90 THE RACING WORLD 



which, of course, I was most anxious to see, as I 

 was away from home at the time. When it was 

 a few days old it unfortunately took a fancy to 

 licking a newly-painted door and died of lead 

 poisoning ; a cruel disappointment to me, which I 

 mention to show how much care and supervision 

 is necessary in the treatment of young horses. 



Undoubtedly one of the most interesting and 

 exciting moments that occur in the life of a breeder 

 of (what he hopes will be) racehorses is when he 

 takes his first peep at a newly-born foal, the mating 

 of whose sire and dam has occupied his thoughts 

 for many days and occasioned careful study and 

 research. Perhaps he may find that the foal is 

 a poor feeble little creature, possibly deformed, 

 with sickle hocks, or some other obvious source of 

 weakness and suggestion of failure — though if he be 

 a man of experience he will not too readily give up 

 hope. One I specially call to mind, a remarkably 

 well-bred foal, by St. Simon, in fact, who looked 

 an impossible caricature of an infant thoroughbred. 

 The first impulse of the anything but proud owner, 

 if he had not seen much of foals, would have been 

 to give orders for the immediate destruction of the 

 little creature and try to forget it as speedily as 

 possible ; but the manager of the stud where the 

 foal was born was undismayed, the hope that it 



