BREEDIXG. 183 



bred sires, whatever the dam is, and out of the great 

 number of different strains of blood which the Stud 

 Book now contains, we may consider that all thorough- 

 bred horses are good enough as far as hlood goes to 

 get hunters, that is, that of thoroughbred horses 

 one strain of blood is as good as another for hunters 

 as far as breeding only goes. But when we come to 

 shape, the case is quite different. 



Of a great number of thoroughbred horses very 

 few comparatively possess the shape and outline 

 desirable in a good hunter, and as that outline will 

 be sure to be more or less transmitted to the off- 

 spring, it follows that the number of racehorses of a 

 suitable shape for breeding hunters are few. 



Or to sum up, any thoroughbred horse's pedigree 

 is good enough, but few thoroughbred horses' shcqje 

 is right. This is the reverse of the case in breeding 

 racehorses. Here experience seems to show that 

 while horses run successfully in all shapes, on the 

 other hand some strains of thoroughbred blood show 

 a marked superiority over others, in the number of 

 good runners produced, while some are totally un- 

 successful. 



In looking^ throug-h the strains of blood there is 

 perhaps no horse whose stock are more numerous or 

 have been more successful on the turf than Touch- 

 stone. He was a good racehorse himself, and of 

 good colour (dark brown) and a good constitution, 

 and he lived to a great age, and his progeny have 



