U-2 VARIETIES OF THE HORSE 



and therefore it once more may be suggested that as the Thoroughbred 

 is accepted as indispensable to Hunter-breeders, all the more care should 

 be exercised by the breeders of weight -carrying Hunters in selecting 

 a stallion that can stay. 



So much space having l)een given to the selection of a Hunter sire 

 the c|uestiou of the mare may now be considered, for after all there 

 can be no denying the fact that she plays a very prominent part in 

 the production of a Hunter. The latter is, however, very frequently 

 the offspring of c|uite a haphazard cross, between a mare of a heavy 

 or light breed as the case may be, and the first available stallion, regard- 

 less of merit either in respect to pedigree or jserformances. But this 

 method of breeding is merely groping in the dark. It is impossible to 

 expect business men to embark in such an undertaking as raising Hunters 

 as an enterprise with nothing but their luck to influence the results. For 

 farmers it may do very well, for they possess the mares, and can work 

 them very nearly up to their time of foaling and soon after it, so there 

 is not much time wasted, and if the youngster proves a misfit there is but 

 little loss over the transaction. If, on the other hand, Hunter-breeders 

 can be induced to act upon the advice of the Hunters' Improvement 

 Society, a great step might be made in rendering their enterprise more 

 reliable; for even if, failing an established breed of Hunters, it is admitted 

 that the Thoroughbred as a sire is essential for the production of a Hunter, 

 it is the fashion that the mare should be lialf or three-parts bred. 

 Consequently, it is not only possible, but probable, that any breeder who 

 pays due regard to the individual merit of his mares, and ascertains their 

 pedigrees before he buys them, may reasonably anticipate that his results 

 will be more satisfactory than if he crossed the clean-bred horse indis- 

 criminately with any sort of mare, and chanced the rest. Cart blood may, 

 moreover, be a capital thing in its way — that is to say, it is satisfactory 

 enough if a farmer's mare flukes a good stamp of weight-carrier to a horse 

 that happens to suit her — but how about the offspring of the union if 

 a filly? The ancient breeder referred to above, who told "the Druid" 

 that he had never produced the sort of Hunter he wanted to breed until 

 he crossed a cart mare with a Thoroughbred and their filly foal back 

 again to the clean-bred animal, was no doubt a lucky man to get what 

 he required in two crosses, but it is not recorded that he did so a second 

 time. Unquestionably the prepotency of the Thoroughbred is great, but 

 this circumstance gives no guarantee that the cart blood will not assert 

 itself, and until a breeder provides himself with a stud of mares that 

 possess some good back-breeding for several generations he must expect 

 some disappointments as the result. 



