84 THE PERFECT HORSE. 



object, then, is to help you think, to stimulate you to 

 thoughtfulness, to make you a student of the question 

 yourself, rather than impose upon you certain deduc- 

 tions I may have made, and insist upon your accepting 

 them as the ultimate truth. Indeed, there is much of 

 mystery hanging around this matter of procreation. 

 What is this power which shapes things yet to be? 

 What is it that dictates structure, temperament, destiny, 

 causing the initial germ to be prophetic of the per- 

 fected result ? It is difficult to answer. I know of no 

 one who has answered these questions ; , nor do I expect 

 to solve the problem : I only make my contribution to- 

 ward the fuller discussion of the subject. I simply 

 propose to lay before the reader the conclusions which 

 my mind, in examination of the subject, has already 

 reached, with the reasons therefor. 



In addition to knowledge, certain means and facilities 

 are needed in order to make breeding a success. Some 

 money, and more care, must be spent in the enterprise. 

 The stall in which the brood-mare is kept should be dry 

 and roomy. A damp stall, where the mare stands and 

 sleeps on a manure-heap pervaded with the odor of 

 ammonia and decaying substances, is totally unfit, as any 

 sensible man can see, for an animal so sensitively organ- 

 ized, and in such a delicate condition. The brood-mare 

 should have a good-sized stall in which to stand during 

 her pregnancy, and be well and warmly bedded, and in 

 every way well treated. Not only humane impulse, but 

 pure selfishness, prompts the owner to this. In a narrow 



