LIVE STOCK. 389 



'* allowing it to pass into the world. Both of these points are 

 " important, the former evidently so, and the latter no less so on 

 " consideration, because if the foal is injured in the birth, either of 

 " necessity or from ignorance or carelessness, it will often fail to 

 " recover its powers, and will remain permanently injured. The 

 "pelvis, then, should be wide and deep, that is to say, it should be 

 " large and roomy ; and there should also be a little more than the 

 " average length from the hip to the shoulder, so as to give plenty 

 " of bed for the foal ; as well as a good depth of back-ribs, which 

 " are necessary in order to support this increased length. * * 

 " Beyond this roomy frame, necessary as the eggshell of the foal, 

 " the mare only requires such a shape and make as are well adapted 

 *■*■ for the particular purpose she is intended for. * * * 



"In health, the brood mare should be as near perfection as the 

 " artificial state of this animal will allow ; at all events, it is the 

 " most important point of all, and in every case the mare should 

 " be very carefully examined, with a view to discover what devia- 

 " tions from a natural state have been entailed upon her by her own 

 " labors, and what she has inherited from her ancestors. Indepen- 

 " dently of the consequences of accidents, all deviations from a 

 " state of health in the mare may be considered as more or less 

 "transmitted to her, because, in a thoroughly sound constitution, 

 " no ordinary treatment such as training consists of will produce 

 " disease, and it is only hereditary predisposition which, under this 

 " process, entails its appearance. Still there are positive, compara- 

 " tive, and superlative degrees of objectionable diseases incidental 

 " to the brood mare, which should be accepted or refused accord- 

 " ingly. All accidental defects, such as broken knees, dislocated 

 " hips, or even breaks down, may be passed over ; the latter, how- 

 " ever, only when the stock from which the mare is descended are 

 " famous for standing their work without this frailty of sinew and 

 "ligament. Spavins, ring-bones, large splints, side-bones, and, in 

 " fact, all bony enlargements, are constitutional defects, and will 

 " be almost sure to be perpetuated, more or less, according to the 

 " degree in which they exist in the particular case. Curby hocks 

 " are also hereditary, and should be avoided ; though many a one 



