BREEDING. — HOW TO SUCCEED. 81 



upon which you arc to enter. To your own observa- 

 tion add the observation of other men. Re-enforce 

 your own knowledge with the wisdom of those who 

 have grown gray in the business. Above all, become a 

 student of the horse. Obtain such books as you need to 

 inform your mind of the history, habits, and peculiarities 

 of the animal you admire. Make yourself familiar with 

 the history of the noted horses of your own country, 

 and also of other lands. Make yourself acquainted also 

 with their shape, size, peculiarity of going, character of 

 their temperament, and the ancestry from which they 

 sprang. Study pedigrees, that you may know by the 

 union of what bloods, and the intermarriage of what 

 families, great results have been obtained. Study the 

 horse, not only with the eye^ but with the liajul and fin- 

 ger. Make yourself familiar with every joint and bone 

 and tendon. Know the horse in his skeleton, until you 

 know the place of every bone, muscle, and member of 

 his frame. No one ever knows a horse by merely look- 

 ing at him : he must look through him as well. Learn 

 to distinguish the weak points and good points of a 

 horse at sight as an artist distinguishes a mere daub 

 from a finished picture at a glance. If you intend to 

 make breeding a business, it is a good plan to engage 

 yourself to some practical breeder, and remain with him 

 until you have mastered the minutice of the business, and 

 become familiar with the hundred and one points of 

 interest that can be learned only by actual service on a 

 brood-farm. The reader will see, that, while I demand 



