Book VII. BREEDING HORSES. 933 



sold from ten to fifteen, or from forty to fifty pounds each." (Marshal's Economy of 

 Yorkshire, vo\. 'ii. p. 166.) 



5961. In those districts where the breeding of horses is carried on upon a large scale 

 and a regular plan, the rearing of stallions forms in some degree a separate branch ; and 

 is confined, as in the case of bulls and rams, to a few eminent breeders. These stallions, 

 which are shown at the different towns in the vicinity, sometimes sent to be exhibited at 

 a considerable distance, are let out for the whole season, or sold to stallion men, or kept 

 by the breeder himself, for covering such mares as may be offered, at a certain price per 

 head ; and this varies according to the estimation in which the horse is held, and some- 

 times according as the mare has more or less of what is called blood. For farm mares, 

 the charge for covering by a stallion of the same kind is commonly about a guinea, 

 with half-a-crown to the groom ; and it is a common practice in the north, to agree for 

 a lower rate if the mare does not prove with foal ; sometimes nothing more is paid in 

 that case than the allowance to the groom. 



5962. In choosing the parents, or stallion and mare, regard must be had to the kind of 

 stock desired to be bred. Whatever may the particular purpose of the breed, a stallion 

 ought first to possess all the general properties of a good horse, and next the charac- 

 teristic criteria of the desired stock. The produce, whether a male or female, much more 

 frequently acquires and retains the form, make, marks, and disposition of the sire than 

 the dam. On this account, stallions with the least appearance of disease, blemish, or 

 bodily defect of any kind, where there is the slightest probability of its being transmitted 

 to the offspring, should be rejected as improper. And it is even considered by some, 

 necessary to descend to the minutiae of symmetry in the head, neck, shoulder, forehead, 

 ribs, back, loins, joints, and pasterns, attending even to a strict uniformity in the form, 

 make, and texture of the hoofs : and, were it possible, even to ascertain the temper and 

 disposition of both sire and dam, in order to avoid the procreation of vices or imper- 

 fections. But provided either parents be free from hereditary infirmities, disorders 

 which arise from accident are of no consequence. 



5963. The general properties required in a breeding mare, are a good shape, a gentle 

 disposition, a large carcase conformably to her height, and belly well let down ; she must 

 be perfectly free from all sorts of blemishes and defects. The size, frame, bone, strength, 

 and blood, will of course be regulated by the purposes of the breeder. 



5964. The mare which is intended to supply draught-colts should, according to the author 

 of the Synopsis of Husbandry, be large limbed, close jointed, sliort decked, wide chested, 

 home ribbed, with a capacious body ; her eyes good, and her nostrils large and open ; in 

 diposition she ought to be gentle and tractable ; of a constitution healthy and vigorous, 

 free from any blemishes either hereditary or acquired. The horse should be bold and 

 spirited, well made, and of a kindly disposition ; his constitution should be strong, his 

 temper good, and, in short, neither in mind or body ought he to be contaminated with 

 vices or disease of any kind ; since on the good qualities and strength of constitution in 

 the sire and the dam depends, in a great measure, the future welfare of the colt. 



5965. The age at which a stallion and mare should he allowed to copulate is not deter- 

 mined by uniform practice ; and is made to depend, in some measure, on the degree of 

 maturity, which, in animals of the same species, is more or less early, according to 

 breed and feeding. Yet it would seem, in general, to be an improper practice to allow 

 animals of any kind to propagate, while they are themselves in a raw unformed state, 

 and require all the nutriment which their food affords, for raising them to the ordinary 

 size of the variety to which they belong. It may, therefore, be seldom advisable to em- 

 ploy the stallion till he is about four years old, or the mare till she is a year older, and 

 if the stallion be five also it is better, and still more so if he be six or seven. But the 

 greater number of mares left for breeding are not very young ; being in many cases, 

 not allowed to bring foals till they are in the decline of life, or otherwise unable to bear 

 their full share in rural labor. 



5966. Three months before a stallion is to cover a mare, he should be fed with sound oats, peas, or beans, 

 or with coarse bread, and a little hay, but a good quantity of wheat straw ; he should be watered regu- 

 larly, and have long continued walking exercise every day, but he should not be over heated. If he be 

 not prepared and put in condition, the colts will be likely to be weakly, and the horse himself will become 

 injured, begetting humors, or becoming broken winded. If he be put to too many mares, he will not 

 last long; his main and tail will begin to fall off through weakness, and it will be difficult to get up his 

 flesh again by the next year. The number of mares should be proportioned to his strength, and twelve, 

 fifteen, or at the most twenty are as many as a horse will well serve for in a season. 



5967i The usual season when a mare takes the horse is from the beginning of April 

 to the beginning of July. The month of June is considered the best season in this 

 country j although from the middle to the end of May is more approved of on the Con- 

 tinent, particularly in Normandy, where the farmers devote much of their attention to 

 this branch of husbandry ; and in which, especially in regard to useful farm horses, 

 they have succeeded, perhaps, beyond those in any other part of Europe. This diflfer- 

 ence, as to the time when a mare should be allowed to take the horse, 'm the different 



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