BREEDING. 429 



finer specimens of horse flesh thas either their parents or their progeni- 

 tors. These foals, being selected and kept apart until the sixth year, 

 might generate young which should sweep the land; and a stud of 

 " clippers " would, assuredly, prove a pretty private property. 



Such a plan includes much more care than is at present bestowed. 

 The author well remembers, some years back, going through the straw 

 yard of a "stud farm," in the depth of a severe winter. The place was 

 covered with mares and their newly-born progeny. Separated only by 

 a few open rails, was a flock of yearlings, whose staring coats and ragged 

 manes told emphatically of exposure and of neglect. This should not 

 be. The animals should, from their birth, be securely sheltered and 

 liberally nurtured. He who first accomplishes this, would most probably 

 convert that which at present is a hazardous speculation into a certain 

 gain. 



How far a youth passed in running improves the reputation of some 

 quadrupeds, is well known ; but how far it is a good preparation for the 

 offices of paternity, is exemplified by most blood mares and stallions be- 

 coming famous through their progeny only after years of repose have 

 mitigated the chronic evils of their early life. Prejudice, however, takes 

 no heed of such teaching ; but maintains the absolute necessity of proving 

 both, before sire or dam are allowed to perpetuate their kind. The con- 

 sequence of this system is shown in the deformed and the misshapen 

 dwarfs which are now ruining the once-prized native breed of English 

 horses. 



A huge error also distinguishes the plan adopted by most breeders 

 for the general market. The prevailing opinion discards the compact 

 and close-knit female, in favor of the long-backed and loose-bellied mare, 

 which is praised as a "roomy" animal. But all the supposed advantages 

 of this selection are more than counterbalanced by the food which is 

 consumed during the months of gestation. A grass diet promotes 

 dropsy, besides necessitating so much of the poor and watery nutriment 

 to be swallowed that, before the quantity requisite to sustain life can be 

 eaten, more than the difi'erence of space between the shortest and the 

 most expanded abdomen must be occupied. 



The stabled horse employs but a brief period of each day in feeding. 

 The same animal, when turned into the field, nearly occupies both day 

 and night collecting the food needed to satisfy the cravings of its appe- 

 tite. This difi'erence of habit is not explained away by stating that in 

 the stable only so much sustenance is placed before the quadruped; 

 whereas, when at grass, the produce grows on every side of the creature, 

 which it is always at liberty to consume. Many an animal will not 

 clear the manger ; therefore the quantity of food devoured in the field is 



