CHAPTER II 

 PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING 



^ I ^HE time has gone by when an inferior kind of horse 

 ^ could be raised with some prospect of selling him 

 at a profit. Buyers of horses, whether for pleasure or 

 for business, now have a high standard and demand a 

 certain amount of quality and good looks. It is a 

 mistake, therefore, to breed from any two animals 

 unless they are both of a useful and attractive type. 



It Is a mistake also to mate animals of different 

 breeds. Do not breed a draft horse to a trotting mare, 

 or vice versa, and do not breed a thoroughbred to a 

 farm or trottlng-bred mare, or vice versa. Such a 

 violent cross sometimes indeed results in an animal that 

 combines many of the good qualities of both sides, but 

 far more often It produces a slab-sided, leggy, and 

 otherwise highly objectionable animal. 



On the other hand it Is, of course, advisable to mate 

 a stallion and mare that supplement each other; that is. 

 If either one has any particular defect, be sure that Its 

 mate is not only free from that defect, but particularly 

 strong In that point. 



Cross breeding is sometimes necessary In order to 

 get a particular type of horse, such as a hunter, or an 

 express-wagon horse; but In such cases the two cross 

 breeds should. If possible, have some part of their 

 ancestry In common. For example, both the Percheron 



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