The prevailing belief amongst the Europeans in India, is that the native breeds of horses have decreased under British rule. Up to the begin ning of the 19th century, there were several horse fairs in Rajputana, especially those of Bhalotra and Poshkur, to which the horses of Catch and Kattyawar, the Lakhi jungle, and Multan, were brought in great numbers. Valuable horses were then bred on the western frontier, on the Looni, those of Rardurro being in high estimation. But after the successes of the British over the Mahrattas and the Pindara, the breeding studs of Rardurro, Cutch, and the jungle became almost extinct, and the horses from the west of the Indus were carried to the Sikhs. The destruction of the predatory system, which had created a constant demand, lessened the supply. The Lakhi jungle was well known in India for its once celebrated breed of horses, which became extinct in the early part of the 19th century.
Colonel Henry Shakespeare thinks that the cause of the decline of the native horse in India, arises from the fact that Government has en couraged the supply of a larger description of animal than the country naturally produced, and the hardy small breeds of native horses have thus been neglected. Perhaps, however, the chief causes of the decline in their numbers, is their non-requirement for the predatory, bands and Parthian-like cavalry, since the contentions of the princes of India have been suppressed ; also cultivation has been extending over grazing lands ; and as the former governments of India and their military servants were the largest buyers of horses, though the British continue to buy extensively, the soldiers and the guns of the British Indian army are larger than those in use by former native powers, and the British admit only horses into the ranks of their armies, and even in their equipage a mare is rarely seen.
Panjab.—Under native rule, the Panjab main tained an enormous cavalry force, mounted chiefly, if not entirely, on horses bred in the country, but that territory is now unable to meet the demand8 of its irregular force, which is numerically insigni ficant compared with that kept up by the Sikh Government. The reasons assigned for this are three in number :-1st. Large numbers of brood mares were withdrawn from the Panjab at the time of the annexation ; 2d. Extensive demands were made on the province for both horses and mares during the mutiny; and 3d. A large propor tion of the re-mounts of the Sikh army were mares, which were regularly bred from ; but under the British system, which requires re-mounts to be available for service at all times of the year, this cannot be done. It has therefore occurred that mares introduced into irregular cavalry corps, on account of their tractable nature, are not per mitted to breed ; and the result is that every one bought up for military purposes, and even every one bought up by the European community, may be regarded as a brood mare lost to the country.
It has also been ascertained that breeders are parting with their best mares. The Dhunni caste, of the Rawal Pindi districts, the best in the province, is almost extinct from this cause. Yet many excellent brood mares were left, especially in the Rawal .Pindi, Jhelum, Gujerat, Gugaira, and Lahore districts. There were also very good mares in the frontier districtc'such as Bunnu, Kohat, Debra Ismail Khan, and Debra Ghazi Khan. Although small, they possess good blood and great powers of endurance, which is every thing in the horse.
Palanpur has a really good breed, the mares of which are justly and highly esteemed, and command considerable prices even among natives.
In Rafputana, few of the princes have generally good horses in their territories. The Marwar horse contains apparently much Kattyawar blood, and, bred with great care in many places through out the country by the thakurs and others, is a valuable animal in every respect. Good mares are also scattered, but the generality of horses met with are inferior animals in every respect.
The breed of horses in Jeypore is exceedingly poor, as little care has been taken to improve the country animal in any way. Some few of the thakurs possess and breed good animals. The horses of Shikawutti are said to be good.
Sunni Singh, raja of Ulwar, founded a fine breeding stud, consisting of well-selected Arabs and Kattyawar horses, and in Ulwar the troopers were better mounted than native cavalry generally, and a better stamp of horses was met with than in any other Rajput state. The finest of his cavalry were, however, almost annihilated on meeting with the rebels in superior numbers in 1857.
In Bhurtpur, also, some attention was given to the breed of horses, but they are inferior to those of the Ulwar district.
The Dekhan breed of horses was highly improved about the beginning of the 19th century by crosses with the Arab horse. The small blood-horse of the Bhima valley or Terai are of this breed, and the mares are beautiful. The horse very rarely grows above 14 to 14.1 hands in height, but has the fine limbs, broad forehead, and much of the docility and all the enduring properties of the Arabs, and has been mistaken for them. He is not so fiery as the small and blood Arab, and more manageable in the ranks. Malligaum, about 25 miles from Ganga Kheir, on the Godavery, is a great mart for the Dekhan horse, and purchasers from all parts of the Peninsula annually resort to the fair. Some of the horses are really very fine. In the Dekhan, the larger horses are bred about the Gor river and Aligaum, between Poona and Ahmadnaggur.