STABLE MANAGEMENT 339 



In keeping horses, competent supervision is a matter of primary im- 

 portance, and no real success can be relied upon without it. Where the 

 owner has the knowledge and time, this duty will devolve upon himself; 

 but wherever these are lacking, a competent substitute must be employed. 

 In large studs financial and other considerations soon demonstrate the 

 benefits of expert management, and the employment of veterinarians pos- 

 sessing special training and experience in stud management, as superin- 

 tendents, is increasing. In smaller studs the employment of such experts 

 is unattainable, but where the charge is placed with a natural horseman 

 with the necessary training the best results are obtained. In many cases, 

 however, the -necessity for trained supervision is unrecognized, and any odd 

 man with little knowledge and no natural qualification for the position 

 undertakes the duties of horse manager. Again, no matter what the 

 natural aptitude may be, no man is competent to exercise supervision 

 without the knowledge which practical experience alone can give. Wher- 

 ever economy with efficiency is the order, trained experience with natural 

 aptitude must be possessed by those in control. 



The man who knows a horse thoroughly in good health will be the first 

 to recognize any departure from that condition. There is no truer saying 

 than the old one, that " prevention is better than cure " ; and the difference 

 between success and failure depends far more than is generally recognized 

 upon the apt appreciation of anything amiss, and the prompt employment 

 of suitable measures to relieve it. 



But besides a general knowledge, a special knowledge of the class of 

 horse in charge is requisite. Although the natural inclination and experi- 

 ence possessed by one man may make him a first-class supervisor of a stud 

 of cart-horses, he may be wholly unfitted to take charge of a stud of race- 

 horses, and vice versa. But in addition to being a class ' specialist he 

 should be an individualist capable of recognizing the individual capacity 

 of each horse in his care, so that each horse may be employed in accordance 

 with his powers. The ability to select the horse most suitable for a 

 given purpose requires keen observation and long experience, and is even 

 frequently of more importance than the question of technical soundness. 

 Only those possessing the knowledge can thoroughly appreciate the deli- 

 cacy of the points upon which selection has sometimes to be based. In 

 a large stud the man who can carefully select horses most suitable for their 



