IOO Breeding. 



Best Age to Breed from. 



It is commonly supposed that one or other of the parents 

 should be of mature age, and that if both are very young 

 or very old the produce will be decrepit or weakly. A 

 great many of our best horses have been out of old mares, 

 or by old horses as, for instance, Priam, out of Cressida, 

 at twenty ; Crucifix, out of Octaviana, at twenty-two ; and 

 Lottery and Bnitandorf, out of Mandane, at twenty and 

 twenty-one ; Voltaire got Voltigeur at twenty-one ; Bay 

 Middleton was the sire of Andover at eighteen; and 

 Touchstone got Newminster at seventeen. On the other 

 hand, many young stallions and mares have succeeded 

 well, and in numberless instances the first foal of a mare 

 has been the best she ever produced. In the olden times, 

 Mark Anthony and Conductor were the first foals of their 

 dams ; and more recently, Shuttle, Pope, Filho da Puta, 

 Sultan, Pericles, Oiseau, Doctor Syntax, Manfred, and 

 Pantaloon have all been first-born. Still these are excep- 

 tions, and the great bulk of superior horses are produced 

 later in the series. The youngest dam which I ever heard 

 of was Monstrosity, foaled in 1838, who produced Ugly 

 Buck at three years old, having been put to Venison when 

 only two years of age. Her dam also was only one year 

 older when she was foaled ; and Venison himself was quite 

 a young stallion, being only seven years old when he got 

 Ugly Buck ; so that altogether the last-mentioned horse 

 was a remarkable instance of successful breeding from 

 young parents. As in most cases of the kind, however, 

 his early promises were not carried out, and he showed 

 far better as a two-year-old, and early in the following 

 year, than in his maturity. Such is often the case, and, I 

 believe, is a very general rule in breeding all animals, 

 whether horses, dogs, or cattle. The general practice in 

 breeding is to use young stallions with old mares, and to 

 put young mares to old stallions ; and such appears to be 

 the best plan, judging from theory as well as practice. 



Best Time for Breeding. 



For all racing purposes an early foal is important, 

 because the age take date from the ist January. The 



