CHAPTER XIV 



PLAN OF BREEDING 



A GENERAL plan should be carefully thought out 

 before the farmer makes the attempt to breed few or 

 many horses. As the work of breeding progresses, 

 many questions of detail will arise which can be most 

 successfully solved as they occur. One detail has a 

 bearing on others, changes are constantly taking place 

 in surroundings food available, supply of and demand 

 for horses, and fashion. After the general plan is out- 

 lined, he is most likely to succeed who adjusts the 

 details most skilfully to the general plan, to the 

 environment and to the proposed results. 



First, the man should take account of his likes and 

 dislikes. He may admire the light, active horse. If 

 his farm is rolling, the soil easily tilled, he may gratify 

 his tastes; but he would almost certainly fail if he 

 attempted to breed draft-horses. On the other hand, 

 the man who occupies a stiff- clay wheat farm, and who 

 from this fact may have learned to admire a powerful, 

 large horse, would be foolish if he attempted to breed 

 roadsters. He succeeds best who unites with his knowl- 

 edge of horse-breeding a genuine love for the breed 

 which he cultivates. Before beginning, call a meeting 

 of the stockholders of the enterprise the wife and 

 children; their wishes should be respected, and they 



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