8 8 Deer Breeding for Fine Heads 



from which to draw ; it is not observation, but merely copying 

 photography. 



There is as much difference between the gallop of two kinds of 

 deer as there is between that of a rabbit and a hare, or between the 

 flight of a grouse and that of a snipe. 



In the cross-breeds it is interesting to notice how the action of 

 the cross approaches to both the parent stocks, just as in a hackney- 

 American-trotter cross the action is a compromise between those of 

 the two parents. 



In the horse this action can be modified, so as to approach that 

 of either parent, by the way in which the animal is driven. I suppose 

 in the same way the cross-bred deer, if it were transplanted to the 

 home of either parent, would modify its action towards that of this 

 particular parent. 



I think that the action, besides being partly the effect of shape 

 and comparative weight, is due to the sort of country in which 

 the animal lives. A deer which has to move about in a wood full 

 of fallen branches and logs has, for example, to go at a high all- 

 round trot, just as a horse can be taught to step high in a trot 

 by being forced round over low bars placed at the proper distance 

 apart. 



If a deer lives on a plain full of ravines, he takes to galloping 

 with big jumps, and so on. 



The weight of a deer's horns also influences the way he carries 

 himself. A stag with light horns can, for instance, swing his head 

 in galloping, whereas one with heavy, wide-spreading horns has to 

 balance his head, like a person walking with a load on the head. 

 He also gets in the habit of poking his nose out in front when 



