66 THE ORANGE COUNTY 



performances of ancient and modern horses. Many other 

 examples may be added, but it would be tedious to enumer- 

 ate them. The "Bating Calendar," and "Huff's Guide," 

 will support this assertion, convince those who are skeptical, 

 and amuse those who delight in researches of that nature. 

 In favor of the practice it may be observed that the life- 

 time of a horse is limited, and there is no reason to imag- 

 ine that the period of his existence is affected by the age at 

 which his services commence. If, therefore, a colt or filly be 

 used for racing at two years old, and continues to run four 

 or five years only, there is the more time to calculate upon 

 the valuable services of either in the stud, than if they were 

 not trained till they had attained the age of five or six years. 

 Although there are some gentlemen who breed and keep 

 race-horses purely for amusement, there are many persons 

 who keep them with no other view than that of profit, and 

 they compose by far the greater majority; they are essenti- 

 ally a shrewd, calculating class of men, and would not enter 

 into transactions which they do not know to be advantageous 

 to them. It is the breeders and owners of race-horses who 

 encourage the races for young horses, not the public, for the 

 money which is added to those stakes is not proportionate to 

 that which is given for horses of more mature age. The 

 amount which may be gained, irrespective of betting, by win- 

 ning a two-year-old stake does not generally equal the sum 

 which may be won by a handicap for horses more advanced 

 in years; most men are anxious to know the capabilities of 

 their young horses before they incur great expenses. What- 

 ever patriotic impulses might have instigated breeders of 

 race-horses in the early days of the turf, those motives cer- 

 tainly do not predominate with the present generation; but 

 if the same good object be obtained, the stimulus to breed 

 horses, and that in connection with individual profits, surely 

 no argument can be held in opposition to the conjoined ad- 

 vantages. As it is evidently the interest of breeders to run 

 their horses at an early age, any measures which would dis- 

 courage the practice would be objectionable and futile; objec- 

 tionable, because it would operate as a discouragement to 

 breeding horses. If the argument could be established that 

 it predisposes them to disorders, which they entail upon their 

 progeny, that would be a good reason to advance, but such a 

 position cannot be maintained. Take the leg as an example, 

 and that limb is more subservient to the effects of work than 

 any other. Some of the most celebrated horses have natur- 

 ally a conformation of their fore-legs, which is object- 



