THE HORSE BREEDING. 543 



irritation, and not of obedience and yielding to the rule of man. 

 In the field or pasture they have fought their way with their 

 teeth or heels, and have taken to flight at the sight of man or 

 the sound of his voice. Now, if there be force in the law of 

 inheritance of natural and acquired traits, what can we expect 

 but perversity and nervousness in the offspring of such mares? 



Work the Breeders. The Arabs handled their colts from 

 the moment they came into the world. Their children played 

 with the colt and dam as with the pet dogs. The mares were 

 handled by the Arab with greatest kindness, and the mare, like 

 the stallion, was always brought under such complete control of 

 the master that they had no will but his. 



The French draft-mares and stallions are all worked. They 

 begin to earn their feed at two years old, and the stallions are 

 under such control, by daily handling and work, that they are 

 as quiet and kind to handle as our geldings. The stallion of 

 America, on the other hand, is kept in a close stall, highly 

 fed, seldom exercised, and that without regularity. The more 

 spirited the horse the more impatient he is for that exercise his 

 nature demands. He is nervous and often unmanageable, merely 

 from want of the exercise the animals of activity and power 

 must have to preserve their highest vigor, and an equilibrium 

 of their vital and nervous forces. Is it strange that animals in 

 their condition, and that of the untamed and untrained mares, 

 should beget nervous, restless, and even vicious offspring? 



Evils of Confinement. There is another evil attending 

 this confinement and effeminate handling of sires and dams, from 

 which we look to get hardy and vigorous colts. The colts are 

 lacking in vigor and stamina. They are too often feeble in in- 

 fancy, and need extra care to raise them. 



The remedy for each of these evils is found in a rational 

 and regular handling and daily working of sires out of the 

 breeding season, and of the mares at least eight months of the 

 year. Our methods of handling stallions are not in harmony 

 with physiological laws. The effeminate women of wealthy and 

 luxurious homes, who know nothing of the value of muscles 

 strengthened and appetite whetted by honest and regular toil 



