64 BORSE-KEEPTNO FOE A.MATEUES. 



at the stud, and I can only conclude that this was a develop- 

 ment of the " family failing." Anyhow, it got so bad as to 

 render her practically useless, and I sold her for a song. 

 Suspicious eyes, wind, and badly-formed feet are also, notori- 

 ously, things which are often transmitted to the progeny. 



Many men seem to consider themselves hardly done by if, 

 after putting an unsuitable sire to a worn-out mare, the 

 result is a failure. Only sound, roomy, and comparatively 

 fresh mares should be bred from ; and for any class of light 

 work, choose a thoroughbred sire. I am not prejudiced as 

 to colour, but consider, on the whole, that the young stock 

 is more likely to be hardy if a good Yorkshire brown or a 

 bright bay, with well-defined black points, be chosen, than 

 is the case with greys, chestnuts, &c. Necessarily, this short 

 chapter is but the merest glossary of such a subject as breed- 

 ing, and I have simply endeavoured to give the amateur 

 Lorse-owner a few rough hints as to the main things needful 

 in trying the experiment of raising a foal or two for himself. 

 Much of the success or non-success attendant upon such an 

 undertaking will, of course, depend upon the care and atten- 

 tion devoted to it ; but, I may add, that it is by no means 

 a task of stupendous diflSculty, and that, in my own expe- 

 rience, I have known foals bred and reared successfully under 

 most disadvantageous circumstances, and where very little 

 time and attention have been given to the business. It goes 

 without saying, that where that time and attention are given, 

 the result is, and always must be, infinitely more satisfactory. 



