134 IIOESES AND EIDIXG. 



sire to be a racehorse, and the dam either a harness 

 mare or hunting- mai-e, a cart-mare or a pony. 



Of these, harness and hunting mares are the most 

 commonly bred from. The hunting mare is a cross 

 originally between a racehorse and harness mare, 

 and therefore the greater part of hunters are prac- 

 tically descended, if not immediately, yet at some 

 little distance, from a racing horse and a coaching 

 mare. 'Now whatever people may say or think, the 

 shoulders of a racehorse are not of as much import- 

 ance, and are not in consequence as good, as the 

 other parts of them, particularly their loins, back, 

 and quarters, whence their propelling power, and con- 

 sequently their speed, is principally derived. 



If you were to look at any number of racehorses 

 at a meeting, yon would find that there were a great 

 number deficient in their shoulders for one that was 

 deficient in their hind- quarters. 



In coaching or harness mares, again, the position 

 of the shoulder is not of so much consequence as in 

 horses used for riding, and consequently less atten- 

 tion is paid to them, to the detriment of their shape 

 for riding purposes. The consequence of this is that 

 we try to obtain an animal suitable for a purpose 

 where good shoulders ai*e the principal desideratum, 

 by combining two different sorts of animals in which 

 the shoulder is a secondary consideration. 



In other words, we put a bad shouldered horse to 

 a bad shouldered mare, and then are surprised to 



