202 A TREATISE ON HORSE-BREEDING. 



He has been bred to run, and the form best 

 adapted to speed, and the mental qualities that 

 most certainly insure the pluck, and energy, 

 and determination so essential to success in a 

 hard-fought race, have been the qualities aimed 

 at by breeders and the standard by which 

 selections have been made. Such a course of 

 breeding has made the thoroughbred, as a racer, 

 rather too lithe and light in form and too nerv- 

 ous and excitable in temper for ordinary busi- 

 ness uses; but in speed, endurance and resolu- 

 tion they surpass all other breeds, and there is 

 scarcely a race of horses in existence but may 

 be improved by a cross with them. This fact 

 is almost universally recognized, and nearly all 

 countries upon the civilized globe have for many 

 years regarded the English thoroughbred, or 

 "blood horse," as the basis of all substantial 

 improvement. 



Our American horses are largely permeated 

 with the blood of the English thoroughbred. 

 Many of the best stallions and mares of Eng- 

 land have been imported to this country, and 

 their influence is seen on every hand. It enters 

 largely into the ground-work of all our trotting 

 strains, and it is doubtful if a single great road 

 horse or trotter has been produced in this 

 country that did not possess a large share of 

 this royal blood as a foundation upon which the 

 trotting superstructure has been built. 



