THE SIRE. 125 



The question — and it is one of the utmost impor- 

 tance — arises, therefore, "Where shall we get blood, 

 if we cannot go to the thorough-bred running-family ? 

 How can we breed colts of sufficient beauty, courage, 

 and endurance to meet the demands of the purchasing 

 public and the turf, if we cannot go to the thorough- 

 bred for our crosses ? for it is admitted on all sides that 

 hlood telW 



In response to this interrogation I reply. That we 

 must go to tliorougli-hreds to find what we need ; but we 

 must go to the thorough-bred trotting^ and not to the 

 thorough-bred running horse. 



And now I would ask the reader's closest attention 

 to what I am to say ; because I deem it of prime impor- 

 tance to the breeder, and likely to be attacked by 

 many. 



The word "thorough-bred" has an artificial and a 

 natural, a technical and a practical, significance. Techni- 

 cally considered, the thorough-bred horse is one whose 

 pedigree can be traced back through imported stock to 

 the English stud-books, and through these to the East, 

 whence the modern English thorough-bred horse ances- 

 trally came. This is what I call the artificial or technical 

 significance of the word " thorough-bred." It does not 

 prove that a horse is a good animal ; for many, both in 

 this country and in England, whose pedigree can be 

 traced back to an Arabian source, are comparatively of 

 little value. In England you can find hundreds of 

 " weedy " colts, with neither lungs nor legs able to 



