BREEDING, CASTRATION, &c. 319 



this there may be now and then a prize, but there must be many blanks. If 

 horse-breeders, possessed of good judgment, would pay the same attention to 

 breed and shape as Mr. Bakewell did with his sheep, they would probably attain 

 their wishes in an equal degree, and greatly to their advantage, whether for the 

 collar or the road, for racing or for hunting. 



As to the shape of the stallion, little satisfactory can be said. It must depend 

 on that of the mare, and the kind of horse wished to be bred ; but if there is 

 one point absolutely essential, it is "compactness" as much goodness and 

 strength as possible condensed into a little space. 



Next to compactness, the inclination of the shoulder will be regarded. A 

 huge stallion, with upright shoulders, never got a capital hunter or hackney. 

 From him the breeder can obtain nothing but a cart or dray horse, and that, 

 perhaps, spoiled by the opposite form of the mare. On the other hand, an 

 upright shoulder is desirable, if not absolutely necessary, when a mere slow 

 draught horse is required. 



On the subject of breeding in and in, that is, persevering in the same breed, 

 and selecting the best on either side, much has been said. The system of cross- 

 ing requires more judgment and* experience than breeders usually possess. 

 The bad qualities of the cross are too soon engrafted on the original stock, and, 

 once engrafted there, are not, for many generations, eradicated. The good 

 qualities of both are occasionally neutralized to a most mortifying degree. On 

 the other hand, it is the fact, however some may deny it, that strict confine- 

 ment to one breed, however valuable or perfect, produces gradual deterioration. 

 Crossing should be attempted with great caution. The valuable points of the 

 old breed should be retained, but varied or improved by the introduction of 

 some new and valuable quality, with reference to beauty, strength, or speed. 

 This is the secret of the turf. The pure south-eastern blood is never left, but 

 the stock is often changed with manifest advantage. 



A mare is capable of breeding at three or four years old. Some have inju- 

 diciously commenced at two years, before her form or her strength is sufficiently 

 developed, and with the development of which this early breeding will mate- 

 rially interfere. If a mare does little more than farm- work, she may continue 

 to be bred from until she is nearly twenty ; but if she has been hardly worked, 

 and bears the marks of it, let her have been what she will in her youth, she will 

 deceive the expectations of the breeder in her old age. 



From the time of covering, to within a few days of the expected period of foal- 

 ing, the cart mare may be kept at moderate labour, not only without injury, but 

 with decided advantage. It will then be prudent to release her from work, and 

 keep her near home, and under the frequent inspection of some careful person. 



When nearly half the time of pregnancy has elapsed, the mare should have a 

 little better food. She should be allowed one or two feeds of corn in the day. 

 This is about the period when they are accustomed to slink their foals, or when 

 abortion occurs : the eye of the owner should, therefore, be frequently upon 

 them. Good feeding and moderate exercise will be the best preventives of this 

 mishap. The mare that has once aborted is liable to a repetition of the acci- 

 dent, and therefore should never be suffered to be with other mares between 

 the fourth and fifth months ; for such is the power of imagination or of sym- 

 pathy in the mare, that if one suffers abortion, others in the same pasture will 

 too often share the same fate. Farmers wash, and paint, and tar their stables, 

 to prevent some supposed infection ; the infection lies in the imagination. 



The thorough-bred mare the stock being intended for sporting purposes- - 

 should be kept quiet and apart from other horses, after the first four or five 

 months. When the period of parturition is drawing near, she should be 

 watched, and shut up during the night in a safe yard or loose box. 



