CHAPTER II 



FACILITIES FOR BREEDING IN AMERICA 



Where do our best horses come from ? 



' They are imported principally from England. From 

 English thoroughbreds we get our hunters, runners, trotters, 

 hackneys, post and cart horses, etc. Books have been 

 written upon the subject which tell about selecting good 

 horses for breeding purposes, but they have not yet learned 

 how to get a good horse from poor parents.' 



But is that possible ? 



' Certainly it is. They undertsand the result of certain 

 combinations, but with all the wonderful facilities in 

 America, men have yet to learn how to mate horses so as 

 to be sure of securing one that will trot a mile in two 

 minutes, all the way to one that will trot in 1.50. They 

 do not understand how to combine the breeds, so that the 

 inbred, so far, is only occasionally good. To mate ex- 

 tremes, such as the Arabian with the Shetland pony, is not 

 to produce good results. In mating, the mechanical pro- 

 portions of a horse, together with lungs of great volume 

 and capability, are of the highest importance to consider. 

 From endurance you get the greatest speed, but not always 

 the greatest endurance from the speediest horses. Racers 

 rarely run or trot after they are eight years old, and are 

 then only good for the stud. Physiological laws in mating 



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