432 BREEDING. 



From sires groaning under accumulation of fat, and of course equally 

 pining under deterioration of the muscles, enervated by sloth, excited 

 by stimulants, weakened by age, or with constitutions broken by pre- 

 mature exertions, are the claims of British thorough-breds at present 

 maintained. 



What are the results of such a system ? Distances have to be short- 

 ened. Many start; but few return, contesting the race. Ages have to 

 be altered ; while boys have to assume the cap and the whip. Useless 

 weights are sought to suit the failing strength ; but more animals break 

 down in the training than come to the post. 



Yet racing is maintained, not for the amusement of a few, but to im- 

 prove the national breed of horses ! How far does it answer its purpose ? 

 Let the public markets testify. A stout hack is a rarity. Such an 

 animal was once all but universal. A brougham horse — one looking 

 fit to pull a house — was formerly to be found in every yard. Now Lon- 

 don shall be searched through before the shadow of the original can be 

 encountered ; when discovered, the price demanded will be far too heavy 

 for the generality of purchasers. The horse flesh of England is becom- 

 ing weedy under a forced system. Poor "bloods" are everywhere 

 present. In the sphere to which this breed should be confined, a few 

 foals are retained ; but the majority are discarded. Many are born that 

 do not return the first expense which called them into existence. Those 

 rejected are to be seen drawing cabs, carrying riders, pulling carts, and 

 performing every office, which is at once a proof of their utter want 

 of value and the hollowness of the pretense which perpetuates such 

 degradation. 



The glut of worthless "bloods" serves to check the raising of the other 

 and the better kind of animals. The refuse of the stud farm being dis- 

 posed of to the highest bidder, so far keeps down the price of common 

 horses that what are termed serviceable quadrupeds have become scarce 

 throughout the land which once produced them in abundance. Thus 

 blood stock is contaminating the native breed of the country. Even 

 with particular breeds — or with the Cleveland bays — the horses. which 

 dragged the cumbrous vehicles of our ancestors are lost to the present 

 generation. Carriages are built lighter ; but the animals, being nearly 

 pure blood, lack strength and want substance. They are now a leggy, 

 a washy, a soft species of creature, which gentlemen find it cheaper to 

 hire than to buy; while only by keeping a herd large enough to allow 

 some to be nursed and others to rest, does any person find it profitable 

 to retain these quadrupeds, even though the money paid for three years' 

 loan should double the usual price given for an average pair of such poor 

 and abject deformities. 



