56 HOUSE PORTRAITURE. 



a tolerable egg and a tolerable race horse. I have now 

 found a suitable farm, but the most important thing is 

 yet to be sought, the stock that is to render all available ; 

 and here I would probably differ from ninety-nine in a 

 hundred who have given the subject much study. For a 

 stallion (leaving all predilections or favoritism for an in- 

 dividual animal that would cause me to select the Falcon 

 as a model), I would hunt up a thoroughbred of good 

 size, say fifteen and a half to sixteen hands, possessing 

 the requisite bone, or rather, tendon and muscle. Most 

 all horses in my opinion have bone enough a good ma&y 

 of them too much. His pedigree I would be just as fas- 

 tidious about as if I wanted to breed race horses, and 

 would not be suited without it contained several crosses 

 of Messenger and Sir Archy. There may be other fami- 

 lies that will prove just as successful, but these have been 

 tried. I know of two imported stallions that will un- 

 doubtedly be celebrated yet as the progenitors of trot- 

 ters. 



To go back thirty years for an illustration. A colt 

 from Ariel, by Henry, would suit me exactly as to blood. 

 For instance, Ariel, by Eclipse, dam by Financier, g dam 

 by Baronet, g g dam by Messenger ; Eclipse, by Duroc, 

 dam by Messenger ; Financier, by Tippo Saib, dam by 

 Messenger ; Tippo Saib, by Messenger. This might ap- 

 pear as if too closely inbred to produce a good animal, 

 but her performances the best campaigner of her day 

 shows that it was not the case with her ; and by scrutini- 

 zing this pedigree we will find that with all these near 

 crosses she was only about a quarter Messenger, but un- 

 doubtedly the preponderance of that blood over any 

 other, enabled her to display its most valuable character- 

 istics, and I have no doubt, that had she been taught to 

 trot, she would have exhibited the wonderful feats since 

 shown by the more remote members of this family, 



