The 2-.10 Trotters 89 



have never consciously taken their best mares 

 to stallions at the times when they retired 

 from the track and not at other times. The 

 fact that stallions which have raced long and 

 hard are partially sterile at this time has 

 induced them to act in the contrary manner. 

 Breeders do not like to have their mares 

 barren. 



There is, for the sires of mares and geldings, 

 no such relationship as that set forth for 

 stallions. It is true that the natural order is 

 also reversed here, by the record-sires being 

 younger than the no-record-sires, but the 

 difference is not great and the apparent 

 conclusions to be drawn from the fact of 

 difference are not sustained by other facts. 

 As far as the mares are concerned, the differ- 

 ence between 9.8 years and a probable 12 or 

 13 years for sires with records may be 

 accounted for by the fact that the first 

 progeny of stallions are more frequently 

 trained than later ones, the object being to 

 determine the quality of the horse as a sire. 

 In the case of geldings there is an additional 



