430 BRITISH AND IRISH HORSES. 



Colonel, Emblem and Emblematic ; and others which 

 revert to " vulgar " ancestors, such as the mare shown in 

 Fig. 305. As speed is the chief point taken into con- 

 sideration by breeders for the Turf, the vast majority 

 of thorough-breds show great deficiency of ability to 

 carry weight and to " stay." It is generally estimated 

 that out of every 2,000 horses bred for the Turf, only 

 about three attain pre-eminence for speed, strength, 

 staying power, and pluck. The faulty manner in which 

 many thorough-breds are raised purely for sale purposes, 

 also lowers the quality of this class. Mr. John Porter 

 makes the following remarks on this subject, and on the 

 baneful practice of putting yearlings into work and 

 " trying " them before they are two years old : 



" How is it that, proportionately, private breeders 

 produce more winners than are turned out by public 

 breeders ? The answer is that the former allow their 

 yearlings to gallop about the paddock until they pass 

 into the trainer's hands, while the latter are, by force of 

 circumstances, obliged to pamper and feed up their 

 yearlings to show well in the sale ring. It is only natural 

 for the breeder for sale to take excessive care of his yearlings, 

 which for a month or prior to their being sold, are led 

 about at a walking pace an hour or two every day, and are 

 seldom if ever permitted to go loose in a good gallop ; 

 consequently, they pass from the ring to the trainer full 

 of soft, unhealthy fat, instead of being covered with hard 

 muscle. Again, there are owners, and trainers as well, 

 who are anxious to discover whether they have secured 

 a gem ; or they want to know something about the 

 yearhng before the first Tuesday in January, when entries 

 have to be made or minor forfeits declared for stakes 

 already closed. Therefore, yearlings in the condition 

 described — with their long coats, and, in short, with every- 

 thing against them — are put into active work over heavy 

 ground. I believe that hundreds of horses are permanently 

 ruined by such pernicious premature training. As to the 



