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THE BREEDING STUD OF AN INDIAN PRINCE. 
The problem Mr. Proctor Sims has set himself to solve is : “ What 
is the combination of blood which will produce the animal most suit¬ 
able (1.) To mount the Imperial Lancers, and do the ordinary work of 
the Durbar. (2.) For sale to the Indian Government."” 
I would point out that Government, being by far the largest customer 
for horses, must be first considered by anyone carrying on a breeding 
establishment. As I have stated, the brood mares belonging to the 
stud are of all sorts; so there is a fine opportunity for comparing the 
results arrived at by combining different strains of blood; and it was 
the opinion of those present at the show, that the best stock were the 
produce of country-bred mares with two strains of Arab in them, 
crossed with an English or Australian thorough-bred horse. The Re¬ 
mount Agent of the Bombay Presidency bought three colts of this class; 
bays, 3| years old, 14 hands 2^ inches in height, with good bone and 
action, excellent shoulders, unusual length of rein, of good frame, and 
true-made all over. They were perfectly tractable, and I have no doubt 
that at five years old they will be powerful horses, 15 hands high; and 
being full of quality they should make ideal light cavalry remounts. 
And as the light cavalry horse is the animal best suited for private work 
in this part of India there should be no difficulty in selling any number 
of them. 
A country-bred is thus defined by the West of India Turf Club :— 
“ A country-bred horse is one foaled and reared in India, the country 
and breeding of the sire and dam being quite immaterial as regards 
this definition ; but the latter must have been in India for 12 months 
immediately preceding the birth of the foal.” 
Thus the produce of an English horse, and an English mare who has 
been a year in the country, would be a country-bred; but the animal I 
allude to in this paper is one descended, on the dands side, from the 
indigenous breeds of the country. Of these indigenous breeds there 
are, according to Colonel Humfrey, only three : the Khatiawar, the 
Deccan and the Sind; “ but,” he adds, “the Punjab has always been 
noted for its horses.” I have no intention of comparing a country-bred 
with an Australian—a superior animal in every way—nor with the high- 
class Arab, whose beauty, courage, docility and endurance will always, 
in spite of his being an execrable hack, maintain him in the position of 
a public favourite; but it is passing strange that so few horses are bred 
in India as to make it necessary to import the large numbers of Persians 
and inferior Arabs w T hich may be found any day in the stables of the 
dealers at Bombay. For a country-bred is a better horse than an Arab, 
and according to the rules of the turf clubs has to give him a stone in 
class races; and though he is not so taking a horse in appearance, he 
has better shoulders, and is in consequence a better hack; he is a better 
jumper, equally good at polo, better in harness; he is, however, defi¬ 
cient in the attribute of courage so conspicuous in the Arab. It is 
sometimes said the country-bred is dangerous and vicious, but Colonel 
Humfrey denies this accusation : “ I have had considerable experience 
with them, and say with confidence, that as a breed they are especially 
good-tempered and amenable.” I find in the Report of the Army Re¬ 
mount Department, that “ the prices now authorised for country-bred 
