FOR PEACE AND WAR ol 



CHAPTER [V. 



The majority of horses bred in the British kingdoms and 

 colonies for the ordinary purposes of domestic and fashion- 

 able life, the chase, and war, are not thoroughbred, but 

 possess a very large and predominant share of stud-book 

 blood ; and, almost generally, are derived from stallions the 

 ofF-spring of the racing arena. It behoves us not here to 

 enter into the question so much agitated as to what particu- 

 lar strain of blood the English racehorse derives his highest 

 attributes from. Arab, Barb, Turk, Spanish, Flemish, Ger- 

 man, and Norman horses have more or less contributed to 

 produce this horse as he was, and as he is, under the dif- 

 ferent influences consequent upon his management and 

 employment. The powers of English racehorses, tested in 

 every countiy and under every clime, have been proved pre- 

 eminent. It is unnecessary to quote the recorded instances 

 which are so familiar to all readers of literature of this 

 description. It is enough for us to know that by the term 

 blood, an eminent writer defines it in horses to mean " the 

 qualities produced in a horse by a superiority of muscular 

 substance, lightness, and compactness of form, united with 

 a justly proportioned shape ; or a physical structure of 

 tendon, bone, and lungs, proper to afford the full effects of 

 the mechanical means of speed, when set in motion by high 

 innervation. When these conditions of the problem are 

 fully carried out, by a judicious and persevering course of 



