Breeding Hunters 45 



great improvements have been made in domestic animals. 

 Blackwell, Boothe, Bales, the noted short-horn breeders, on 

 this principle developed the great short-horn families of 

 cattle. The dairy breeds of cattle have been evolved by a 

 similar schooling of the unborn calves for the greater pro- 

 duction of milk and butter, until they have become as 

 proficient in their way as have the great beef-producing 

 families in the attainment of early maturity and easy fatten- 

 ing qualities. 



The standard bred trotter is an offshoot of the thorough- 

 bred. The trotting gait has developed in the offspring a 

 conformation quite different from that of the thoroughbred, 

 one that is better adapted to the purpose. Training may 

 have developed the latent force the animal possessed, but as 

 a spring cannot rise above its source, neither can an animal, 

 after its birth, rise above its inherent character. The 

 treatment of the sire before conception, and especially the 

 treatment of the dam afterward, may elevate it. 



Anything you can do toward the education of the colt 

 through his dam, the better. The dam should be turned 

 out as soon as possible after conception, and treated and fed 

 in a way to relax her muscles ; yet nothing better can hap- 

 pen to the unborn colt than to have its dam occasionally 

 used in schooling green hunters, say once a week or so. 

 The best and most natural hunters that I ever raised came 

 from mares that had this identical training. The best 

 driving-horse I ever bred came from a mare that was occa- 

 sionally driven while carrying her foal. While carrying 

 her next colt by the same horse, the mare was never in 

 harness, and the difference in the two colts as they grew 



