Deplores Loss of High-Class Mares: Major General Scott Institutes Movement for Embargo on Foreign Shipments-Likes Thoroughbred, Daily Racing Form, 1915-07-08

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n j [ ■ 1 ; n at ■ • J c , ., a c i r I I x | I I j i I 1 1 .. " a 1 | ; ,- « . ,, , I, ,. , y l ,. , 1 s I e DEPLORES LOSS OF HIGH-CLASS MARES. Major General Scott Institutes Movement for Embargo on Foreign Shipments — Likes Thoroughbred. C Major General Bngh I.. Scott Chief of Staff of the w United States Army, la one of those who believe that there should be sem.- check on the shipment of mares A. . from this country i . the continent for war parposes. General Scot! knows the needs of the cavalry per- St fectly, as ii u,e in this particular branch of the „. service thai he lias been most actively engaged, and there is no man in the army more com net en I to dfal eass the question on its merits, as he has been stationed at various points in the w i ami aoatnwesl where cavalry nuisi prove their ararth daily. ,, ••| am inn. h disturbed," sakl he .m- daj recently ■, his etii.-e in the War Department, "al the ti:.- Z u.es issued from lime t.. time shoving the namber Z i horses thai agents of the belligerent nations are Z :ji shipping to l.urope. ami the situation i particularly .", alarming when you consider thai quite a barge per- Z rentage of these animals are mares. Of coarse, they Z are taking many mares . I a type iii.il we i in well Z afford t part with, hut there nasi also be desir- .»" aid. s that we cannot afford to lose. Great Britain ., ;: cleaned us up pretty thoroughly on mat. rial foe re- "j mount parposes when the Boer war was mi. Put with Ibis stupendous conflict of Indeterminate length raging oohodj knoa i what our plight will be If are .;.. not take st, |j to preserve ..ur breeding stock. I «• have en mealed with the Secretary •! ,ar. the J, Quartermaster General and the Departmcal of Agriculture with a view to having Congress place an em hargo on tin- shipnaeat of mares ol the type required for our parposi . and 1 am bopelul that action will be taken at the earliest ptsKibb* moment." „. "How ...ill. I it be han II. -dr Who wonld pass apon the type to be retained?" General s.-ott was asked. •■•Ill.- Department of Agriculture has charge of 2 whatever experli tal work In horse breeding the government ■ noa engaged npon," responded the General, ••and tbey should pass upon . » 1 1 mares of- tei. ,i for blpi t abroad, i know H is ■ big work. Put i of parai ml Importance. If Congress will •; authorise the tram fer of this work to the War De-pal ui w -hall be delighted to undertake it. it • a branch ..i the service which essentiailj belong to the army, a we knoa the type thai Is be : quail-bed for our need . and we coald take the steps necessary to establish it in the quickest poa Ible : tine ." ••What is your idea of type fir cavalry re ; mounts?" the Major General was asked. A horse of from 15.2 to 16 hand- with from om half to three-quarters of pare Mood in his vein? for $ Ihe • th.-er ami somewhat smaller i.a the balance of s ih - service." wa the reply. "He si Id have the reel and legs that would enable him to negotiate g nn country. This I would consider an abwdnte qualification. Horses bred like this should have i le iiMiarge to endure any hardship, and m. experience I has taught me that when br.-.l along these lines they -an read] for duty when other horses are Jaded and useless, inly horses of the greatest courage and Z -lamina can -land the requirements of cavalry work in a great many sections of the United States, par-. li. ul arly in the southwest ami south. Speed is, of course, another qualification, and it goes without Raying that they would possess it If bred along the ! lines indicated. 1 am aware thai Ihe task of pro- j duciug cavalrj remounts la ■ much greater task to day than when racing was going on uninterruptedly in so man. portkms of the I alon and sires ,.| the atoe. Imuic and dispositions required for Ihe work were al our hand, and it is to be deplored thai Bo much ol the blood Which il had Liken mere Can a century t. establish was h.si p. the country. With S a returning market, however, lor th.«ougbbreds 8 there i- certain p. be tmportatl m of tdooded stock. •:ud 1 am Pd. I that many prominent Americans who Pa.e been racing abroad an- endeavoring to make arrangements lor the return of their racing and ■ breeding studs. This si 1.1 -rhe a Ire ndons nniM-iiis to Hie breeding industry, especlatlj when * ii is remembered thai Bnropeaa conatriea i inevltablj ■ to us foe material with which la replenish their decimated stads." General Se..it was asked what he Ihoaght of the .mis registered b] breeders who maintain that they cannot produce a desirable ravalry remount horse and male a pr.dit at the maximum •! Xl7."i the Coycrnin. nt at present pays f..r three-year olds in the autumn. • 1 have seen il s:1|ed that breeders in Ihe east .aiinot place such a 1 se on the market al the figure quoted." wa- Hie generals reply, •■and if this is s... a higher price should be paid a figure that -mil an animal would command in any of our open markets should Im- ..:i factory all around. The government doesnt want tbose who breed horses P. « do si, :1i a loss. There ahoaJd be everj a dstance | _n ■ this work. There is no more patriotic form of endeavor than the breeding of l: I borsea, es ] peehtll] those .a th. trouper type, of which ve have s,, few at present. -The bidding of a fair price for these horses should sli late breeding tremendously all over the United States." ; "How miiiiy cavalry remounts would yon require for present needs." General S.-ott was nexl asked. "Two thousand annually." was the reply, ••.and a great main more in rase of emergency. We should have breeding !■• * modeled after those of torel n eiintrii- Which have made a Bind] Of the work and which realise P. the fullest its tremendous possibill ti. in periods of peace as well .as war. II is a pari of ih.ir general program of preparedness." In Oting upon ihe type of stallions to be used in prosecuting this work. General Scotl said: "I prefer the thoroughbred above all others, because of his prepotency. The borsea cbosea sir old posess in a mark.. I degree tbose attributes ami raarac iciisti.-s which we desire to establish in tb type we are endeavoring to create as being Ideal for oar requirements. We har a aumber of these borsea at • li nt Boyal and other nointa at present, thanks to , th generusitj of public-spirited ni.-n. and. now that racing is being r ■•• d in New fork, where the jockey Club has its beadqaarters, there will perhap P.- offers ..r other sires, though the government should pur lie the ■ coarse as France, Germany . ami olh.r foreign rountrtes ami buy stallions arbei ever they tin,! Individual specimens desirable for the woif |n hand. To do the work properly will 1 take considerable men.-:, but If the government will suppi. the funds we will furnish the hoi i .ml establish the t.M".*


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1915070801/drf1915070801_2_7
Local Identifier: drf1915070801_2_7
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800