STALLIONS, BROOD MARES AND FOALS. 93 



measure of speed it possesses can be depended 

 upon and improved. In short, it is the quality 

 which distinguishes the thoroughbred from the 

 dunghill; the great race horse that, like a Gold- 

 smith Maid or a Lexington, will always be in 

 condition to struggle for a man's life, from those 

 band-box race horses and newspaper trotters 

 that are never heard from outside of private 

 trials and breeders' catalogues. 



These are the considerations that should in- 

 fluence breeders of horses for the turf; and no 

 blind devotion to a fashionable pedigree, nor 

 promise of mere speed in the youngsters got 

 by any stallion, should induce us to overlook a 

 prevailing tendency to any unsoundness or lack 

 of endurance in his get. The number of heats 

 and races won, and the number of successful 

 years upon the turf, are more reliable lamps by 

 which the breeder may guide his footsteps than 

 the record of colt stakes and mere speed tests. 



The ordeal of the race course, and more espe- 

 cially the trotting course, is very trying upon 

 the legs and feet; and here soundness and 

 quality of the highest order is essential. The 

 turf horse that is always troubled with u a leg" 

 is a nuisance. Curbs, spavins, ringbones, weak- 

 ened or sprained tendons, "bucked" knees and 

 stiffened joints are some, of the troubles that 

 affect the legs of the horse and greatly impair 

 his usefulness, 



