No. 4.] THE HORSE. 115 



THE HORSE. 



BY HON. JOHN E. RUSSELL OF LEICESTER. 



When invited to lecture before the Board on " The Horse," 

 I supposed that I would speak in the daytime and was 

 prepared to discuss the questions relating to breeding and 

 the care of young stock ; but this great audience of ladies 

 and gentlemen, gathered for an evening entertainment, leads 

 me to change my design, and, if you please, I will speak on 

 questions of interest to all who keep, use, or love horses. 



My first lecture before the Board of Agriculture was at 

 Waltham in 1877 on "The Breeding, Training and Man- 

 agement of Horses," and the discussion following it was per- 

 haps more widely reported than any of the proceedings of 

 our meetings. But neither then nor in my subsequent service 

 on the Board did I ever advise the farmers to l^reed horses. 



All farmers use horses ; oxen are out of date, being un- 

 fitted for the implements with which w'e now carry on the 

 work of the farm, and a considerable part of a farmer's cap- 

 ital must be invested in horses. It is important to keep 

 them in health, to get effective service and to make them 

 last to useful old age. It is an old English proverb that 

 " Half a horse goes down his throat ;" and there is another 

 good proverb, " The breed is in the mouth." These sayings 

 have a deep meaning. The first is a declaration that the 

 animal, from the beginning of life, must be well fed; and 

 the second tells us that breed and long pedigree are of no 

 avail if the animal is not a good feeder. 



The availability, endurance, condition and value, even of 

 the soundest and naturally l)est of horses, depends upon the 

 care he receives from his keeper. His failure, diseases and 

 early decline may be directly traced to careless or ignorant 

 management. 



