HUNTER BROOD MARES 



and substance ; {b) soundness in a relative sense ; 

 {c) freedom from vice. In making an analysis 

 of the foregoing qualifications, the reader will 

 have to exercise, during selection of the mares, 

 a good deal of practical knowledge, in fact, this 

 is absolutely necessary. Mares that are light in 

 bone are very often weedy in other respects, and 

 to breed weight-carrying hunters from such is 

 an impossibility, more especially when thorough- 

 bred sires are employed. To judge as to the 

 amount of bone possessed, a practical horseman 

 can tell at a glance, and he does so by referring 

 to the cannon, also to the forearms and to the 

 pasterns, but, as previously stated, his main guide 

 is the cannon, and this is the situation to ascertain 

 the amount of bone below the knee, transverse 

 measurement being, of course, the one adopted. 

 It is not necessary that a brood mare should 

 have what are popularly termed the so-called 

 "clean" legs, as age may to a large extent have 

 obliterated this quality. The terms "muscle" 

 and "substance" are used by horsemen to 

 indicate a well-developed muscular system, 

 compactness of form, combined with a maxu 

 mum of vigour in all parts. Some hunters 



15 



