4 THE HORSE 



and the trottlng-bred horse trace back, In part, to the 

 Arabian, and a cross between a trotting stallion of 

 good bone, and a Percheron mare, of the smaller sort, 

 often results well — the offspring Inheriting the action 

 of the sire and the substance of the dam. The opposite 

 cross, that of a Percheron stallion and a trottlng-bred 

 mare would not be so good; for It is a rule In breeding, 

 subject, It Is true, to many exceptions, that a foal derives 

 his action mainly from his sire. It Is the Inward 

 qualities, the nervous energy, etc., that are supposed 

 to come mainly from the dam. 



There is another principle in breeding similar to the 

 one just stated, namely, that If the mare has a certain 

 strain of particularly v^aluable blood, It Is well to mate 

 her with a stallion who has the same strain. In this 

 way, you give the foal a double quantity of the desir- 

 able strain. In some families the horses and In other 

 families the mares seem to be superior; and certain 

 sires are known as "brood-mare sires," because their 

 daughters have proved very successful In breeding — 

 more so than their sons. Among trotters, for example, 

 Mambrino Patchen, Daniel Lambert, Nutwood, and 

 Arion are recognized as brood-mare sires, and mares 

 descended from them are valued accordingly. A brood- 

 mare sire, it may be added, is always a horse of great 

 nervous energy. 



THE STALLION 



In choosing a stallion, two things are to be con- 

 sidered, first, his pedigree and, second, his Individuality. 

 Practically all breeders now agree that the first is of 



