174 THE HORSE 



lines of Waxy, I should have expected the produce to follow the Trumpator 

 strain through Melbourne, but, as I have already observed, beyond ' the 

 third remove this influence is very much weakened. We may therefore 

 come to the conclusion that it is not always superior strength of constitu- 

 tion, nor the greater purity or antiquity of the blood, which determines the 

 influence to be expected by either parent, but that sometimes the one and 

 sometimes the other is the cause. And as the former cannot well be deter- 

 mined, the latter is the foundation for the plans of the breeder, who will on 

 the whole do well to follow the maxims first laid down by that celebrated 

 breeder of horses and cattle, the second Earl Spencer, whose opinions were 

 in conformity with the 13 th axiom for breeders which I have inserted at 

 page 163. 



CHOICE OF SIRE AND DAM 



The necessity for health in each parent has already been insisted on, 

 but beyond this point, which is generally admitted, there are several others 

 to be attended to. Thus, since the preponderance of either over the form 

 and temper of the progeny will, in all probability, fall to that one which has 

 the superior purity of blood, it follows that if the breeder wishes to alter in 

 any important particular the qualities possessed by his mare, he must 

 select a horse which is either better bred or some of whose lines will 

 coalesce with those of the dam's which it is desired to perpetuate. Thus, 

 supposing a mare to be made up of four lines, two of which are decidedly 

 bad, and one Avhich is so good as to attract the notice of her owner, then 

 let him look around and select some horse in whose pedigi'ee is to be found 

 a similar strain, taking care that the relationship is not so close as to lead 

 to disappointment on the score of the bad effects attributable to in-breeding. 

 But there are many brood mares not in the Stud-book, whose pedigrees are 

 not ascertainable, and in their case this rule will not apply. Here a 

 different plan must be pursued, and a horse must be chosen whose shape, 

 action, or temper coincide with the particular quality which it is desired to 

 perpetuate. I am strongly inclined to believe that it is comparatively of 

 little use to look about for sires who possess those qualities in which the 

 dam is deficient. Such a course of proceeding has so constantly ended in dis- 

 appointment, within my own knowledge, that I believe I am justified in 

 condemning it. A stallion (whether horse or greyhound, the same is 

 observable) is known to have been very fast, or very stout, as the case may 

 be, and having obtained the one character or the other, breeders have 

 supposed that they have only to send mares deficient in either quality, and 

 they would ensure its development in the produce. If the mare or bitch 

 happens to possess among her ancestry stout or fast lines of blood, the 

 produce will display the one or the other, if she is put to a horse possessing 

 them ; but, on the contrary, if the lines of the dam are all fast, or all stout, 

 no first cross with a sire possessing the opposite qualities will be likely to 

 have any effect, though no doubt tliere are some few exceptions to this, as 

 to all other rules. The instances in support of this position are so numerous 

 within my own knowledge, that I should scarcely be able to make a begin- 

 ning, and every one who draws upon his own experience, or who will examine 



