THE HORSE BREEDING. 569 



leave his mares unproductive. To procure the service of a good 

 sire they do not hesitate to travel any distance. " An Arab will 

 lend his stud-horse gratuitously; he never accepts payment for 

 his services. It is considered an unworthy action, but it is an 

 act of generosity he will not readily bestow on any one, nor for 

 any mare." 



W. C. Spooner, a high English authority on such matters, 

 says : " The influence of the male and female is not capricious, 

 but yet not always alike; in the majority of instances the male 

 gives the size and external shape of the offspring, particularly 

 the back and hind-quarters, while the female influences the con- 

 stitutional, the nervous system, and often the head and fore- 

 quarters. * * * It is such a fusion of two bodies into one 

 that both defects and high qualifications are passed from parent 

 to offspring with a sort of irregularity resembling the waves of 

 the sea, each parent having the remarkable power of propa- 

 gating ancestral peculiarities, though latent in itself." 



Another English writer says : " Instances have come under 

 the notice of the writer where a tribe of horses have bred in one 

 family for many generations, the males of which inherited the 

 bad habit of kicking in the yoke; and although crossed with 

 very docile sires, the same propensity and nervous temperament 

 was transmitted from one generation to another. Others, again, 

 preserve the unwelcome and annoying habit of being shy pullers; 

 and others, again, when mares are hot tempered, tearing 

 workers, but deficient in stamina or staying power. Owners 

 sometimes breed from a mare that is hot tempered, or a kicker, 

 to sober her down a bit. They invariably succeed in perpetu- 

 ating a breed which should be allowed to become extinct." 



Importance of a Quiet, Sound Mare. --The same 

 writer says : " The importance, therefore, of selecting a quiet dis- 

 positioned mare of sound constitution, for breeding purposes, is 

 apparent. By sober-tempered is not meant a sluggish animal ; 

 activity being very essential in a brood-mare, especially in her 

 walk, as this is the most important pace for farm-work. It is 

 also necessary that a farm-horse should be able to acquit itself 

 well in a trot, and the words of an enthusiastic Scotchman, 



