Thoroughbreds 51 



The facts which are forthcoming about the sires of other breeds 

 are by no means so numerous. The Shire horse, the Hackney, 

 the Cleveland Bay, or the so-called half-bred Hunter sire, are never 

 put to any strenuous exertion. Just enough exercise is given to 

 keep them in health, and their severest work takes place in the 

 show ring and in the preparation for it. 



The performances of a Thoroughbred horse, the races that he has 

 won and the class of the horses he has beaten or been beaten by, 

 what racing men call shortly his " form", do not concern the breeder 

 of Hunters or other half-bred stock. They are only of interest to 

 the man who breeds Thoroughbreds for the yearling market or other- 

 wise, and it is not for him that I am writing. It is, however, of the 

 greatest importance that the Thoroughbred sire which a breeder of 

 hunters intends to use should have been in training for some years, 

 and that he should have won races. It is of equal importance that 

 he should be descended on both sides from ancestors who have also 

 shown that they have got good constitutions, by keeping in training 

 for some years and winning races. For the winning of races has a 

 bearing on the question. If a horse does not win races, or show 

 that there is a likelihood of his winning races, he will not be kept 

 very long in training, which is a very costly business. 



There is another matter which the racing and consequent train- 

 ing of a horse brings pretty prominently to notice, and that is the 

 question of soundness. No one would willingly or knowingly breed 

 from a horse with any hereditary unsoundness. But there is 

 such a thing as being too particular. That excellent judge and 

 authority on all relating to horse-breeding. Baron von Oettingen, says 

 that we are too fastidious on the question of hereditary unsoundness 

 in England, and there is some show of reason in what he says. 

 Certainly it seems absurd that a horse which has been in training 

 for several years, that has galloped on ground fetlock-deep, and on 

 ground as hard as brick, should have to undergo as strict an exami- 

 nation, say, when he is twelve or fourteen years old, to satisfy the 

 conditions of a premium competition, as the horse that has never 

 been subjected to a severe strain at all. It is quite possible that, 

 when a horse has had a strenuous time in training and has begun to 

 age a little, he may put out some little blemishes which are better 

 not there; but if he has had four or five years in training and has 

 passed a pretty strict examination when he was eight years old, I 

 should not ask for any more; and I should use that horse, lest in 

 passing him by I might use one that had nothing but his soundness 

 to commend him. 



Here is an illustration. Many years since there was a great 



