40 HOW TO BREED A HORSE. 



adian or Norman blood there is a remote, dormant strain 

 of pure blood, probably Andalusian Arab, which assim- 

 ilates well with modern thorough blood ; and the breeding 

 back will often, in that case, so far reinvigorate the race, 

 that the fillies produced by that union will often reproduce 

 animals of astonishing excellence by a farther cross with 

 well -chosen thorough blood of the present day. 



We have touched slightly on the effect produced by the 

 intermingling, or crossing and re-crossing of various dis- 

 tinct or cognate strains of blood, and the result on the 

 character of the stock. When a cross of this sort is emi- 

 nently successful in any particular line, for a number of 

 years and in a majority of instances, we are accustomed 

 to say that such or such a blood has ''hit" or " nicked" 

 with another ; and this effect is not dependent solely on 

 the intrinsic excellence of either blood, but on some un- 

 known and mysterious influence produced, in one or 

 more generations, by the cross. For instance, Priam, the 

 son of EmiUus, son of Orville, out of Emily, and Cressida, 

 daughter of Whiskey, out of Sorcerer's dam by Diomed, 

 was not only one of the most successful runners, if not 

 the most successful, of his day, but in England was nearly 

 as successful a stallion, having begot, previous to his ex- 

 portation, an unusual number of winners. He was subse- 

 quently purchased and brought to this country, where the 

 most sanguine expectations were formed of the great ad- 

 vantage which would accrue from the infusion of his sin- 

 gularly rich and noble blood. The result, however, was 

 diametrically opposite to that which was expected, 

 i. Scarcely a horse of any repute has been begotten by 

 this stallion in the United States, although his high repu- 

 tation for blood, beauty, and performances, procured for 

 him more than his proportion of the best blooded and 

 otherwise best mares in the country. Many persons — 



