82 THE PERFECT HOKSE. 



no more than is universally admitted to be the condi- 

 tion of success in other branches of business, I do de- 

 mand this ; and I lay it down as a law, which executes 

 its own penalty when transgressed, that he who breeds 

 a horse while ignorant of the correct principles of breed- 

 ing will breed a failure. If he ever make a success, it 

 will be based on no broader and surer foundation than 

 mere luck. 



The second point, in the way of suggestion, that I 

 make, is this : Whoever wishes to raise a fine colt must 

 be willing to put himself to a certain amount of trouble 

 and expense. There is an old saying, " that the gods 

 never drop nuts already cracked into men's mouths;" 

 and it is the law which runs through the world, and puts 

 its equal pressure upon all, that the effort put forth 

 shall exactly gauge the degree of success. 



Now, the country is full of men who are ambitious to 

 raise a five-hundred-dollar colt, but who are at the same 

 time unwilling to be at any considerable trouble or ex- 

 pense to do it. They wish the five-hundred-dollar colt ; 

 but they wish to get it in such a way, that it shall not 

 cost them over fifty or seventy-five dollars: in other 

 words, they desire some three or four hundred per cent 

 return for the money invested. It is needless for me to 

 say that such an expectation is futile. In the very 

 nature of things, it can never be realized. The law of 

 cause and effect is against it. It is not difficult for an 

 intelligent breeder to raise a five-hundred-dollar colt ; it 

 is not extravagant for such a person to expect to raise a 



