BREEDING. 221 



sporting nan ever doubted. The qualities of the sire or the dam descend 

 from generation to generation, and the excellences or defects of certain 

 horses are traced, and justly so, to some peculiarity in a far distant 

 ancestor. 



It may, perhaps, be justly affirmed, that there is more difficulty in 

 selecting a good mare to breed from, than a good horse, because she should 

 possess somewhat opposite qualities. Her carcase should be long, to give 

 room for the growth of the foetus, and yet with this there should be com- 

 pactness of form and shortness of leg. What can they expect who go to 

 Smithfield Market to purchase a number of worn-out, spavined, foundered 

 mares, about whom they fancy there have been some good-points, and 

 send them far into the country to breed from, and, with all their variety of 

 shape, to be covered by the same horse ? In a lottery like this, there may 

 be now and then a prize, but there must be many blanks. " If horse- 

 breeders, possessed of good judgment, would pay the same attention to 

 breed and shape as Mr. Bakewell did with sheep, they would probably 

 attain their wishes in an equal degree, and greatly to their advantage, 

 whether for the collar or the road, for racing or for hunting."* 



As to the shape of the stallion, little satisfactory can be said. It must 

 depend on that of the mare, and the kind of horse wished to be bred ; but 

 if there be one point which we should say is absolutely essential, it is this, 

 *' compactness" — as much goodness and strength as possible condensed 

 in a little space. If we are describing the reverse of tlie common race of 

 stallions for hunters and coach-horsed, the fault lies with the bad taste and 

 judgment of the majority of breeders. 



Next to compactness, the inclination of the shoulders will be regarded. 

 A huge stallion, with upright shoulders, never got a capital hunter or 

 hackney. From him the breeder can obtain nothing but a cart or dray, 

 horse, and that, perhaps, spoiled by the opposite form of the mare. On the 

 other hand, an upright shoulder is desirable, if not absolutely necessary, 

 when a mere draught horse is required. 



It is of no little importance, that the parents should be in full possessiMl 

 of their natural strength and powers. It is a common error, that because 

 a mare has once been good, she is fit for breeding when she is no longer 

 capable of ordinary work. Her blood and perfect frame may insure a foal 

 of some value, but he will inherit a portion of the worn-out constitution of 

 her from whom he sprung. 



On the subject of breeding in and in, that is, persevering in the same 

 breed, and selecting the best on either side, much has been said. The 

 system of crossing requires much judgment and experience ; a great deal 

 more indeed than breeders usually possess. The bad qualities of the cross 

 are too soon engrafted on the original stock, and once engrafted there, are 

 not, for many generations, eradicated. The good ones of both are occa- 

 sionally neutralized to a most mortifying degree. On the other hand, it is 

 the fact, however some may deny it, that strict confinement to one breed, 

 liowever valuable or perfect, produces gradual deterioration. The truth 

 here, as in many other cases, lies in the middle ; crossing should be 

 attempted with great caution, and the most perfect of the same breed should 

 be selected, but varied, by being frequently taken from different stocks. 

 This is the secret of the course. The pure south-eastern blood is never 

 'tift, but the stock is often changed with manifest advantage. 



A mare is capable of breeding at three or four years old ; some have 

 Uijudiciously commenced at two years, before her form or her strength i« 



• Parkinson on the Breeding- and Management of Live Stock, vol. ii., p. 59. 



