Horse breeding in India

[N. Ganesan]

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On 12 Feb 1997, Vidhyanath Rao wrote:

Several weeks back, there was a query about claims of
difficulty in breeding, in India, horses for cavalry.
It seems to me that books written during the last century
would be better, as cavalry was more important in those
days. I was able to locate three reports on horses of
India, two of which I was able to obtain. The bibliographic
details are below.

I do not wish to take up space summarizing what is in these
books. I just wish to note that the authors do
not see the climate as a disadvantage in breeding horses
of cavalry. The only comment on the influence of climate
is the Bergmann's Rule: animals of hotter and drier areas
tend to be smaller/lighter. This applies not just to
Indian breeds, but also to Arabians. Henry Shakespear,
who as commander of an irregular cavalry regiment stationed
at Nagpur must have been familiar with the Decan breed(s?),
does not consider the small size to be a drawback.

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 AUTHOR       Shakespear, Henry.
 TITLE        The wild sports of India: with remarks on the breeding and
                rearing of horses, and the formation of light irregular
                cavalry. By Captain Henry Shakespear.
 PUBLISH INFO Boston, Ticknor and Fields, 1860.
 DESCRIPT'N   viii, 283 p. 18 cm.
 SUBJECTS     Sports -- India.
              Horses -- Breeding -- India.

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 AUTHOR       Gilbey, Walter, Sir, 1831-1914.
 TITLE        Horse-breeding in England and India, and army horses
abroad.
 EDITION      2d ed.
 PUBLISH INFO London, Vinton & Co., 1906.
 DESCRIPT'N   v, 65 p. plates. 22 cm.
 NOTE         Bibliographical footnotes.
 SUBJECTS     Horses.
-------------

   AUTHOR: India. Horse and Mule Breeding Commission.
    TITLE: Report of the Horse and Mule Breeding Commission assembled
under
           the orders of the government of India, 1900-1901.
    PLACE: [London :
PUBLISHER: s. n.,
     YEAR: 1901
 PUB TYPE: Book
   FORMAT: 64 p. : ill. ; 34 cm.
  SUBJECT: India. -- Army. -- Remount service.

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