BREEDING FROM FILLIES
For many years it has been a debatable point whether two-year-old
fillies should be bred from or not. The pros and cons have been
discussed, and in the end Shire breeders have used their own discretion
on the point. Superior animals have, however, been bred from youthful
parents on both sides, a notable instance being the late Lord Wantage’s
Lady Victoria; her sire was Prince William, the London and Royal
Champion, and her dam Glow, by the London Champion Spark. She was the
first foal of a two-year-old colt, with a two-year-old filly for her
dam, yet she made a great prize-winning mare, having won first and cup
in London in 1889 and championship of the Oxfordshire Show in 1890.
It may also be mentioned that Buscot Harold, the London Champion
stallion of 1898, was begotten when his sire, Markeaton Royal Harold,
was but a two-year-old colt, although his dam, Aurea, was older. At two
years old he was preferred to his sire for the Elsenham Challenge Cup.
This proves that Shire breeders have been making good use of fillies
for many years, therefore the produce of a three-year-old filly
need not be rejected, neither should the nursing of a foal at that
age necessarily result in a stunted or plain mare. It is, however,
necessary to grow fillies along with the aid of supplementary food and
to “do” both them and their foals well while they are suckling.
There is no doubt that the Shires of the present day do get more food
and attention than they did in bygone days, when it was unnecessary
to strive after showyard size, because shows did not exist in such
numbers, so that the farmer who exhibited cart horses was rarely met
with, and young horse stock were not fed to encourage size and growth.
So long as they could be put into the team at three years old and mated
at four, that was considered early enough to work or to breed.
At the present time the horse population of Great Britain and Europe,
if not of the whole world, is being reduced by the greatest of all
wars, consequently it is desirable for Shire breeders to do their share
towards making good the shortage. If fillies are well kept from birth
they will attain size and may be mated at two years old to a young
horse, but not too early in the season. The end of May is early enough
for fillies, and a big heavy old horse should not be chosen under
any circumstances. If served at the right time they are more likely
to breed than fillies a year older, and it makes a lot of difference
whether a five-year-old mare has a couple of sons and daughters or even
one to her credit, or no offspring at all, when the profit and loss
account is being made up by a farmer.
It may be that a three-year-old cannot be got into a fat state for
show with a foal running by her side, but the prolonged rest at that
age does her no harm. She will come up all right at a later period,
and is more likely to make a regular breeder than if not mated till
three years old. A mare which breeds from the age of three till she
is fifteen is a great help in the way of production, even if she only
averages one foal in two years, which is, perhaps, as many as it is
safe to reckon on for rearing to maturity, although, of course, there
are plenty of mares which have produced a good foal for ten or eleven
years in succession. They will breed till they are twenty-five, to the
writer’s knowledge, but the average age at which Shire mares breed
their last foal must be put somewhere round fifteen.
There is no doubt that we have learned much in horse management since
shows have become so popular, although it may be that high feeding for
show purposes has been--and is--the cause of a lower percentage of
foals among high class show animals of both sexes.
To prepare fillies for mating at two years old may be compared to
feeding for early maturity in cattle and sheep, except that many of the
latter are only grown and fattened to be killed, whereas Shires are
meant to live a long and useful life. It is, therefore, necessary to
build up a frame with this idea in view. An outdoor life should be led,
while the food should be both good and sufficient, as well as being
suitable.
There is no time to be wasted, and if foals are allowed to get into low
condition while being weaned, or during their first winter, they are
less fit to make robust two-year-olds fit either to work or to breed,
or what is more profitable, to accomplish both of these tasks together
during part of the year.
If early maturity is aimed at with any class of stock, feeding and
management must be of the best, therefore farmers who half starve their
foals and allow their yearlings to be wintered on a bit of hay must not
expect their two-year-olds to be well grown and in the best possible
condition for parental duties.
The situation at the present time is such that every horse-breeder
should do his best to utilize to the full the horse stock which he
possesses, so that a sufficient number of horses may be obtained to
carry on the agriculture and trade of the country, both of which are
likely to require horses in large numbers in the immediate future.
Mares will be relatively more scarce than stallions for the reason
that the latter have not been “commandeered” for war purposes, but as
geldings have been taken in large numbers, there is, and will be, a
great demand for workers of all grades.
Under such circumstances Shire breeders may serve their own interests
by mating their fillies with a good young sire at two years old and
keeping them in good condition for producing a strong vigorous foal.
Very few of Robert Bakewell’s remarks are recorded, but this one is,
“The only way to be sure of good offspring is to have good cows as well
as good bulls,” and this applies with equal, if not greater, force in
the business of horse-breeding; the sire cannot effect the whole of the
improvement.