Ardennes. That designation has been frequently applied to those imported from
the lowlands of Belgium, big animals, but flabby and sluggish, and thus less
valuable for breeding. In certain parts, this horse seems to be actually preferred
to the genuine Ardennes, on account of its bulk and B p B H . ft** . I
In 1901 there was formed an Association the object of which is, by dint of 1
keeping systematic records of pedigree,, to preserve and utilize suitable¡breeding- j
horses of pure, or substantially pure, Ardennes race, and of good Hnrfoim type,
and by other measures as well, to encourage the breeding of the Ardennes
horse in Sweden (Stamboksforeningen for svenska ardennerhastar).
Out of the hundred or so Stallion and Horse Breeding Societies m Sweden,
70 % as their object breeding with horses of the Ardennes type.
Pony breeding. On the island of Gottland there formerly existed a large number
of small horses, called “russ”, but since the separate re-partition of the land
(Sw enskifte; cf. p. 31), they have been gradually disappearing. The .breed j
still exists, but in small numbers, which are being rapidly reduced year by
year- thus this extremely hardy, enduring, and unpretentious pony seems destined
H extinction. The demand for ponies in Sweden is supplied- by the imports-
' tion of Iceland horses, a less attractive breed than the dainty Swedish pony- ,
h°Studs. Flyinge and Stromsholm, as well as Ottenby on Oland, were formerly ;
Government studs. But at present there exists no Government stud. Stroms- ;
holm (in 1872), Flyinge (in 1887) were converted into stallion depots and the
Ottenby stud was in 1886 turned into a remount depot, now abandoned. A,
number of persons interested in horse-breeding have latterly urged the re-esta-
blishment of a Government stud for light horses at Ottenby. I
There are private studs at Vittskbvle in Skane and at Loddby_ m
land for thorough-breds and half-breds; at. Blomberg m Vastergotland and Bjaika-
Saby in Ostergbtland, for Ardennes horses. Mr Hjalmar Tornqvist s stud at
Husby Gard in Uppland merits special mention, for his energetic and well-j
directed efforts to revive the old Halsinge horse. ,
Premiums. The award of premiums for horses is provided for by a royal ordinance
of the year 1913. For this purpose the country is divided into b
districts and 'each district into sub-districts. Each Provincial Agricultural
S o c S t? ’ constitutes a sub-district. Only the following kinds of horses are eatitled
to premiums:
1) Thorough-breds and half-breds.
2) Draught-horses of the following kinds: |H
a) North Swedish and the Gu<ft>randsdal race or breed.
b) Ardennes, and horses of that breed.
c) Clydesdale, and horses of that breed.
Thorough-breds and half-breds are entitled to premiums all over Sweden; as
the other races, the Agricultural Society proposes, and the Studs_ Board decide
which of them shall be entitled to premiums within a sub-district Horses I
the Gottland race are entitled to a premium, ■
The grants made in 1914 for premiums amounted to 155 158., kronor
the Government, 151 700 kronor from the Agricultural Societies, and 1
kronor from the landstings (County Councils).
The Agricultural Societies endeavour to encourage horse-breeding m other w i
as well. Thus some of them grant subsidies to Stallion« Breeding Societ.e
for the purchase of suitable breeding animals; and the horse-shows
them makes it possible to obtain a general view of the condition of horse-breedmg
in different parts of the country. Bm BH , , T ... . ■ ¡he
Annual horse-shows are held in Stockholm, Malmo, and Norrkopmg,
spring.
The superintendence of horse-breeding devolves on the Studs Board, consistin
g of a president, two members, and a secretary; its head-quarters are at
[’Stockholm.
Except for the need of a number of breeders, Sweden produces sufficient
fhorses for her own requirements, and has even some to spare for export (see
Table 25). Nevertheless, the present condition of horse-breeding is by no
! means satisfactory. The continued import of breeders is alarming. Having once
¡ascertained what types are particularly needed, one should work with those types
[and concentrate all one’s efforts on them.
Among the measures that have been taken by the State during the last few
Rears for the maintenance of horse-breeding, may be mentioned:
small grants for the introduction of properly kept stud-boolcs, and for the
¡protection of native breeds of horses;
grants to a loan-fund from which every year a sum of 100 000 kronor is to
|be made available for loans to horse-breeders for their purchases of thorough-
Sbred brood-mares (cf. the Government Proclamation in the matter, dated July
14, 1913),
a law concerning the compulsory inspection of stallions, the aim of which is
to prevent the employment of unsuitable and inferior sizes. This law, however,
is of a facultative nature and cannot be applied in districts where the existing
¡conditions make such a step necessary, before the proper Agricultural Society
and County Council have applied to the Government to allow this step to be
[taken, .if
Reindeer.
A very special kind of animal husbandry is the reindeer-breeding pursued in
the northernmost parts of Sweden. Originally begun and carried on exclusively
by the Lapps, the Scandinavian reindeer-breeding, pursued in the northernmost
parts of the country, is the westernmost and most highly developed offshoot of
a branch of industry that forms the staple means of subsistence of a great
number of different nomad peoples throughout the entire north of Asia and
[Europe. The considerable profit that this industry — originally an occupation
¡confined to the L a p p s— often yields under favourable circumstances has induced
:a number of Swedes and, more especially, Finns, too, to adopt it as a very
[remunerative means of supplementing their livelihood.
[ There are, broadly speaking, two main kinds of the reindeer industry in Sweeten,
viz. that of breeding the mountain reindeer and that of breeding the forest
pemdeer, which constitute two separate biological groups. Whereas the mountain
[reindeer takes to the mountains in summer, living in the forests only in winter,
[the forest reindeer is able to remain in the forest regions the whole year round,
f The mountain reindeer are taken in the spring up to the mountains, where
jthe animals find on the mountain prairies and snow-fields the pasture they
require, and a sorely needed immunity from mosquitoes and gad-flies. Someti-
mes, the requisite supply- of grass and snow not being forthcoming on the
I wedish side, the reindeer have to cross over to Norway, occasionally penetra-
1 mg nght down to the coast. When autumn approaches, the animals move down
[again from the mountains to graze in the pine forests and especially on the
p: ensive pine-barrens, where they find beneath the snow their winter food-supply,
*c. '°PR8ists almost entirely of a kind of lichen, called “reindeer moss”. In
f +>,n o S6S ^Vasterbotten, and North Jamtland) the reindeer go right down
the i f °f Bothnia> in others (South Jamtland, Harjedalen, and Dalarne)
'breed'111 - y 'move. a few miles east of tlieir summer grounds. The reindeer
8 Jndustry in the mountains is carried on from Karesuando, in the extreme