. STALLIONS, BROOD MARES AND FOALS. 91 



that his stallion was probably got by a half- 

 blood French draft horse out of a dun pacing 

 mare, whose dam in turn was a Mexican Mus- 

 tang. The possession of the desired qualities 

 in the sire and dam selected was an accidental 

 circumstance; and intelligent breeders, with a 

 knowledge of this fact, would not expect that 

 these accidental qualities would be transmitted 

 with certainty. 



SELECTION OF BREEDING STOCK. 



In the application of the general laws which 

 govern the transmission of hereditary qualities 

 to the business of breeding horses the first step 

 is for the breeder to decide, in his own mind, 

 what sort of horse he wishes to produce. If 

 his fancy or interest leads him to breed horses 

 for the race course he must keep constantly in 

 mind the fact that for this purpose, whether 

 for running or trotting, speed and endurance of 

 the very highest order are indispensable; and 

 here the least unsoundness will prove fatal. In 

 order to live through the severe ordeal of train- 

 ing, and the still more trying one of the bruis- 

 ing campaign, which taxes the utmost powers 

 of the horse day after day, there must be no 

 weak spots in his composition. There must be 

 no soft, spongy bones and joints; no brittle or 

 contracted feet; no tendency to curbs, spavins 

 or ringbones: no weak tendons nor feeble lungs 



