144 The Management of Light Horses 



If a farmer decides to breed from a Cleveland Bay or a York- 

 shire Coaching mare, he will find that his brood mare will be able 

 to do a considerable amount of the light work of the farm up to 

 within a very few days of foaling. A good deal of work, too, can 

 be got out of a Hunter mare during the summer months, especially 

 if she be a weight carrier. I have seen many a Hunter mare 

 scuffling turnips, but it is necessary to insist that the man who 

 is sent with her is a steady, capable man, and good-tempered 

 withal. 



If the object be to breed pedigree stock, it is important to 

 select as a brood mare one that has in a marked degree the charac- 

 teristics of her breed. It is unnecessary to insist that the brood 

 mare should be of the best and the soundest. That does not con- 

 sequently imply that she should have cost a great deal of money. 

 It is essential that the greatest care should be taken about the 

 mare's legs and feet, for it is a common enough experience in 

 breeding to find a little defect in the parents considerably increased 

 in the offspring. 



It is unnecessary to dwell upon the necessity of avoiding 

 hereditary unsoundness. It seems absurd to hedge round with 

 safeguards and restrictions the stallions of the country, whilst men 

 continue to breed indiscriminately from all kinds of decrepit and 

 unsound mares. It is, of course, desirable that both parents should 

 be sound, and it is as well if they are so sound that the question 

 of heredity has never to be raised. It is, however, of far greater 

 moment that the mare should be sound, for somehow the mare 

 is supposed to be more likely to transmit unsoundness than the 

 stallion. It is a difficult subject to generalize upon, for we have 

 the case of Pocahontas, a bad roarer, who did not transmit that 

 infirmity to her descendants. In the female line I believe there 

 was some trace of it; but Stockwell, Rataplan, King Tom, and 

 Knight of Kars were sound horses, and sired good stock. Mr. Adye 

 gives it as his opinion that hereditary unsoundness is more likely 

 to be transmitted through the dam than through the sire, and gives 

 some notable instances of this in his book. Horse Breeding and 

 Management. But, as already indicated, it is a very difficult sub- 

 ject to generalize upon, and the man who runs no risks and avoids 

 unsoundness on both sides will be wise. There are many examples 

 on both sides of the question, but the writer is of opinion that 

 soundness in the mare is of the greater importance. 



The mare should have a good pasture during the summer. 

 During the early months of her pregnancy she may do a little 

 light work, but it should always be done at a slow pace, and she 



