1 66 The Management of Light Horses 



In selling them at three years old or even earlier, and if his first 

 youngsters turn out well he will be not unlikely to fall in with a 

 regular customer. Unless he is a horseman himself, or has some- 

 one about him who is a horseman, he had better not attempt to 

 make a horse, as he will be pretty sure to meet with disappointment. 

 In my younger days there were several young farmers — four or five 

 of them, perhaps — who met one evening a week or so in spring and 

 had a ride out together, every man riding every horse, which of 

 course were four-year-olds. I am afraid the same love of horses 

 and horsemanship scarcely prevails in these days. 



Let me impress upon the breeder the wisdom of not keeping 

 the bad ones. When a man breeds a bad horse the sooner he gets 

 rid of it the better, but of course he must first be sure that it is a 

 bad one. And unless he has been lucky enough to get into a good 

 strain which has got a name, he will probably find that the younger 

 he sells his horses the bigger profit they leave him. Above all, let 

 him avoid making the breeding of army remounts his object. 

 Forty-five pounds for a four-year-old is no encouragement to 

 anyone. If our Government were to give £60 for three-year-olds, 

 as the German Government does, this branch of horsebreeding 

 would be worth consideration. 



