CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



respects important alterations, all at once ; im- 

 provements in this, as in everything else, being the 

 work of time and a judicious experience. Breeding 

 in-and-in, as it is called, or between close relation- 

 ships, is decidedly pernicious, and should by all 

 means be avoided. 



The season for mares is about February and 

 March, but in some cases it continues later ; and 

 the term of gestation is generally over eleven 

 months. The foal remains with the mother till 

 weaned, which takes place earlier or later, accord- 

 ing to the quantity of milk, the strength of the 

 animals, and the season of the year. On removal, 

 it requires to be carefully attended to, and provided 

 with soft nourishing diet. Few things contribute 

 more to the health and perfection of young horses 

 than a sweet, sound, and hard-bottomed pasture- 

 range. 



The operation of cutting is seldom performed 

 on thorough-bred colts, but with all others it is 

 common. It is an operation which ought by all 

 means to be left to the veterinary surgeon or skilful 

 farrier. The best authorities recommend it to take 

 place with young cart-horses when four or five 

 months old ; but if for carriage or light work, it 

 may very properly be postponed till the animal is 

 twelve months old. The use of the operation is to 

 render the horse more submissive than if left in an 

 entire state, and to devote him altogether to the 

 work he is required to perform. The advantages, 

 whatever they are, are in some measure lessened 

 by the lowering of spirit. The practice, how- 

 ever, is universally recognised in Britain, as one 

 indispensable where numbers of horses are congre- 

 gated, and required to be kept in good condition. 



Breaking, or reducing the young animal to 

 obedience, is a most important point in the educa- 

 tion of the horse. If previously accustomed to 

 handling, the difficulty of breaking will be much 

 lessened. Racing-colts are now begun to be broken 

 at one year old, and saddle-colts at two years, and 

 are finally and fully broken and trained, some at 

 three, and few later than four years old. Breaking 

 horses is a regular business, and is best left to the 

 person who is well accustomed to it, provided he 

 follow a judicious course of treatment. As in the 

 training of children, gentleness, with firmness, 

 ought to be a prevailing principle of management. 

 The chief apparatus of breaking is a powerful 

 bridle or head-tackle, with boots or pads strapped 

 on the legs, to prevent them knocking against each 

 other. The young horse is to a certain extent 

 trained before his back is mounted ; all the pre- 

 liminary part of the process of subduing being 

 accomplished while he is led by the bitted tackle. 

 His back is not to be mounted till he is evidently 

 able to endure the load without injury to his figure : 

 too early mounting is apt to make him hollow- 

 backed for life. In putting on a saddle for the 

 first time, great caution should be taken ; let the 

 girths be drawn loosely, the crupper smooth, and 

 keep the stirrups from dangling. In short, the 

 animal requires on this trying occasion to be 

 treated with as much kindness as it is possible to 

 employ. 



Having, by the various means which are 

 adopted, brought the animal into subjection, and 

 in effect taught him that he must in future act the 

 part of a dutiful servant to an indulgent but firm 

 master, the next step is to teach him his paces. 

 These are partly artificial. Commence with slow 

 en 



and regular walking ; whenever he is inclined to 

 bolt, bringing him back to the steady pace you 

 desire. After he has been accustomed to slow paces 

 on a methodic plan, go on to the slow trot, then the 

 quick trot, and, lastly the canter and gallop. By 

 no means allow him to mix these paces that is, 

 half-canter and half-trot which would be an 

 ungainly hobble ; but let him know that he must, 

 for the time being, keep to one kind of pace. The 

 skill of the breaker consists in enforcing these 

 lessons, and teaching the animal to change readily 

 and neatly from one pace to another by little more 

 intimation than a twitch of the rein. The first 

 shoeing ought to be performed with great care, so 

 as to alarm the animal as little as possible. 



In connection with the breeding of horses, we 

 may say a few words respecting mules, or the 

 hybrid offspring of the horse and ass. The mule 

 proper is the produce of a male ass and mare ; 

 when the parents are the horse and she-ass, the 

 produce is called a hinny. The mule is the 

 superior animal, partaking to a larger degree in 

 the qualities of the horse ; it is more robust, plump, 

 and hardy, and better adapted for all the ordinary 

 purposes of riding and draught. The hinny is 

 more thinly made, has a longer head, and is alto- 

 gether more like the ass than the horse. Mules of 

 both kinds live to a very old age, and when prop- 

 erly trained, they are tractable, and very service- 

 able animals. There are comparatively few mules 

 in Britain ; but in Spain, and some other countries 

 of Southern Europe, also in Spanish America, they 

 are numerous, and are used in carriages of people 

 of the highest rank. According to a well-known 

 principle in natural economy, by which intermix- 

 ture of kindred species is not allowed to go beyond 

 a single step, and only for one generation, mules 

 do not usually breed ; and the stock requires to be 

 kept up by a recurrence to the common parentage. 



The Teeth Age. 



The horse attains maturity at five years old, 

 and he is in his prime till eight or nine. If no 

 unfair play be used, his age may be judged of from 

 his teeth, or, as it is called, mark of mouth. At 

 five years old, when the teeth have been fully 

 developed, the horse possesses six teeth in the 

 front of each jaw, called the incisors or nippers j 

 it is with these teeth that he bites. At a short 

 distance from each end of the row of incisors, and 

 in each jaw, there is a solitary canine tooth ; these 

 canine teeth are technically named tushes. At a 

 greater distance inward in each jaw, and on each 

 side, there are six grinders the whole apparat 

 being designed to bite or crop the herbage, to tear, 

 and to chew. At five and a half years old, the 

 nippers are marked by a natural cavity formed in 

 the substance between the outer and inner walls, 

 and it is the presence or absence of these darkish 

 marks that certifies the age of the animal. When 

 the horse reaches six years, the marks in the two 

 front nippers in the nether jaw are filled up, and 

 the tushes are blunted. At seven years, the two 

 nippers next the middle ones are also rilled up ; 

 at eight, the two outer ones are filled up also, 

 and the tushes are round and shortened. The 

 lower nipper teeth are now all smooth ; the marks 

 are gone ; but in the teeth of the upper jaw, marks 

 remain a year or two longer. At eight years, the 

 disgraceful practice of bishoping a term given 





