THE THOROUGH-BRED. 



427 



classes, the owners of which naturally desire to have a 

 quick return for their money. With these inducements, 

 breeders of racehorses, like breeders of Shorthorns, have 

 been successful in obtaining early maturity by selection 

 during many years. " Young meat may perhaps nourish 

 the human body as well as the flesh of the more matured 

 animal does, and there may be no harm in forcing meat 

 in order to bring it early into the market ; but forced 

 and exhausting work to bring the horse at two years old 

 to the starting-post, is a very different affair, and ought 

 not to find favour with the true lover of the horse. It 

 is not the union of the qualities of form, strength, endurance 

 and speed that is sought by the present system ; but the 

 single quality of momentary speed in the immature horse, 

 to which everything else is subordinated " {Ker B. 

 Hamilton). 



As racehorses take their age from the first of January, 

 and as the racing season begins shortly after the middle 

 of March, early foaling is a very important factor in the 

 artificial development of the two-year-old, which is the 

 most numerous member of his class. With respect to this 

 method of '' forcing," I cannot do better than to quote 

 the following remarks made by Mr. John Porter in Kings- 

 clere, on this subject ; because, as a trainer, he can have 

 no sentimental prejudice, in desiring to curtail the extent 

 of two-year-old racing : " The three most unfavourable 

 months in the year in which foals can be born are January, 

 February, and March, inasmuch as the young things have 

 to contend with the very worst weather which we ex- 

 perience during the whole course of the year. Mares 

 and foals must be housed, and can only be turned out during 

 rare intervals of sunshine, when the foal naturally gallops 

 about, becomes very hot, afterwards stands shivering by 

 its mother's side, gets a chill, and thereby sows the seeds 

 of roaring and other diseases which cling to the animal 

 through the rest of its hfe. Again, for the first three 

 months of the year the mares must be fed on dry food 



