It is much more easy to find sound Shires now than it was in the early years of the Shire Horse Society, when the rejections for unsoundness were very numerous, as the following extract from a show report of the past will prove:—“The judges selected ten horses to be sent out for veterinary inspection in the hope, vain though it proved to be, that at least half of them would be again found in the ring with a certificate of soundness, so that no difficulty would be experienced in securing sufficient sound animals to which they could award the three prizes and the reserve number. Not so, however; and the stewards were compelled to seek in the boxes for other horses to be sent out for examination in order that the rosettes might be placed.”
Unsoundness on such a scale has long ceased to exist, largely through the efforts of the Shire Horse Society in sticking to their rule of giving prizes and commendations to sound animals only.
This does not imply that unsoundness cannot be found in the Shires of to-day. Unfortunately it is still possible to buy a mare, or use a stallion, with undesirable and readily inherited complaints; therefore it is very necessary for farmers—who wish to make their Shires do a share towards paying the rent—to discriminate between a sound and an unsound horse, or mare, or to decide for himself whether to take or refuse a blemished animal. There are many of the latter which often prove a good investment, and as a veterinary surgeon cannot always be found at a moment’s notice it is desirable for breeders to make themselves acquainted with the conformation of a sound and perfectly moulded animal, so as to be able to rely on one’s own judgment when buying or selling.
Shire Horse history has proved that the purchase of one sound mare with good back breeding has led to fame and fortune, a fact which should not be forgotten when home breeding is being embarked upon or extended.
CHAPTER III
The Selection of Sires
The question of mating is one of great importance in the breeding of any class of live stock, hence the necessity of rejecting a commonplace sire whether he is to be purchased or only patronized for nominations.
The cheap sire is common enough even in these days, and the fact that his services cost little gives him a popularity altogether unmerited and very injurious to the best interests of Shire breeding. Quite recently I saw twenty quarters of wheat delivered by a small farmer from whom it was purchased. In one of the carts I was surprised to find a five-year-old stallion, light in bone, pale chestnut in colour, and quite small—just the sort to haul guns or baggage to “the front” at the present time, but obviously unfit to serve a mare if a weighty cart horse was expected as the result. Yet the owner claimed to have got a lot of mares to this horse for the past two seasons. This sort of thing going on all over the country, naturally lowers the standard. A farmer saves a yearling colt because he “likes the look of it.” At two years old he uses him on his own mares and invites his neighbours to send theirs, the terms being something like £1 each mare, or, perhaps, “No colt, no pay,” and £1 10s. if the mare proves to be in foal.
Such a system of breeding may help to increase the horse population, and those bred in this haphazard fashion may find a ready market while a great war is in progress, but it is not Shire breeding in the true sense; therefore a farmer who possesses even a useful mare should not object to paying a reasonable service fee, or, if he uses his neighbour’s horse, he should at least ascertain if he is sound and of good parentage.