BREEDING THE TROTTER 



farm from all parts of the country. If you con- 

 clude to buy your mares at auction watch the sale 

 announcements closely, especially dispersal an- 

 nouncements of farms going out of existence, for 

 their best mares, not the culls alone, will be 

 offered. It is always advisable, if you are inter- 

 ested in a particular consignment, to visit the 

 farm about two weeks before the sale and look the 

 mares over carefully. If you wait till a mare 

 enters the sale ring you may, in the excitement 

 of bidding, buy something you would not have 

 purchased had you given her careful inspection. 



If you examine the mare at the farm you will 

 probably have an opportunity to see some of her 

 produce, the kind of gaited colts they are, the 

 stallion she breeds best from, and will discover 

 whether or not she is a regular breeder and a good 

 brood-mare. 



With these preliminary remarks as to the man- 

 ner of purchasing mares, I will pass to a consider- 

 ation of the sort of mares most likely to prove 

 successful as a producer of speed. 



THE IDEAL BROOD-MARE. 



My ideal brood-mare should stand from 15 to 

 15.3 hands; should have a clean-cut head, fine 

 ears, and expressive and intelligent protruding 

 eyes (not dull nor sunken), which indicate kind- 

 ness and will-power, ideal traits in a brood-mare. 

 The neck and throttle should be clean-cut. I pre- 

 fer a neck of medium length, neither too long nor 

 too short. The shoulders should not be straight, 



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