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BETWEEN RACES * wo* HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., t June 17. — Dr. Prank Porter Miller, president of the California Breeders Associa tion, tells me that plans have been completed for the inauguration of the first annual thoroughbred forum, an adaptation of the farm managers course which proved so popular and successful in Lexington last fall. Most everyone in the Blue Grass agreed that the sessions at the University of Kentucky far transcended a mere farm managers course, and perhaps should have been given a different name. Here in California, the breeders are borrowing the best ideas as proven at Lexington, are eliminating some of the subjects and procedures which proved dull. The Golden State course, set for the evenings of July 10, 11, and 12 at the Pasadena Athletic Club, will come near the end of the Hollywood Park season and just prior to the annual yearling vendue of the association, which will be held at Santa Anita. "Our sessions will be open to women as well as men," remarks Dr. Miller, "and upon learning that 95 per cent of the students in Kentucky preferred the lectures and question and answer periods to the farm demonstrations, we will concentrate upon the lectures and the open forums which follow them. The scholarships in the course of necessity have to be limited., but they are fully subscribed for, insuring a full class. We did reserve five scholarships each for breeds other than the thoroughbreds and have had response from all other branches of the light horse industry, including the Arabian, Palomino, and quarter horse interests. AAA "Among our scientists who will lecture are Dr. Arle Todd of the University of Wisconsin, Dr. David Proctor, of Lexington; Dr. William McGee, of Lexington; Dr. William Dakin, who will speak on bone development, and Dr. B. J. Errington, of California," continues Dr. Miller. "Now dont laugh, but at the suggestion of innumerable people, myself and Col. F. W. Koester will conduct a practical class on how to successfully operate a thoroughbred bloodstock farm when one is not laden down with an overabundance of cash and other worldly, goods, like for instance, oil wells. This course will outline a great num- t First California Breeding Forum i Scientists on Lectureship Board How to Farm on Short Bankroll Colorado Homebred Rule Mystifies ber of actual problems which have arisen during the past year or two on California farms, will tell of the solutions to those problems. It would not be true to say that this course will point short cuts and ways to skimp, but rather gives the average breeder the benefit of experiences of others who have used ingenuity and common sense rather than the lavish outlay of cash. Incidentally, the California breeders wish to thank Lou Doherty of Elmendorf farm for his valuable advice and suggestions in assisting us in launching this thoroughbred forum, which, in the years to come, should prove to be a worthwhile part of the California breeding picture. Doherty gave us a complete analysis of the Kentucky courses. Inasmuch as there are about as many women owners as men in California, we felt that charting our sessions to appeal to both would be in the best interests. This means there will be post mortems on foals, etc." AAA Homebred rules are often confusing, and Colorado has not exactly acted to clarify the national picture when, in designating the Colorado Breeders Association as the official registration body for horses foaled in that state, advises that "Colorado-breds are defined as horses foaled in Colorado and owned by bona fide Colorado breeders, are those foaled or dropped by mares within the legal limits of the State of Colorado, without regard to where the mating has occured. The rule specifically states that mares brought in for the expressed purpose of foaling by outside breeders and then removed from the state shall not be construed as Colorado-breds." As we see it, this could lead to countless hassles over interpretation of the rule, and just where a bona fide Colorado resident begins and ends is a moot question. Many Colorado breeders have business interests through that vast area loosely known as the Rocky Mountain empire. The rule is peculiar too in that a Colorado resident could rotate a mare to Kentucky every year, but a guy living elsewhere could not do exactly what the Coloradoans probably will, even though he maintained a farm in Colorado, paid taxes there, and perhaps ►did a great deal of good for the benefit of both Colorado racing and breeding. AAA j California, of course, was a pace-setter in restrictive homebred rules, in so far as the United States is concerned, and the rule here which provides that a mare must be covered in the state as well as dropped here to qualify as a California-bred, and thus make the breeder eligible for awards, a thumping 10 per cent of all first monies in the state, was occasioned by a few people who maintained farms in nearby Nevada , : and Arizona, would bring their mares to 1 their California acreage to foal. In one instance, I this merely meant moving the J mares a distance of a few miles. The im-pact of such moves were trivial at best, but a few scattered instances of this kind led ! to a "law being passed" which is, incidentally, a part of the California state code and which would take an act of the legislature to change. Whenever there is a move on foot to bring the California law more up to date, the battle cry against such a move j centers upon "leave things alone in the legislature, for once it gets on the floor, no one knows what might happen." The issue J is not faced upon its merits. There is only one breeder we know who could beat the game. This was a fellow who had a farm partly in Nevada and partly in California. When the time came to foal, he merely moved his mares from one part of the farm to another. There wasnt much could be done about this, even though this might have been a technical evasion of the spirit of the rule. AAA This attitude has always struck the writer as odd, especially in the case of Nevada and Arizona, which economically are provinces of California. Almost all of Nevada is owned by Californians, and half of Arizona, the other half being monopolized by Chicago people. Many people believe that the California-bred rule has outlived its# usefulness, and may act as a drag on the yearling markets. That point is yet to be proved, and is a highly provocative topic among breeders. In general, the major farm owners tend to favor throwing everything wide open, while retaining the award system, but the so-called little men, of whom there are about 475 in the state, rise in wrath whenever liberalization of the rules are broached, and we see no chance for a change for many years to come. Meanwhile, the problem of overproduction here is approaching a climax, or peax, a problem which poses nothing but headaches.
