing  to  farmers  turning  their  attention 
to  the  manufacture  of  beef  and  mutton,  which  comes  to  hand 
much  quicker  than  horseflesh.  We  may  do  something  in  the 
West  of  England  and  South  Wales,  where  there  are  small  grass 
farms  and  a lighter  cart-mare  exists ; but  our  horse-raising 
ground  must  be  in  Ireland,  where  every  man,  priest  or  peasant, 
is  fond  of  the  animal.  Some  years  ago  I judged  horses  and 
hounds  at  Cork  : I think  it  was  in  1861.  The  stallions  were 
paraded,  and,  when  I turned  to  my  colleague  with  the  remark, 
‘ I shall  not  give  one  of  these  a prize,’  he  begged  me,  as  I valued 
his  life,  to  postpone  judgment  until  he  had  gone.  That  night 
at  the  Society’s  dinner  no  one  would  bear  me,  as  I had  dis- 
carded a stallion  that  had  won  two  prizes  and  wanted  the  third, 
and  then  would  be  called  ‘ The  Champion  Sire  of  the  South.’ 
That  horse  was  useless,  unsound  in  every  respect,  but  he  had 
served  at  two  guineas  for  years.  There  are  now  many  good 
stallions  in  Ireland,  but  the  fee  is  too  high  for  every  small  man 
to  use  them.  I would  suggestthat  the  Government  should  come 
forward  and  assist  by  locating  in  different  districts  in  the  south 
and  west  of  Ireland  some  really  good  thoroughbred  horses, 
which  should  travel  the  districts  and  serve  all  mares  gratis,  the 
owner  of  which  could  produce  a certificate  of  hereditary  sound- 
ness from  a qualified  veterinary  surgeon,  who  should  be  liable 
to  a penalty  for  giving  a false  one,  and  no  mares  except 
thoroughbred  or  cart  should  be  exported  from  Great  Britain  or 
Ireland  for  three  years.  By  these  means  I think  we  should 
partially  regain  our  lost  useful  horse,  and  become  more  inde- 
pendent of  foreign  countries  for  our  horse  in  times  of  peace 
or  war. 
“ Your  Lordship’s  faithful  servant, 
“T.  Pain.” 
Mr.  Tattersall. 
“My  Lord,  “Albert  Gate. 
“ I have  read  with  great  interest  the  exhaustive  articles 
‘ On  Breeding  Half-bred  Horses  for  Field  or  Road,’  written  bv 
my  friends  Mr.  Lumley  Hodgson,  T.  Parrington,  and  Colonel 
