MANAGEMENT OF THE STALLION. 63 



explained, nourishment is conveyed from dam 

 to foal. If owners of mares can coax or force 

 a stallion owner to carry such insurance for 

 them well and good. That is their business, 

 but the stallion owner is foolish to be intimi- 

 dated or cajoled in any such way. 



A good leader is essential to the best success 

 of any stallion. The man who will best succeed 

 as the caretaker of a stallion must be a fairly 

 shrewd judge of human nature, a bit of a poli- 

 tician and a good mixer as well as thoroughly 

 versed in his business. With a valuable horse 

 it always pays to hire a good man. .English- 

 men and Scotchmen, by reason of their special 

 training in the old country or by old country 

 parents here, have so far enjoyed the reputa- 

 tion of being the best stallion leaders we have, 

 they are usually the most careful of their 

 charges. They have been brought up to the 

 business and know its ins and outs. A groom 

 that cannot be trusted to be always on the spot 

 is little better than no groom at all. Get a 

 good man anyway, no matter what his nation- 

 ality, and then keep him, though that is not al- 

 ways easy. My experience has been that good 

 leaders are generally men of peculiar tempera 

 ment. 



Every man who makes a business of stand- 

 ing stallions should have a properly construct- 

 ed breeding plant. This need not be expensive. 

 It should consist of good solid footing on which 



