548 PURCHASE OF HORSES FOR THE ARMY IN INDIA. 
“ Poverty, in any shape, is the cleath-blow to Arab stock. Its tendency, 
under the best care, is to run light. Arab blood will never rectify defec- 
tive forelegs. I have found it fail in India studs, and witnessed the weedy, 
under-sized, under-limbed produce of Arab horses in England, Erance, 
Germany, and Prussia. Lieut. -Colonel Bower having had a Dreadnought 
colt or two that could carry 10 stone 9 lbs. a mile and a half in three 
minutes ten seconds on the Cape race-course, is no criterion of that horse 
being able to get good troop-horses ! 
“ During nine years that Colonel Hunter had charge of the central stud 
in Bengal, the number of Arabian stallions ranged from nine to thirty-four 
per annum, in general use upon the government mares, who had plenty of 
good English blood in their veins, — in the whole of which period only 
fifteen Arab produce were taken for the Horse Artillery, for which branch 
of the service the finest horses, possessing good bone and substance, were 
invariably selected, and one horse, by name Nugent , was the sire of nine of 
them. 
“I am much amused at Colonel Bower’s sweeping abuse of the good-for- 
nothing Bengal stud-horse. The use of the Arab sires did considerably 
injure the Indian stud-bred remounts, but they did not disgrace themselves 
in the Affghan war. The Bengal Horse Artillery had nine-pounder guns, 
and twenty-four pounder howitzers, and heavy gun-carriages, with 169 
horses per troop ; whereas the Bombay Horse Artillery had upwards of 
200 horses per troop, and only six-pounder guns on draft; consequently, 
it is unfair to draw any comparison between them. One of the reasons 
given from Bombay and Madras against the adoption of the Bengal gun- 
carriage being that their Arab horses were too light to drag them. I merely 
mention these facts to deter the Cape breeders from falling into an error 
that will be detrimental to their horse-stock and their interests also. 
<f Another circumstance connected with the success of any remount 
agency that may ever be established at the Cape of Good Hope is the mise- 
rable condition the farmers keep their horses in during many months of the 
year. No remount agent is justified in buying a single horse if he is not in 
proper condition for immediate shipment. Although I have done so conse- 
quent upon the urgency of the present demand, I shall never do so again. 
This is the great drawback to the success of horse-dealing in this country. 
An old and true English saying is — ‘ The value of a horse goes down his 
throat hence the superiority of the English horse over any other. If the 
Cape farmers could be induced to feed their stock liberally, their horses 
would be much larger and stronger, and their returns certain. I am obliged, 
at this moment, to suspend operations, because all the horses in the country 
are out of condition, and as thin as hurdles. 
“ 1 trust, as immigration increases, more acres may fall under the plough. 
If each farmer sowed an acre of oats over and above what is intended for sale, 
for each horse he had to dispose of, it would ensure good condition at a very 
trifling cost all the year round, and enable the remount agent to give him a 
liberal price for his colt, when required for immediate shipment, which is 
rendered impossible if the expenses of a depot for a couple of months are to 
be thrown upon the horses before they can be shipped. 
“ How far the blue-books may reach the dwellings of the Cape horse 
breeders and farmers I cannot say, but I think there is much valuable in- 
formation in the reports of Lieutenant-Colonel Bower and Captain Gall, 
that they ought to read, particularly with reference to what are considered 
remunerative prices, &c. War prices must now cease, and the continuation 
of the demand from India for horses will become a matter of pounds, 
shillings, and pence. 
“ The unsatisfactory results from committees, at different times assembled 
