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F AME OF GENESEE VALLEY i Center of Horse Breeding in the State of New York » Autumn Fair and Spring Yearling Show Slg Aid In Stimulating the Horse Market. ■ m AVON, N. Y.. April 27.— When the Breeding Bureau of the Jockey Club determined somo years ago to confine the bulk of its activities in the scheme of general purpose horse improvement, for which it was organised, it was hoped that the best results would be obtained through concentration than under the orginal plan which called for placing a thoroughbred stallion in every county of the state. Certain communities, it was quickly found, were not prcpartd to carry on the work. In order to get the best results it was necessary to find a good grazing country, with an abundance of pure water. Then there must be that knowledge of animal husbandry among the people without which progress is never made in tha breeding and developing of any type of livestock. It takes generations to infuse this spirit into a community. And. quite as important as any other requisite, there had to be a leader with vision and initiative to direct and inspire the farmers and breeders. In the Genesee Valley the Jockey Club found the ideal region in which to demonstrate the merits of the thoroughbred as a top cross. In Mrs. Herbert Wadsworth of this place they secured an ally as keenly interested in the problem as any member of the great turf body. A rider to hounds and a splendid judge of a hunter, she had been a breeder of the type at her Ashantee Stud in this vicinity, in a small way, just as the other members of the Wadsworth family had bred good horses at Geneseo and vicinity. She had often said that the conditions in the Genesee Valley warranted the belief that hunters the equal in size and bone to those of Ireland could be produced in the region. MBS. WADSWOBTHS AID. Mrs. Wadsworth readily consented to do everything in her power to further the plan.* of the Breeding Bureau. Special quarters were arranged for the thoroughbred sires that were to do service in the favored region, and the paddocks prepared for them have been pronounced ideal for the purpose by all who have seen them. Farmers and horse breeders were brought into an organization that was designated as the Genesee Valley Breeders Association, with Mrs. Wadsworth as its president. The charter of this organization stipulated that no profits should accrue to the members. The object was to breed more and better horses of the hunter type and to encourage such production a Fair that has become known everywhere in this country and Canada, was instituted with a prize list that has grown yearly, embracing premiums, not only for the thoroughbred sires, but for their progeny, out of all types of dams. There are prizes for the mares also, and premiums for the animals in best condition and for the youngsters with the best manners. The value of these awards for condition and deportment can be appreciated best by those who have followed the activities of the Livingston County Fair, which is usually scheduled for a two-day period in the autumn, from the time it was a fledgling, with only a few hundred dollars in prizes, up ;o the present, when thousands of dollars, some of the money contributed by the Jockey Club, are distributed among the farmers, who como frpm all over the Valley with their families and make a day of it. Every brood mare is as slick as a mole, and the foals are, as a rule, halter broken. The day of the half-wild yearling, rearing and plunging, frightened by the unaccustomed surroundings, has disappeared, and most of the colts and fillies are shown by the younger members of tbri owners families. FAIiMEKS MADE MONEY. As was to be expected, the quality of the horses bred in the Valley from all types of mares, soon became known wherever there was a market for steeplechasers, hunters and riding horses of a desirable type. Through the system established by the Genesee Valley Breeders Association, all animals are listed at headquarters and it is possible for buyers at a distance to learn if they can secure what they want in the community. Money has poured into the pockets of the farmers of this region, and they speedily have sensed the value of horse breeding as a part of diversified farming. So quickly have the hundreds of colts reared annually been disposed of that it is now a difficult matter to find anything older than two years on the market. The adoption of the Breeding Bureau plan of standing its horses at a moderate fee by the Federal Bemount Service has given a cachet to the work, rendering it monumental. Half the horses now at the Look-over Station, where the stallions are kept between breeding periods, are the property of the Federal government. Finding the Autumn Fair so attractive, Mrs. Wadsworth, with a view to still further stimulating the market, arranged the Yearling Show for the spring. This is held in the big riding hall at Ashantee. From the first this has been a success, and the exhibition scheduled for Saturday, May 2, has a most attractive list of entries, certain to bring a big crowd of fanciers from the hunting centers of this country and Canada. There will be substantial awards for th-i yearling half-breds, bred and owned on farms, out of dams of draft type ; half-breds. bred and owned on farms, out of dams othi r than draft type, and for thoroughbreds, bred and owned on farms. There will also be competitions for the championships of the various classes, including the Jockey Club Challenge Cup, the Raceway Challenge Cup, presented by Maj. r S. J. Macy ; the Troop M Challenge Cup and the Livingston County Trust Company Challenge Cup. These various competitions are to be for yearlings bred and owned yn farms ; but there will also be an open class for thoroughbred yearlings, regardless where f oal d. Manners and condition will count in many of the classes, and The Jockey Club Thall«»nge Cup is for the best mannered and best conditioned yearling, bred and own -d on a farm. Major C. L Scott, of the Federal Remount Service, will be the judge. An important feature of this years show-catalog is a list of animals for sale by farmers and breeders of the Valley. This list gives the breeding of the various animals, together with the names and addresses of of their owners. In this division are listed fifteen thoroughbred two-year-olds by Al Bloch, Kalitan, Ormesdale, Long Tongue. Half Rock and Eyebrow. There are nine-ti en half-bred two-year-olds, six thoroughbred three-year-olds and thirteen half-breds of the same age. All are sure to attract the attention of those in search of sound young horses. The manner in which the Genesee Valley horses are picked up at an early age is shown in the fact that only one clean bred four-year-old is on offer. There are fou" half-bitd four-year-olds and three five-year-olds of the same type. With several three-year-olds in her stable that weigh from 1.250 to 1,300 pounds and stand from 10.1 to 1C.3 hands high, Mrs. Wadsworth may bo said to have realiz.-d bar ambition of breeding heavyweight hungers of the Irish type. What she is doing others are accomplishing, and the fame f the Genesee Valley as a horse breeding center is growing apace.
