BREEDING 115 



all very well in an emergency. But apart from a 

 humane point of view, and looking at it in a strictly 

 economical sense, much money and animal life would 

 be rescued if on ordinary occasions we watched them 

 closely, and put them on the sick list before they 

 reached the exhaustion stage. 



When only suffering from exhaustion, it is not so Exhaus- 

 easy to detect in the very early stage. Careful observa- man'i- 

 tion, however, will soon discover a stiffness in the 

 muscles and joints, a want of elasticity in the move- 

 ment of the limbs, a general languor and lassitude per- 

 vading the animal's whole system, a dulness in the 

 eyes, and a general disinclination to exert itself. He 

 will not walk with his usual stride and up to his 

 ordinary pace. Then as he goes on he shows signs of 

 lagging and falling to the rear. This disinclination for 

 exertion may sometimes be due to natural laziness, or 

 it may be the result of an inherited defective constitu- 

 tion, or, yet again, of recent overwork and want of nutri- 

 tious food. Whatever the primary cause, the conse- 

 quences, if not taken in time, must be injurious and, if 

 allowed to go on, fatal. 



Besides we must recollect that the individual power individual 

 of endurance among animals is by no means equal endurance 

 on the contrary, most unequal. One has inherited a 

 better constitution and greater stamina, consequently 

 will survive a journey that will kill another ; and 

 this is a fact that we never, on any account, take 

 into consideration, but we make it a rule to distribute 

 the weight equally amongst them, irrespective of age, 

 strength, or condition. This is a point, however, that 

 requires the closest inspection under any and every 



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