112 VARIETIES OF THE HORSE 



ill the Stud-book, and consequently it is unnecessary to particularize 

 further on that portion of the subject. At the same time the varying 

 conditions which regulate the production of this class of horse are worthy 

 of comment, for the methods pursued by breeders have greatly altered, 

 and some persons think for the worse. In the old days people raised 

 their Thoroughbreds with the view of running them themselves, such 

 functions as public sales of yearlings being unknown and unheard of. 

 Consequently the unfortunate practice now so prevalent of stall-feeding 

 young stock, and in fact treating them as though they were prize bullocks, 

 had no existence then. Each breeder acted independently according to 

 his own ideas of what was desirable for the benefit of his stock, and not 

 with the fear of adverse criticism upon the condition and precociousness 

 of his yearlings. The value of their horses was consequently for the 

 most part estimated by the test of future events, or by their breeding 

 and the performances of their relatives, rather than by the amount of 

 blubber they carried upon their frames, or the height to which their 

 stature had been forced by a system of artificial rearing, which naturally 

 must affect their constitutions and hardiness to a greater or less extent 

 — probably to a greater. 



It is, of course, but natural that certain families of Thoroughbreds 

 require different treatment from others, not only in their rearing, but 

 subsequently in the course of their preparation for the engagements they 

 are destined to fulfil, and possibly no greater illustration of this can be 

 produced than the case of the Newminsters, which usually run best after 

 a tender preparation, Hermit, the Derby winner of 1867, being perhaps 

 the most notable instance of this. At the same time, it cannot be 

 reasonably doubted that the youngsters which enjoy a long freedom in 

 a, roomy paddock are more likely to develop into sound- constitutioned 

 animals than those which have been pampered and artificially forced from 

 the earliest moment. It must, however, be always remembered that 

 allowances should be made for the conditions under which young horses 

 have to be reared, as very much indeed will depend upon the nature of 

 climate and soil. Foals bred in damp places, and exposed to much rain 

 and cold wind, or running on clay soils, are sadly handicapped in their 

 growth and progress; whereas the more fortunate youngsters which are 

 favoured by a more genial climate, and possess the advantage of having 

 a large undulating area to roam about in, have every advantage placed 

 in their wav. The desirability of the paddocks being situated upon un- 

 ■dulating ground consists in the facilities it affords the colts and fillies 

 for utilizing all their muscles from an early age; whereas if the land is 

 fiat, each set of muscles will not be equally brought into play. Indeed 



