LIVE STOCK. 395 



thoroughbred, and that he had been used for racing. He was 

 a rather leggy animal, very tall, but as thin as a shingle, and by no 

 means such a horse as most farmers would have selected to carry 

 a man through a long day's ride. Yet, on the occasion of the 

 battle of Tishamingo Creek, I rode him from four o'clock on 

 Monday ' morning until half-past ten on Wednesday morn- 

 ing, and during the whole time, was certainly not more than 

 two hours out of the saddle ; and much of the time I was riding 

 furiously, and necessarily without the slightest regard to what 

 became of my horse. The command comprised about 4,000 

 cavalry, and I am satisfied, from an examination of the troops as 

 they returned, that there were not five horses in the whole army 

 that had suffered so little from their work as mine had. He had 

 the same springy gait, as he came neighing into his stable, that he 

 had when he first started out from Monday's camp. 



These instances, and many others that have come under my 

 own observation, fully confirm me in the opinion that what is 

 lost in size and apparent strength is more than made up by the 

 endurance and activity which have given rise to the proverb — 

 "blood will tell." 



In his directions for the choice of a stallion for breeding, Frank 

 Forrester says : — * 



" Now, as to what constitutes value or excellence in all horses. 

 " It is indisputably quickness of working ; power to move or carry 

 "weight, and ability to endure for a length of time 5 to travel for a 

 " distance with the least decrease of pace ; to come again to work 

 " day after day, week after week, and year after year, with undi- 

 " minished vigor. And it is scarcely needful to say, that, under all 

 " ordinary circumstances, these conditions are only compatible with 

 *'the highest form and highest physical health of the animal. 

 " Malformation must necessarily detract from speed and power ; 

 "hereditary disease or constitutional derangement must necessarily 

 " detract from all powers whatsoever. Under usual circumstances, 

 " it would hardly be necessary to undertake to show that quickness 

 ^' of working, or, in other words, speed, is necessary to a high de- 



* Herbert's Hints to Horsekeepers. O. Judd & Co., N. Y. 



