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WHEN A STALLION IS AT HIS BEST Consensus of Opinion Is That Five or Six Years Experience in Stud Duty Necessary One of the perplexing questions which arises in a study devoted to horse husbandry is the ace of the stallion at which he is l cst aide to transmit the more valuable iiualitics of his breed writes Pro fcssor W S Anderson of the Kentucky Experiment Station The consensus of opinion among breeders Miins to IKJ that a stallion is not prepared to do his best work in the stud until lie lias some five or sis years experience in stud duty dutyIt It is understood of course that the young stallion does not have the same opportunity in the stud as the older one has which has established his repu ¬ tation This is because the owners of successful broodinans will not as a rule breed their great matrons to young untried horses They seek the successful sire no matter what the stud fees may be This fact of itself puts young sires at a dis ¬ advantage advantageV V S Rocker has issued a set of charts of the successful sire lilies of English thoroughbred horses lie gives the winners of the twelve principal classic contests of England At the same time he gives sire of winner and age of sire The table given herewith has l ccn compiled from his charts by one of our students J T Campbell The column giving the ages of sires indicates that this is the age at which the mating was made which produced the winner According to this table the most suc ¬ cessful years are from 0 to 13 From 13 to ± 1 there is also a series of years which are successful In a less marked degree degreeSo So many things can happen to a stallion after lie has passed the age of fourteen or fifteen that it is reasonable to assume that it is the decease in number of aged sires in service that accounts for there being fewer successful sires from fourteen on ¬ ward lie also believes that the few winners at ¬ tributed to sires of three and four years of age is due not so much to their lack of ability to sire sliced as it is due to the liinit of opportunity which young horses have The horse does not reach full physical maturity until the close of his fourth year at which time his stud duty should begin beginIf If we apply this test to the table given the young sire of five six or seven years of age when his opportunities are considered proves to be as suc ¬ cessful as the older ones The obvious conclusion must be reached that after a stallion arrives at maturity there is no one age at which he is better than the other so long as he retains his vigor vigorTable Table giving the age of the English thoroughbred sires that have produced winners of the twelve chief events on the English turf 1 One Thousand Guineas 7 Jockey Club Stakes 2 Two Thousand Uuiiieas 8 Ascot Gold Cup 3 Derby Goodwood Cup 4 Oaks 10 Doiicaster Cup 5 Eclipse Stakes 11 Cesnrcwitch 0 St Leger 12 Cambridgeshire No of Will No of Win ¬ Age of ners for Age of ners for Stallion that age Stallion that age 10 17 HO 18 15 19 92 20 100 21 100 84 119 83 ar 09 54
