STUD BOOK. 91 



proportion to the antiquity and purity of the race to which it 

 belongs. This theory may now be said to have received prac- 

 tical proof, and to be generally acknowledged. 



From the numerous facts which have been advanced, each 

 bearing upon the most important points, we must come to 

 the conclusion that the progressive increase of racing and 

 breeding horses for that purpose has led to unequivocal im- 

 provement; and it is clearly manifest that the horses of the 

 present day are superior to their predecessors in size, power, 

 speed, and endurance. The augmentation of their numbers 

 is unmistakeable evidence of the interest attached to the two- 

 fold enterprise. We may now take up another engagement, 

 equally, perchance more inviting, interesting, and familiar to 

 the public, that of breeding horses for hunting, riding, driv- 

 ing, and other useful purposes. The assertion has been 

 made, and it cannot be rebutted, that the supply is unequal to 

 the demand. However, we have the pure source from which 

 they may be produced in great numbers, inadequate though 

 they may be to the requirements of the nation, but having 

 the material, it is only incumbent upon us to bring it into 

 effect upon the most advantageous terms. 



The eye delights to feast upon that which is symmetrical 

 and beautiful There is no creature in the universe, the fair 

 portion of the human race excepted, in which the lines of 

 beauty are so exquisitely denned as they are in a well-shaped 

 horse. Whether we behold him in an easy graceful action, 

 bounding over the elastic turf; boldly facing the opposing 

 barrier which disputes his progress in the chase; proudly 

 stepping (perchance with a fair burden upon his back) in the 

 park: or gayly and gorgeously caparisoned with the para- 

 phernalia of the battle-field; in either instance we admire him 

 for his swiftness, his activity, his docility, and his unflinching 

 courage. Whether the amount of discrimination be great or 

 little with which any individual, gentle or simple, may be 

 gifted, nothing occasions a friend or acquaintance greater 

 offence than an insinuation that his judgment in horseflesh 

 is deficient. This for general purposes is a little species of 

 self-vanity, which may be unimportant, at least so long as it 

 is confined to purchasing; but when deficiency of judgment 

 is exercised in breeding, it becomes a different affair. A 

 worthless produce is not only an individual loss but a public 

 misfortune. There are many who are very fair judges of 

 horses when they are in fit condition to be put to work 

 who are totally at a loss when they attempt to form opinions 

 on breeding, or concerning young horses which are promising 



