200 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 4 



But the den-eneracy oC the race horse is an evil 

 not alone a(f'eciin<r ilseif— it is permitted irreaiiy 

 lo influence tiie charai-ier of our saddle horspcJ. 

 Farmers cannot. l)rt'ed twaddle horses vviihout (iie 

 aid of the racer, and yet over the (jnality ol' ihis 

 animal they have no control. As may he expect- 

 ed, the ot^ls()ring di.-;[)lays many ol'tlie bad charac- 

 teristics of the parents. Hence, (iirnuTs will not 

 larirely enter into the breedinix of saddle horse?:; 

 they consider it subordinate to every oilier busi- 

 ness of the farm, iiectmse they have no reliance 

 on the excellence of the racers' ofi'rjprinir, and they 

 pay litt e atieniion to a mailer which | loduccs a 

 precari(jus reltirn. Besides, ihey least undersiaiul 

 a branch of their protession which requires the 

 grea'cst science in its nianaijeinent. Need we, 

 therelbre, wonder that such hunters as Spanka- 

 way and Mr. Micklesluvaite's are not lo be ob- 

 tained for love or money at the present day! 



The author's eulogiums on the fiirure and cha- 

 racter of the old racers are (Idly supported by ihf 

 well-executed fiirures which he has <juen from the 

 portraitsof ihose celel)raled animal paintersol'their 

 day — Seymour, Siubbs and Marshall. They are 

 all apparently iTooil ilrawiiijfs from the oriijinals, 

 and l)eautifuily lithoo;i-aphed. Not to apfiear hy- 

 percritical, we should say the porirail of Protector 

 is out of drawing. When so much of the counter 

 and face are seen at a side view, it is impossible, 

 in perspective, ihiit the limd lens could be so near 

 thelower edtreof the plate as is represented. This, 

 of course, is not the error of old Stubbs, whose acute 

 eye coiild irace so minulely ihe lineaments of the 

 face of the horse. Futerestino; as is the considera- 

 tion of ihe past and present condition of the race- 

 horse, we have not space to devuie to the investi- 

 gation of the rationale of ihe subject as treated !>v 

 our author. We must content ourselves m ijivinu 

 an extract from the author's recajalulation of his 

 own arixuuiPiiis. 



'"The reader has seen ihat a change of f)rm in 

 our racers was quickly followed by a correspond- 

 ing chan<re in the nature of the running; that, 

 when the Ibrms of the animnls had ceased to be 

 compact, the distances were shorlened, and the 

 weights lightened. It has been shown by what 

 expedients the breeders for the turf have main- 

 tained a good quality of muscle in the modern 

 race-horse; the accompanying plates prove, how- 

 ever, that the older horses had more muscle on a 

 specific surfiice of bone than the modern ones; this 

 fact ifi tarther corroborated by the inability of the 

 modern racer to carry the old weights. It is obvi- 

 ous that the interest taken in the turf by those who 

 breed lor it, in no degree depends upon the nature 

 of the tasks perlbrmed, or on the merit of the hor- 

 ses as a race. The sole object of every individual, 

 breeding for the turtj is lo win races, be the nature 

 of them what it may; each of these breeders, there- 

 fore, looks to the present rather than the future. 

 There can be little doubt that the tasks performed 

 by the old race-horses were adjusted to their 

 strength, and that the change in the running was 

 the consequence of diminished power in the breed. 

 It has been said that the modern racers are equal 

 to running the old distances; but the intense dis- 

 tress they exhibit when occasionally made lo run 

 a single heat of four miles, with a light weight on 

 their backs, leaves no doubt that their stoutness is 

 diminished. Their inability to carry weight is yet 

 more sensible; it is not only shown by the change 



in the runriinir, but by the want of muscular power 

 in the greater portion of our saddle horses, which 

 have enough of racing blood lo secure good ac- 

 lion. While it is aiimiiled that the form of Ihe 

 saddle-horse should be compact and | owerilil, this 

 class has become so rare as to obtain in ihe mar- 

 ket an extravairant price. Ii is impossible to sup- 

 [;ose, whilst the racer exerc'ses its present infiuence 

 over the character of our saddle-horses, that these 

 can be powerful and compact, while the Ibinicr is 

 the reverse. 



"if ihe reader ao-ree with ns in concluding, that 

 it is the natural qualities of ihe racer, su< h as his 

 form iuid vigor, wliic h lane become delt'ctive,and 

 not any acquired [)roperty, like that of speed, he 

 has now to delermme wheiher the remedy we pro- 

 pose be ihe propter one. It resis on litis Ibunda- 

 lion — ihiit, asthe properties which have become 

 defective are natural ones, we must recur to the 

 source where those properties are found fii perfec- 

 tion. The intelligent reader must perceive that 

 the irrpat size, so much admired by the public, ii> 

 brocd mares has been ac(]uired. If these large 

 mares produce the animals we want, ihey suit our 

 purpose; if the}' fiiil lo do this, they must labor un- 

 der some delect which is noi altoiieiher of a mate- 

 rial character; some higher property has become 

 deflective, which can only be reptiired by recurring- 

 to more natural animals. These we can tiiways- 

 render larue, by means of richer food ;han nature 

 aff()rds; but naiural properties can only be reno- 

 vated by recurring to their source. * * * * 

 We find the symmeiry of the skeleton in the en:- 

 lar<red horse best adapted liir tiseliil purposes, when 

 it (liverires least from that wliiili is natural, fi-oin 

 that form which we call compact. Hor>es v/hic h 

 are able to traverse a irreat distance rapidly tind 

 l're(]cen ly. with a considerable weight on their 

 bucks, display this fiirin. 'J'his, like sioulnens, is 

 an efleci, and one which nature only can pro<l.uce. 

 Larire horses can only be reared on very uniwlu>- 

 ral liiod; ihey are less siout ihan small ones under, 

 exertion, take more time to recover from this, and 

 do not carry weight so well; in other words stout- 

 ness, and liie power of carrying much wei<iht fori 

 a long distance at a rapid rate, are not dependent 

 on the comparative weight or surfiice of ilie mus- 

 cles; but on a sufficiency of muscles, nmied with, 

 that distribution of the skeleton, which, while it 

 denotes vigor, is mechanically ad;ipted for fine 

 action, and lor carrying weight. The reader has 

 seen how dependent are our saddle horses upoa 

 our race-horses, and why no private individual 

 breeding for the 'turf lias recourse to fresh bloods 

 This, to be of permanent service, must be in great 

 amount; in oiher words, the number of the animals 

 must be great to admit of sufilcient choice, and to 

 avoid too close alliances of blood. No individual 

 can long maintain a breed of horses in any thing 

 like perft^ction, if, after taking some years to fbrnv 

 a new race, he is to be sufiicienlly reniunerated by 

 letting out or selling stallions at a high price; ihe 

 breed becomes ruined by its numbers being too 

 small. A fine race of horses may be formed, but 

 it cannot be long maintained, unless its number 

 be great, and fresh blood oHen had recourse lo. 

 # # » * » -pijg English racer, we cannot 

 doubt, acquired his enlarged structure by rich food, 

 and his unnatural speed under the operation of con- 

 tinued selection for that property. If our ancestors 

 were able to exercise this power over nature, and if 



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