BREEDING, 117 



actual state of health of horse and mare at the time of 

 mating. 



It seems never to strike breeders that before allowing a mare 

 to be served they should at least take the trouble to ascertain if 

 the horse is in good health ; for it cannot be taken for granted 

 that, because when robust and in stroncr exercise a stallion 

 has fathered an Echpse or a St. Simon, he will be capable of 

 begetting similar stock when ill and uncared for. Almost all 

 animals will take plenty of exercise provided that they have 

 sufficient liberty, and will thus generally keep themselves well. 



In the case of mares this is easily arranged, but with stallions 

 it is different ; and how many stallions are neglected in this one 

 most important item ? After quiet exercise and rest from June 

 to October, an entire horse should be put into nwrk^ i.e. be led, 

 Of ridden, or lunged for several hours daily, besides having a 

 good-sized yard to trot about in. In January he should be big, 

 but his flesh firm, and his coat glossy, and he will then enter 

 on his term of service in a good state of health— the primary 

 condition for begetting sound-constitutioned offspring. 



Lord Lyon may be cited as a typical instance of the neces- 

 sity of exercise. Though he was good enough to win the three 

 great classic races of his year, he has been more or less a failure 

 at the stud, his fine pedigree notwithstanding. 



Notwithstanding also his parentage of Placida, and of Touchet, 

 who, himself a good horse, has in his turn sired Necromancer — 

 a miler within measurable distance, say 10 lbs. or 11 lbs. of top 

 form — the expression ' more or less a failure at the stud,' as 

 applied to Lord Lyon, can hardly be modified, though Mint- 

 ing's splendid career went far towards rehabilitating a damaged 

 reputation. 



He was magnificently shaped ; indeed, when we saw him in 

 1884, he w^as in most respects as perfect a model as one could 

 wish to see, but below the knee he dwindled away to nothing ; 

 his ankles were small and buUety, his pasterns straight, and his 

 feet half the size they should have been. Here was the point 

 in which he failed ; he was early put to the stud, and except 



