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IMPROVEMENT OF FRENCH WAR HORSE Success Achieved by the Cooperation of the Farmers and Breeders of Trance New York September 7 Lieut G A Roy of the French High Commission who is in this country as nil acknowledged expert in the science of horse breeding for his government and who has for some time been assisting the Federal authorities in their search for suitable sires for use at the breeding reservations in Montana Oklahoma and Virginia when asked a few days ago to tell of tlie successes achieved in his own country in the production of a special type of war horse had the following to say sayWe We owe our success to the cooperation of the farmers and breeders of France who have seen what can be done by specialization What we have done you people can do also About forty years ago in our country everybody favored a strong made trot ¬ ting sire the belief being that this type of horse crossed on our native mares would give us animals with good backs capable of carrying the weight which a troon horse must be able to handle and we made si ecial racing programs in order to improve the quality of such animals animalsPerhaps Perhaps twenty years ago the cavalry officers mid leading sportsmen of the country saw that the type produced from such breeding was not what the senice demanded and an organization was perfected by them for the purpose of improving the war horse This was the now famous Societe de Cheval du Guerre By way of encouraging the farmers and breeders premiums amounting to 230000 francs or 50000 of your money were offered at different horse shows all over the country We soon realized that the only improving factor was the thoroughbred sire and our society barred from participation in shows all animals that were not thoroughbred on either sires pure bred that is or dams side Vt the outset continued Lieut Key we had against ns most of the old time breeders Some of them are still opposed but they are coming around lowly but surely convinced by the Accesses scared lune bv animals bred according to our plan winch shows against all comers won repeatedly in open awards Our most sub ¬ Impartial judges made the stantial victories have been scored M the Concours Hippique in Paris which is our biggest and best orse show We also proved their worth in s teeple chases crosscountry work being an essential part education Some of these of every cavalry horses half brTds were of such merit that they won open steeplechases steeplechasesHALF HALF BRED KARES FOR DAMS = n nu hocks and have light action The u sess good followed our lead and a c ch farmers ho and many of them luwe successful generally were Threeyearold colt or filly at the Concour s d 1000 Iliimlanc at Samanr for the equivalent of SS This particular show calls for perform nn nnV V across country instead if in the ring ringUpon of he his opinion Upon being requested to give broodmares which he had seen in s American the fol ¬ Lieut Roy had journeying in this country that I have the three years During lowing to say inspecting horses for my gov ¬ been in this country almost every part of your ernment I have been in of mare which thousands ntrr and have seen thoroughbred sires ildb tvpical to cross with breeders of the country K the farmers and horse to breed to the thoroughbred could be prevailed upon they would be successful and in a short time you could breed our type with as great regularity would be difficult do It and consistency as we to tell them apart as you have access to as good blood as we have in fact at your racecourses horses of French and English lineage are carded to take part in tests almost daily dailyI connection that our model I might say in this from the start ivas the Irish horse which has of perfection because he has reached u high state l een produced for hundreds of years There must be merit in the horses bred there for statistics low that in point of value they excell all others In 1913 Ireland exported 55000 horses not includ ¬ of the baud baudAa price ing rasehorses and the average Aa AaIt It should be a patriotic duty said Lieut Roy in concluding for every American horse breeder and farmer to render the Federal government every assistance in this work of horse production and tlse who have stallions of the type required should offer thorn to Uncle Sam
