44 HORSE SENSE. 



SHOULD BE BRED STRONGLY IN THE TYPE HE REPRE- 

 SENTS ON BOTH SIDES. 

 The sire should be so strongly bred in a definite line of performance 

 that he will be able to control the general external characteristics and 

 the dam sufficiently well bred to give the nerve-force, endurance, vigor 

 and constitution. In other words, we must adhere to a line of uni- 

 formity in both sire and dam for the purpose of improvement in the 

 breeding relation. 



CROSS WITH THE JACK AND THE MARE. 



As an illustration in out-crossing to show the natural law of the sire 

 controlling the external characteristics and the dam the internal, we 

 would call the reader's attention to that of the jack and the mare, and in 

 this cross we would ask, who ever saw a mule that closely resembled its 

 dam? Now, use the thoroughbred stallion with the jenny, and we have 

 a perfect little horse in external characteristics in every particular, as 

 much so as that of the jack and the mule, and the produce in either case 

 are not generally breeders, but hybrids. In the case of the thoroughbred 

 mare and the jack, we have the nerve force of the thoroughbred in the 

 mule, which makes Kentucky and Missouri the famous mule producing 

 districts. 

 CROSS WITH THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE AND JENNY. 



In the case of the thoroughbred sire and the jenny, we get a very 

 small animal and, like its dam, scarcely has ambition enough to go in 

 out of the storm, and consequently, comparatively worthless. This same 

 law applies to the crossing of all animals and whenever the sire is the 

 result of a cross of any kind, he is almost certain to be a failure. He 

 must be bred in a definite line for generation after generation, to be able 

 to correct the external defects of the mares he is bred to. Please remem- 

 ber that the selection of the sire is of the most vital importance, when 

 it is considered in its true light and must not be treated, as is too often 

 the case, in the line of an experiment. We cannot afiford to be con- 

 tinually and always in the experimental stage with our horse breeding. 

 We must establish principles and rules of practice that will serve as a 

 guiding star, to the unborn horse breeders of the country. 



