76 THE PEEFECT HOESE. 



form and spirit, that its expression shall be marked with 

 certain specific characteristics. 



The breeder must be, in the most thorough and ele- 

 vated sense of the word, a student. His capital is his 

 power to observe and infer. From what is seen, he 

 reasons to what is unseen ; from that which is, to that 

 which shall be. His study is the study of nervous 

 forces, — their origin, and law of descent ; of muscular 

 power, — its source, how accumulated, and how sustained. 

 Nor is this all. He is a student of an organization of so 

 high and fine a quality, that its condition, and states of 

 temperament, are as variable as the wind. The horse is 

 an animal of exquisite construction. In him we behold 

 one of the finest results of creative skill. In nervous 

 structure he is exceedingly sensitive. Sensitive and 

 sympathetic, he suffers from those changes in condition 

 and treatment to which other animals are indifferent. 

 Even so slight causes as changes in his food and bed- 

 ding, interruption and difference in grooming, ay, even 

 the subtle changes of the atmosphere, affect him. Nor 

 is it alone the horse before him that he must study. To 

 know a man, you must know something of his ancestry. 

 Man is not a simple, he is a complex, being. He is the 

 result of many antedating causes. He is the embodi- 

 ment of both harmonious and antagonistic forces. Five 

 generations are represented in him. He is the child of 

 ten parents; and each parent positively or negatively 

 exists in him. So it is with the horse. He is the result 

 of antedating causes. Sire, grandsire, and a long line 



