BREEDING STUDS 



to suit the mare. A haphazard alliance may very possibly 

 result in a good foal being thrown, but the true breeder will 

 look further ahead than the first generation, and will therefore 

 endeavour to assure the new blood which he is introducing 

 into his strain being productive of permanent and beneficial 

 results. 



Prima Facie, it must be admitted that the idea of deciding 

 upon a stallion which by his shape and make is likely to 

 eradicate any faults in the mare is a sound one ; indeed, it 

 would be infallible were it not for the possibility of the 

 horse inheriting imperfections from his sire or dam, or 

 some remoter ancestors which are liable to appear in his 

 stock. The cautious breeder will therefore make it his 

 business to ascertain all that he can concerning the family 

 to which a stallion he thinks of using belongs ; and he can 

 derive a great deal of valuable information in the way of 

 learning how experiments made by others who may have 

 attempted similar crosses have turned out. Were it not for 

 the tendency of all animals to throw back to some more 

 or less remote ancestor on either side, horse-breeding would 

 cease to be the lottery it is, as two animals would go on 

 throwing exactly the same class of stock, which, under existing 

 circumstances, they never do. This fact is, doubtless, in a 

 measure responsible for the pleasure experienced in breeding 

 a good horse, and for the value of the animal when he does 

 appear, as if there were more good horses in existence their 

 value would naturally become less. (See Atavism, Breeding 

 Studs, Brood Mare, Foals, Foaling, Stallion, Telegony.) 



Breeding" Studs. — In selecting a site for his breeding 

 stud the horse owner will be acting in his own interests if he 

 determines to adapt his policy to the requirements of the 

 horse he means to raise. This is because it is a fact beyond 

 dispute that certain points are largely influenced by soil and 

 climate, and hence it is quite possible for the success of a 

 breeder to be jeopardised if his stud farm is situated in a 

 locality which, though it might be perfectly suitable for one 



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