CHOICE OF THE MARE. 27 



breeding purposes, and yet wbicli is sometimes carefully 

 selected, because it is considered elegant ; this is tbe level 

 and straight hip, in which the tail is set on very high, and 

 the end of the haunch bone is nearly on a level with the 

 projection of the hip bone. Nearly the opposite form is 

 the more desirable, where, on examining the pelvis, it will 

 be seen that the haunch bone forms a considerable angle 

 with the sacrum, and that there is, as a consequence, plenty 

 of room, not only for carrying the foal, but for allowing it 

 to pass into the world. Both of these points are important, 

 the former evidently so, and the latter no less so on consid- 

 eration; because, if the foal is injured in the birth, either 

 of necessity or from ignorance, it will often fail to recover 

 its powers, and will remain permanently injured. The 

 pelvis, then, should be Vvdde and deep, — that is to say, large 

 and roomy ; and there should also be a little more than the 

 average length, from hip to the shoulder, so as to give 

 plenty of bed for the foal, as well as a good depth of back 

 ribs, which are necessary to give the strength to support 

 this increased length. This gives to the whole frame-work 

 of the trunk a larger proportion than is always desira- 

 ble in the race-horse, which is easily overtopped in race- 

 horses," — that is to say, they may easily have more body 

 than their legs can properly carry, — " and hence many 

 good runners have failed as brood mares, while a great 

 number of bad runners have been dams of good horses. 

 Beyond this roomy frame, necessary as the egg-shell of the 

 foal, the mare only requires such a shape and make as is 

 well adapted for the purpose she is intended for," that is 

 to say, for producing colts of the style and form she is in- 

 tended to produce. We will add, that she must have four 

 good legs under her, and those legs standing as a foun- 

 dation on four good, well-shaped, large feet, open-heeled, 

 and by no means flat-soled. That she should have a good, 



