26 THE BREEDING PROBLEM. 



On the other hand, a stallion may be a trotter of the first quality; 

 he may come of the royal lines of blood all commingling; his pedi- 

 gree may be as rich as that of the race-horse that stands at the head 

 of the list for four-miles record; but when, after due trial, he and his 

 family, bred in similar manner, have been found universally to fail in 

 reproducing the great qualities for which he is himself distinguished, 

 he practically ceases to have any value as a stallion, and as a gelding 

 he would earn or sell for more money. 



Furthermore, experience and observation teach us that in breeding 

 a horse for a great performer on the track or road, we can breed liim 

 in some respects unlike Avhat Ave should if we desired a reproducer of 

 the qualities which constitute a great trotter. The quality and breed- 

 ing of the sire and; the dam enter largely into either case. The sire 

 . sliould have the trotting qualities desired in high degree, and they 

 should be derived from both inheritance and instruction. The dam, if 

 possessed of endurance and pluck, and enough of what we call blood, 

 may be lacking in the inherited trotting quality, yet be capable of 

 producing a trotter of the highest excellence. The dam of Lady 

 Thorn was by Gano, a thoroughbred and a race-horse, and her 3d dam 

 was by a son of a thoroughbred and race-horse, yet there are some 

 horsemen who believe there has been none greater than Lady Thorn. 

 The ready trotting action and habit, in her case, Avas derived from the 

 sire. That her brother, Mambrino Patchen, possesses in large degree 

 the power of transmitting the trotting quality, proves nothing, as 

 Mambrino Chief gave that faculty to his sons more successfully and 

 more universally than any other of his day. That was his forte. In 

 fact, the trotter may be a great performer but lacking in the necessary 

 blood qualities of a sire. Jim Irving was one of the fastest trotters 

 we have yet seen, but he certainly possessed no trotting blood that 

 would have given any promise of success as a sire. He was by Young 

 Melbourne, son of Imported Knight of St. Geoi'ge. 



Trustee, the horse who trotted a twenty-mile race, acquired a fame 

 for himself and a reputation for his sire, Imported Trustee, for trotting 

 blood that had no just foundation. His performance was all that 

 could be placed to his credit. It is also clear to my mind that the 

 great trotter, Geo. M. Patchen, was a little too near the outer edge of 

 trotting blood to be really a successful sire, although he had capacity 

 in that line, but far less than we should expect from his great ability 

 as a performer, and the celebrity of his own sire. 



Grafton, is another that belongs to the class bred for a performer 

 and not a reproducer. 



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