92 . STRUCTURE AND ECONOMY OF THE HORSE. 



latter not too sliort. These qualities are more easily obtained 

 in a smaller horse, but this will not do if a good price is expected ; 

 there must be a large frame to carry weight, and this can be ob- 

 tained if the breeder will get the right sort of mare, which can 

 be done by not sparing a few pounds. 



The mare then should be half-bred, and as near as possible 16 

 hands; not under 15^ nor over 16^, unless, in the latter case, 

 the other qualities are very excellent. She must not be blind or 

 half blind, unless from an accident, as the diseases of the eye are 

 very hereditary. If she is lame, we must assure ourselves that 

 it has not been produced by natural defect. We must take care 

 that she is not too long and oblique, or too short and upright, in 

 the pasterns; or knuckling at the knees or fetlocks, or small 

 under the knee. 



If she be washy or light carcassed, although as fleet as the 

 wind, we had better shoot her than breed from her. Her paces 

 should be good, at any rate not bad ; and if she has been a good 

 hunter, so much the better. 



And now what sort of a horse should such a mare be put to ? 

 A thorough-bred, by all means, but not any one that may oifer. 

 He should have good fore-legs, and a large frame, and his per- 

 formances should have been sufficient to show that his large 

 frame was no hindrance to him. It is by no means essential 

 that he should have won the Derby or St. Leger ; better far that 

 he should have been in the tail at these great races, and have 

 run honest and well afterwards, than that he should have come 

 in first, and never raced again. It is essential that his consti- 

 tution should be good, and there is no better proof of this 

 than his capability of standing training without being ever and 

 anon amiss, and his fj-eqiient uppeavance at the starting post and 

 faij- position at the winning post. If he has won a few Queen's 

 plates, and particularly if he has raced for them too (not merely 

 walked over), he is the sort of horse for getting valuable 

 hunters.* 



By selecting such a sire and dam as these just mentioned, 

 there is every probability of breeding animals of value ; but I am 

 not asserting that such a mare as I have stated, and no other, 

 should be used for breeding. The breeder may possess a mare 

 nearly, or quite thorough- bred, and such a one may prove 

 valuable for breeding. In this case the danger is in getting the 

 stock too small or too light ; and, generally speaking, it will not 

 be prudent to use a thorough-bred stallion for such a mare. 

 He may be three parts bred, but with great substance ; and if he 

 has been signalised in the annals of hunting or steeple-chasing, 



* It must be legarded as a fact, tliat if the thorough-bred horse is used in 

 breeding, the progeny will require more nutritious feeding than colts with 

 less breed. — Ed. 



