636 JReading-Course for Farmers. 



not be able to compete with his neighbor who keeps only the best brood 

 mares, even though they both patronize the same stallion. The mare 

 has as much influence upon the colt as has the stallion. Once in a while 

 we may get a very fine colt from an inferior mare, but such is very rarely 

 the case, and no man can afford to breed horses for this exceptional 

 case. 



It is a serious but common error in breeding horses to suppose that 

 the bad points in one animal can be fully offset or overcome by the good 

 points in the mate. The statement that the stallion controls the out- 

 ward characters and the mare the internal characters has led many 

 breeders to think that the offspring would resemble the paternal parent 

 irrespective of the mother. Such is not the case. Errors in conforma- 

 tion are not to be offset by choosing a mate that is abnormally developed 

 in a contrary direction. The foundation of successful horse-breeding is 

 to mate two animals both of which are as nearly perfect as possible. 



The mare 



No matter what type or breed is selected, the brood mare should be 

 ot good size for the breed to which she belongs, ponies excepted. Her 

 conformation should be rather open. The eyes should be prominent, 

 bright and well set; the head should be fine and feminine in appearance; 

 the neck rather thin, not coarse, as short, thick-necked brood mares 

 often prove disappointing. The shoulders should slope well into the 

 back, and the withers be high rather than low. The back should be 

 rather short, with a somewhat longer underline. The ribs should be 

 well sprung and rather open. The hips and short ribs should not ap- 

 proach each other too closely. The hind quarters should be broad and 

 deep. The pelvic region should be broad to insure ease of foaling. 



The legs and feet of the brood mare should be especially noted. The 

 bones of the limbs should be clean and free from coarseness, so that 

 the legs appear wide and flat. Tendons should be prominent and free 

 from meatiness, and the hair fine, silky and glossy. Coarse, kinky, 

 profuse hair that tends to grow from the sides as well as the back of 

 the legs, below the hocks and knees, usually indicates coarseness, sluggish- 

 ness, spongy bone and tendency to diseases of the limbs. The feet should 

 be of medium size, well-shaped, dark colored, tough, elastic and close 

 of texture. Mares having poor hoofs^too small, too large, too soft 

 and spongy, too weak, brittle, wide and low in the heels, too shallow 

 and flat, too steep and contracted — are not desirable for breeding pur- 

 poses. The wearing qualities of the horse depend largely on the character 

 of the legs and hoofs. 



