142 THE HORSE. 
that an absolute freedom from relationship is not to be found, or, if so, 
extremely rarely. Breeders very often fancy that they put two animals 
together which are without any corresponding lines or strains of blood in 
their composition ; whereas, in point of fact, the relationship exists only 
four or five degrees off. The horse and mare are, perhaps, fourth or fifth 
cousins, often second or third; but, in examining the Stud-book, the 
blood of the sire, grandsire, and great-grandsire is apt to be forgotten, 
because it is not given, the name only being mentioned. In the book to 
which I have already alluded, I have inserted a long series of pedigree 
tables, drawn out to the sixth generation, with a reference also to the 
earlier pedigrees ; by which, at one glance, the breeder may see how con- 
stantly, in going back, the same names occur in every table. Eclipse, 
Herod, and Conductor, the three contemporary descendants of the Darley 
Arab, the Byerley Turk, and the Godolphin Barb, or one of their imme- 
diate descendants, will be seen in the fifth, sixth, or seventh remove of all 
our thoroughbred horses, and often the names of all three will be found 
repeated four, five, or six times apiece; yet the horse itself whose pedigree 
is being examined, as in the instance of Teddington, is considered to be 
the produce of a cross, and is not, therefore, said to be in-bred. 
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF EACH PLAN. 
HAVING THUS EXPLAINED the meaning of the two terms, and having, in 
“ British Rural Sports,” collected a series of examples of success in cross- 
ing nearly equal in number to those adduced in which in-breeding had 
been resorted to advantageously, I shall now proceed to say a few words 
upon the probable advantages to be derived from each plan. In the first 
place, it may be laid down that nearly an equal number of good horses 
have lately been bred by adopting either mode of proceeding; but no 
first-rate horse has appeared whose parents were incestuously allied. In 
the second place, it may be gathered from experiments with horses and 
other domestic animals, that very close in-breeding, continued for any 
length of time, is apt to develop the weak points in the constitutions of 
the breed in which it is adopted. The cautious breeder, therefore, will 
do well to avoid running this risk, and will strive to obtain what he wants 
without having recourse to the practice, though, at the same time, he will 
make up his mind that it is unwise to sacrifice a single point with this 
view. Experience tells us that it is useless to expect to develop a new 
property or quality in the next generation, by putting a female entirely 
deprived of it to a male which possesses it even in a marked degree. 
Some instances of success will attend the adoption of this course, but as a 
rule it cannot be relied on in the majority of instances. Thus, a slow, 
stout mare, containing no lines of fast blood in her pedigree, will not be 
likely to breed a fast colt, though put to a flying stallion, whose blood is 
not stout in a considerable proportion of his ancestry. Two or three 
consecutive crosses with the same or similar blood will almost of a surety 
effect the object; but the first will rarely do so. Again, we know, if we 
put two animals together, equally in-bred or equaly crossed, the produce 
is, on the whole, as likely to resemble the one parent as the other, though 
there may be a difference of opinion as to particular points. But, if not 
thus equally composed of similar elements, the more in-bred parent will 
be represented in a greater proportion than the crossed one ; and hence it 
follows, that if it is desired to keep up the qualities of the horse or mare 
in his or her descendant, the mate must be selected, if possible, lesa 
