CHOICE OF SIRE AND DAM 175 



the Stud-book and the Coursing Calendar, will find examples without 

 end throughout every volume of each. It would be invidious to select any 

 stallion now in this country, but among those which have been well tried 

 here in the stud, and are here no longer, may be mentioned the Flying 

 Dutchman. This horse was well known to have been himself not only fast, 

 but stout, and, as a consequence, even those breeders who are aware of the 

 necessity for regarding both o these qualities were induced to breed from 

 him, expecting that the result would be to give them similar stock in the 

 next generation. The contrary, however, was the case. In many cases 

 speed was developed, but in almost every instance, without an exception, 

 that speed was not allied with staying power. The unlooked-for result has 

 been attributed to his sire, Bay Middleton, whose stock have been notori- 

 ously flashy ; but if the pedigree of Barbelle, his dam, is carefully examined, 

 a still stronger reason may be assigned. If her lines are traced back firo 

 generations, it will be seen that out of her thirty-two progenitors in that 

 remove fourteen are descended from Herod or his sire, Tartar, and these in 

 addition to the already overflowing quantum of the same blood in Bay 

 Middleton himself. Now I am a great admirer of the blood of Herod, and 

 I believe him to be one of the chief foundations of the high form of our 

 modern horses ; but its peculiar characteristic is speed, not stoutness, and it 

 requires a combination with the stouter blood of Eclipse, or some other horse 

 of that strain, to make the possessor capable of staying a distance. With 

 these fast lines the produce of Barbelle has always been fast, but it can scarcely 

 occasion surprise that her stoutest son, Van Tromp, should be by Lanercost, 

 nor that Orlando, with his double lines of Selim and Castrel blood, should 

 get a mere half-miler like Zuyder Zee. The Flying Dutchman was, no 

 doubt, a grand performer himself, but this may be regarded as a somewhat 

 exceptional case, and this opinion is supported by the failure of his own 

 brother (Vanderdecken) on the turf, although cast in a mould which would 

 lead one to expec': a still greater success. 



IN PAYING ATTENTION TO THE PERFORMANCES of the ancestry of both sire 

 and dam, regard must also be had to their size, as this element is considered 

 of much importance. Neither a large nor a small sire or dam will per- 

 petuate the likeness of himself or herself unless descended from a breed 

 which is either the one or the other. It only leads to disappointment to 

 breed from a tall stallion or mare if either is only accidentally so, and not 

 belonging to a breed generally possessing the same characteristics. Many 

 a small mare or bitch has surprised her owner by producing him animals 

 much larger than herself, but on tracing her pedigree it will almost always 

 be found to contain the names of animals of above the average size. 

 Moderately small mares are generally of a stronger constitution than very 

 large ones, and on that account they will often answer the purposes of the 

 stud better than larger animals, provided they are of the sort usually cast in 

 the mould which is desired. This should never be lost sight of by the 

 breeder, and where, as in breeding thoroughbreds, the pedigree can be 

 traced far enough for this purpose, there is no excuse for neglecting the 

 circumstance. 



THE ABOVE PRECAUTIONS are sufficient in all those cases where the pedigree 

 is attainable, but there are many brood mares, as I before remarked, in 

 which nothing is known of their antecedents. Here, the breeder can only 



