Cross-Bi'ceding in Horses. 157 



tion of vigour and of strength, and it is probably their look 

 that induces so many breeders to think that from such a sire 

 any amount of substance can be secured which can reasonably 

 be expected in the weight-carrying hunter. They forget, how- 

 ever, how large a percentage of their progeny are but " weeds," 

 even when these sires are put to picked thorough-bred mares ; and 

 how very rarely the services of a horse of this stamp can be 

 secured for half-bred mares. The great bulk of travelling 

 thorough-bred stallions must necessarily be third-class horses, 

 long in the carcass, long in the legs, weak in the sinews, unfit 

 for any other purpose than the stud ; and such are the horses 

 that assist in deteriorating our breed of saddle-horses, and render 

 horse-bi'eeding so frequently unprofitable. 



Let it not, however, be supposed that I undervalue the im- 

 portance of " blood " in the hunter, the hack, and the harness- 

 horse ; I only dispute the doctrine that we should rely mainly 

 or solely on the sire for its introduction, and then only for the 

 first cross. It is a well-established fact, that the Eastern blood 

 amalgamates with the native breeds of the country extremely 

 well ; it can be traced in the form, and still more in the courage 

 and endurance, even in the third and fourth generation. 



I must now recall attention to the general principles of cross- 

 breeding, viz., that while the male governs the size (not mere 

 height), the vital functions and the nervous system are influenced 

 most by the female. If there be any truth in this doctrine, it 

 must be as essential to attend to the pedigree of the mares as to 

 that of the sire. But here all is left to chance ; and whether 

 she is taken from the plough-tail, the van, or the omnibus, no 

 matter, so long as the sire is thorough-bred. Let us consider how 

 the system works on some of our best mares. A farmer has a 

 valuable mare that has been tested by many an arduous run. 

 She is by a thorough- bred horse out of a half-bred mare, and, 

 valuable as she is, she is a shade too light, or, at any rate, would 

 be Avorth more money if she were equal to a little inore weight. 

 He is induced to put her to a thorough-bred horse, and the 

 jnogeny is, of coui'se, seven-eighths thorough-bred, but, according 

 to my experience, mostly an unprofitable weed. We might 

 go a step further back, to the stronger half-bred mare, and trace 

 the process of deterioration farther ; but the final issue is the 

 same — the propagation of a race of weeds. This is the real 

 root of the evil which is affecting our breeds of horses, — an 

 evil not to be remedied by the abolition of two or three year old 

 races, or by the substitution of longer distances, or by any of the 

 many suggestions with which, when political intelligence flags, 

 our daily papers teem. Races for two-year-olds may be objec- 

 tionable or otherwise, and eight-mile gallops may be excellent or 



