THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



m 



neyer started, doubtless was once entered for the Derby. So 

 the produce, as may be expected, turns out a weak, weedy, 

 and undersized foal — bad on ita leg, like its sire ; coarse in its 

 appearance, like its dam ; without the speed of the foriiK r, or 

 the strength of the latter, but afllicted perhaps at the same 

 time with the worst qualilies of both. Now of all mistakes 

 there is none so fatal as breeding from a worn-out mare. It 

 is true that you will occaBionally see a fine promising colt, 

 thrown by an old thorough-breJ mare of liearly a score of 

 winters; but this is only the case in large establishmeuts, where 

 the said mare has been doing nothing since she ran at four 

 years old, and has been renewing her constitution with rest 

 aud care, till she is actually fresher and stronger at fifteen 

 thau she was at five— a far different plight from that of the 

 worn-out slave who, having worked till she can work no longer, 

 is only then thought fit to be entrusted with the reproduction 

 of her species. 



It is now, we believe, an established physiological fact that 

 the horse inherits his make, shape, and outward appearance, 

 from his sire; his constitutional qualities, such as speed, 

 courage, and endurance, from his dam. The idea has been long 

 since exploded that what is termed a large roomy mare is 

 likely to produce a big powerful foal. On the contrary, some 

 of the finest horses we possess have been the produce of mere 

 ponies; but then these were ponies only in size ; and a mon- 

 strous animal, nearly twenty hands high, is now going the 

 rounds of every fair in England, whose mother, if we are to 

 believe the man who shows him, was little more thau two- 

 thirds of his height. The mare, however, from which we pro- 

 pose to breed, should be a thoroughly-good one, and still re- 

 taining the whole freshness and vigour of her constitution. 

 She should also be extremely well-bred ; for if her inner quali- 

 ties are more especially to descend to her offspring, it is indis- 

 pensable that she should possess those lasting properties of 

 wind and endurance, without which a horse is the most cum- 

 bersome possession on the face of the earth. We would much 

 prefer to put a thorough-bred mare to a half-bred horse, than 

 vice versa, though the latter is by far the commoner practice^ 

 and that amongst our intelligent and scientific farmers— men 

 who make but few mistakes in the breeding of any other de- 

 scription of stock. We believe there is yet much to be discovered 

 as to the influence of " blood" upon future geuerationc Several 

 curious experiments have been tried both with cattle, sheep, 

 and pigs. Most breeders, we think, will bear us out in affirming 

 that, to use their own term as regards quality, the influence of 

 the female is paramount. 



It appears to tis that in order to breed an animal that shall 

 eventually become a hunter, that mare should be selected who 

 has proved herself both speedy, courageous, aud enduring. In 

 the prime of life, and whilst all her functions are at their 

 utmost vigour, she should be put to a short-legged stallion, 

 with deep hind ribs, powerful quarters, aud, above all, a good 

 back. If thoroughbred so much the bettt>r. Nor shoiild we 

 repudiate him because he had won, or run well-up, in a Derby •, 

 although a two-mile scurry at three years old is no very rational 

 test of the merits of an animal which Nature seems to intend 

 shall not come to its prime till six, and which, for all useful 

 purposes, must be capable of carrying a much heavier weight 

 a much longer distaiice than is required to win the Olympic 

 crown of modern ambition at Epsom. Such horses as old 

 Defence, Venison, Johnny, and a few others, strike us as the 

 models on which to form our ideas of a stallion ; and to such 

 horses we would look, regardless of trouble and expense, as the 

 sires of our future favourites. 



There is no doubt that, under the present Turf system of 

 " small profits and quick returns," involving a mulciplicity of 



two-year-old stakcj, and a consequent forcing of foals and 

 yearlings, just as a hot-house gardener forces grapes and pine- 

 apples, the style of horse to which we allude is becoming 

 scarcer year by year ; aud it is indeed almost a national ques- 

 tion whether something cannot be done to check the increasing 

 evil. Our mild and paternal Government (perhaps more mild 

 than paternal) syatemi.tieally opposes all interference with 

 private euterprise We cannot but thiuk, however, that a 

 national stake of heavy amount, given yearly at Ascot for 

 animals in their real natural prime, would have a most benefi- 

 cial effect. Racing men will laugh at us when we say that we 

 should like to see a sweepstakes worth winnliKj run off in Her 

 Majesty's presence— for six-year-olda aud upwards, four milef, 

 and carrying from thirteen to fourteen stone ! 



If the money made it worth while, and indeed to do ao it 

 would have to be counted out in thousands, what a show of 

 horses should we see, before even the present generation had 

 passed away ! We know now, unnatural as is the treatment to 

 which he is subjected, to what fine proportions the six-year-old 

 arrives, when his racing career is over, and he has been put to 

 the stud ; and we may easily imagine what a magnificent sight 

 would be afforded by a field of snch animals, kept back and 

 prepared from their very foal-hood for this one great event ! 



To return, however, to the breeder. If, as is generally the 

 case, he is a farmer, he need not grudge considerable expense 

 in procuring the services of a first-rate stallion. The keep of 

 his young one, although, if calculated week by week, it would 

 run up to a considerable amount, is an outlay which he does 

 not feel; and, as soon as it is turned three years old, he can- 

 not do better than make it earn its provender by gentle and 

 easy work. " Shepherding," and such quiet jobs about a farm, 

 form the best possible education for a future hunter : they give 

 him fresh air aud slow strengthening exercise; they accustom 

 him to variety of ground, and make him quiet aud tractable at 

 gates and gaps, mounting and dismounting, &c. : also if his 

 master be a good horseman — and there are few of our English 

 farmers but are thoroughly at home in the saddle— they form 

 kis action, and bring his paces to perfection. We may here 

 observe that nothing improves a young horse so much as 

 trotting him across " ridge and furrow ;" it supples his neck ; 

 teaches him to use his shoulders ; makes him quick upon his 

 legs ; aud beats all the circling and lunging in the world. 

 Now, although he must have plenty of good corn and old hay, 

 in fact the more he can be brought to consume of each the 

 better, we think any farmer will bear us out in affirming that 

 twenty-five pounds per annum is a very liberal allowance as 

 the sum by which he is out of pocket from his young horse; 

 this incluiiea shoeing, farriery, &c. On this calculation, with 

 the ad iition of the twenty-five he may have coat before he was 

 born (and this affords him the noblest parentage going), he 

 would represent £150 on attaining the age of five years ; and 

 his master, if wise, would not dream of selling him before that 

 period. Now the sort of horse that may thus be produced 

 with care and attention in breeding, as to size and quality, 

 with good keep, good riding, and gocd usage during youth, 

 and hard condition when arriving at maturity, becomes, in all 

 probability, a first-class hunter well up to fourteen stone ; and 

 a first-class hunter, well up to fourteen stone, is just as safe to 

 command £250 in the hunting field, as a guinea is to fetch 

 one-and-twenty shillings in a counting-house. 



He may be sold for a good deal more ; and a nice light 

 mouth, with a temperate confident style of fencing— both of 

 which adventitious advauta^^es may be given him by his breeder 

 and instructor— will run him up to a)i alraost fabulous price ; 

 but £250 is the minimum, aud £250 we expect such a horse 

 is safe to fetch. 



