Cross-Breeding in Horses. 161 



substance, showed plenty of breed, and was good in all her other 

 paces as well as the trot. After some years she was devoted to 

 the stud, and bred five foals, the first by a good half-bred horse 

 and the others by different thorough-bred horses. Her first foal 

 showed much more substance than any of the others, made a good 

 price, and is a valuable animal at the present day. Not one of 

 the others repaid expenses ; one proved a clever animal for a 

 light weight, but none possessed sufficient substance to be any- 

 thing like as valuable as the mare, 



4. Another of my acquaintance some years since had a small 

 but very neat mare almost thorough-bred. He put her to a large 

 Yorkshire trotting stallion, and sold the produce at three years 

 old for sixty pounds ; when afterwards he put her to thorough- 

 bred stallions the stock were all deficient in substance, and con- 

 sequently unprofitable. 



5. A farming friend had a capital fast mare, somewhat small, 

 and rather more than half-bred ; he put her to the last-named 

 stallion, about onefourth-bred : the produce, a mare now in my 

 possession, is very clever and somewhat larger than her dam. 

 Though too hot for the hounds, she is a capital hack as well as an 

 invaluable harness-mare. 1 consider this to be a successful example 

 of breeding from two parents, both well, but neither thorough- 

 bred. The dam of my mare was next put to a thorough-bred 

 horse, and produced a foal which had not nearly the value of the 

 first, gave out in the fore-legs, and was last seen in a London 

 cab. The sire referred to invariably got good animals when put 

 to well-bred mares, and useful ones when coarser mares were 

 employed.* 



6. Another of my acquaintance some years since gave 50Z. for 

 a mare apparently threeparts-bred, which now in her old age is 

 such a model of symmetry that she attracted my special attention 

 when recently exhibited at a local show. She proved to be a 

 good hunter for an average weight, but before she could establish 

 her character, became lame, was devoted to the stud, and has 

 bred many colts. One of these, by a thorough-bred horse, became 

 a very clever and valuable hunter for a moderate weight ; the 

 other colts were mostly by a light and rather leggy but very active 



* This horse was the son of " Performer," and the grandson of " Old Pretender," 

 by " Fireaway " (celebrated trotting stallions of their day), out of a threeparts-bred 

 mare, having the strains of " Forester" and " Hambletonian." " Old Pretender", 

 trotted 15 miles "within the hour, with 15 stone on his back, whilst "Fireaway'' 

 did 2 miles in 5 minutes. It is matter of very great regret tliat this breed of horses 

 has not been kept up in all its integrity, and that trotting-matches have been 

 allowed to sink into disreputable and low hands. Probably the cruelty that 

 was often connected with these time-matches, in which the same horse was backed 

 to go, say, from London to York, or to Exeter, in some short time, led to their 

 being discountenanced by the more respectable lovers of the horse. 

 VOL. I. — S. S. M 



