58 THE HORSE. 



Formerly there was a prepossession among farmers 

 in favour of huge, bulky horses, but that has declined, 

 and given vs^ay, in a considerable measure, to more 

 rational notions. What the farmer really requires is 

 a horse of moderate size, but strong and active ; not 

 one large in make and slow in progi'ess. 



It cannot, however, be expected that horses used 

 at the plough, or in draught, will be found the most 

 agi'eeable saddle or pleasure horses ; but what does 

 a small farmer want with a dashing steed ? If his 

 horse will carry him to market or to church, and per- 

 form his week-day's work, he ought to be satisfied ; 

 but if not over-worked, or over-weighted, he will 

 go comfortably enough on other occasions. 



A farmer, not in an extensive way, should always 

 prefer a mare to a gelding. There is less cost in 

 the purchase, and more work to be obtained in the 

 end, with the former than the latter ; besides, there 

 is advantage to be derived fi'om her breeding ; and 

 she maybe rendered useful while breeding, if worked 

 moderately. 



The Arabs are perhaps the best judges of horses, 

 as well as the most considerate masters of them, in 

 the world. They set the highest estimation upon 

 mares, and are thoroughly convinced, that the value 

 of the foal depends not so much on the sire as on 

 the dam ; for which reason they refuse very large 

 prices for mares of high-blood. It may also be ob- 

 served, that they trace the pedigree of a horse not 

 through the sire, but through the dam. The follow- 

 ing quotation from Bishop Hall, who ^vrote in tht 

 Elizabethan era, may be here appositely introdmced 



" Dost thou prize 

 Thy brute beast's worth by their dam's qualities ? 

 Say'st thou this colt shall prove a swift-paced steed 

 Only because a jennet did him breed? 

 Or say'st thou this same horse shall win the prize, 

 Because his dam was swiftest Tranchefice ? 



