SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VII. 479 



SEI,ECTIO^f OF BRKEDIXG STOCK. 



The general principle of heredity is that " like produces like". There 

 are departures from this rule but it proves true in a majority of instances 

 and it should be remembered that bad points and qualities are as likely 

 to be transmitted and reproduced as the reverse. It is a serious but 

 common error in breeding to suppose that the bad points of one animal 

 can be fully offset or overcome by the good points of the other mate. The 

 true principle of successful breeding is to couple two animals that are 

 each as nearly perfect as possible. Errors in conformation are not to be 

 offset by chosing a mate that is abnormally developed in the contrary 

 direction. By mating with an animal perfect in the point where the other 

 is imperfect there will be greater liklihood of success. For example if 

 the mares in a particular stud are lacking in size and quality of hoofs the 

 proper way to correct the fault is to persistentlj' breed to sires that 

 have perfect hoofs — not to use sires that have abnormally large hoofs. 

 After each breeder has decided what he desires to breed he should select 

 mares as nearly like his ideal as possible and then mate them persistently 

 with sires of like type and known purity of blood. As the female progeny 

 come to the age at which they may be bred, all that are lacking in desired 

 type and quality should be rejected and the best mated with selected 

 sires of the right stamp and blood. In this way progress will be made, 

 but if indifferent mares and sires are used the general average will be 

 kept down and the value corespondingly depreciated. 



No matter what type of horse is decided upon both sires and dams 

 should have strong, well-knit bodies; large, sound joints; strong, sloping 

 pasterns and true, balanced, sprightly, correct action. Bones should be 

 clean and free from coarseness so that the legs appear wide and flat. 

 Tendons should be prominent and free from meatiness and hair fine, 

 silky, glossy and. in heavy draft breeds having "feather" upon their legs, 

 this hair should spring as a fine, silkj^ fringe from the back tendons and 

 should not grow upon the sides of the leg. The "feather" is not valuable 

 in itself but it indicates the character of the skin from which it grows, 

 and the quality of bone underlying the skin. If the hair is fine, silky 

 and free from curliness and coarseness it may be taken as an indication 

 tbat the bone is dense and ivory-like in texture, hence of good lasting 

 quality, and where this is the case, the temperament of the animal is 

 likely to be vigorous and the constitution hardy and healthy. Coarse, 

 kinky, profuse hair, that tends to grow from the sides as well as the 

 back of the legs below hocks and knees, usually indicates coarseness, 

 grossness, sluggishness, spongy bone and tendency to disease such as 

 "grease", and lymphangitis ("milk leg" or "Monday morning disease"). 

 It is advisable, then to select stallions and mares for breeding purposes 

 that have clean, wide, flat legs, given that appearance, not by flatness 

 of bone, as commonly supposed, but by size of bone and great development 

 of tendon. No one point, however, is of more importance than sound, 

 well-shaped, fully-developed hoofs, of tough texture. Stallions or mares 

 having poor hoofs — too small, too large, too soft and spongy, too weak, 

 brittle and wide and low in the heels, too shallow and flat, too steep and 



