THE PEINCirLES AND PRACTICE OF BREEDIKG. 93 



SO much the better. If the mare be small and thorouo-h-bred, 

 the horse should be of still greater size and substance, and may- 

 be only half-bred, providing his action is good. 



I have known some very clever animals bred in this way ; 

 whereas if a thorough-bred horse had been used, the chances 

 would have been that the offspring would be small, weedy, and 

 valueless. 



In breeding carriage horses an equal degree of care must be 

 emi)loyed, as in breeding hunters. And indeed more scrupulous 

 attention must be paid, so as to avoid those defects that offend 

 the eye, which in hunters may be looked over or atoned for by 

 the possession of other first-rate qualities: for instance, if a 

 carriage horse has a short neck, however excellent his other 

 qualities may be, he will not realise a high price. Some years 

 since, tall leggy Cleveland bay horses, 17 hands high, were all 

 the rage : but at the present day the public taste is improved, 

 and preference is now given to an animal of less height, but of 

 greater strength and symmetry, ranging between 15^ to I6i 

 hands. Such an animal must be lengthy without being light 

 carcassed ; the shoulders oblique, and not loaded, but with high 

 withers ; the neck must be long and arched, and the head 

 carried high. He should be well ribbed up, without being short, 

 and he must not be goose-rumped, or ragged-hipped. His 

 action must be good, neither too high nor too low, but rather 

 tending towards the former than the latter extreme. 



There must be little or no white about the legs, and the best 

 colour is bay ; next to this brown, unless a grey can be obtained, 

 which is as good, or better than either. 



To obtain such an animal, we must take care that neither the 

 sire nor the dam possess any of those defects that we would 

 avoid in the offspring. The mare should be a good carriage 

 mare, and if rather heavy, the horse may be thorough-bred, but 

 not the one we would select for getting hunters, but one more 

 lengthy. If the mare is Avell bred, the horse must not be 

 thorough-bred, but as near as may be consistent with plenty of 

 substance. 



The two descriptions of horses which I have mentioned are 

 those to which the attention of the breeder should be principally 

 directed with a view to realising good prices ; but there are other 

 sorts of mares that may be bred from with great advantage, such 

 as clever hacks and cobs, and handsome ponies. Indeed, when- 

 ever a mare has superior qualities without striking defects, she 

 may be advantageously used for breeding, providing the right 

 sort of horse is selected as sire. A little three-parts-bred mare, 

 however, should not be put to a thorough-bred horse, as the 

 produce would probably be weedy, and of little value ; whereas a 

 stallion of more substance and less breed would probably get a 



