HORSES. 377 



Most of them will keep their mares until they are fairly worn 

 out with hard work, and lame in every limb, and then, if they 

 can find a stallion well loaded with fat, who can prance, and 

 squeal, and hold up his head, provided his services can be pro- 

 cured for four or five dollars, they commence their first lesson 

 in breeding. Mark the result. The foal is born, a miserable, 

 unsound, unsightly mongrel. He lives, five or six years, per- 

 haps, and sells for fifty or seventy-five dollars. Our " scientific 

 breeder " finds himself some fifty dollars " out ;" says there is 

 no profit in breeding horses ; becomes a perfect hater of the 

 equine race, and quits the business in disgust. This is but a 

 true picture of horse-breeding as generally conducted. Does it 

 not need encouragement and protection ? 



Again, a farmer has a young, sound, good blooded mare. He 

 takes her to a stallion whose general appearance is fair ; of his 

 origin little is known ; nevertheless, he enjoys a good reputa- 

 tion. Let us look at the result in this case. The foal comes 

 limping into the world, a ring-boned, spavined, useless thing. 

 To the owner this seems perfectly mysterious, but to the initiat- 

 ed the reason is obvious, for the sire descended from an unsound, 

 ill-bred race of horses, and the colt has partaken of the faults of 

 his ancestry. Here we see that " blood will tell," and that it is 

 never safe to breed from stock whose origin is unknown, be its 

 general appearance ever so good. In England it is not consid- 

 ered safe to breed from horses whose pedigree cannot be traced 

 for at least eight generations. 



Pedigree is the sheet anchor of the horse-breeder, and without 

 it he never need hope for success. If the object of the breeder is 

 to obtain the highest prices for his colts, we would unhesitatingly 

 say to him, breed for speed ; try for the colts that sell for one 

 thousand dollars at three months old. But we would admonish 

 him of obstacles which he must inevitably encounter ; we would 

 remind him that he lives in puritan New England, where little 

 distinction is made between the gentleman who owns a fast horse 

 and uses him for his legitimate business or amusement, and the 

 gambler who makes racing his profession. But, nevertheless, if 

 he possesses a fair share of courage, he will not find it difficult to 

 overcome these obstacles. Popular opinion will rule, that a 

 man may make his business respectable if he first learns to 

 respect himself. 



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