Principles of Hokse Breeding 15 



individuality 



In selecting breeding horses the perfection of the animals 

 should be carefully considered. Occasionally we give too little 

 attention to this and select an animal on the basis of his pedigree. 

 Such practice often proves disappointing as many inferior indi- 

 viduals are recorded simply because such animals command a 

 good price on the market. 



PEDIGREE 



In choosing horses for breeding purposes the purity of ancestry 

 is an important factor, since the capacity of a horse to produce 

 superior offspring will depend largely upon his ancestry. Thus, 

 there are four possible conditions that should always be borne 

 in mind : first, the offspring of a superior individual with a good 

 pedigree is likely to possess merit ; second, the offspring of an 

 inferior individual with a good pedigree may possess merit ; third, 

 the offspring of a superior individual with a poor pedigree is 

 likely to be inferior in merit ; and fourth, in all probability the 

 offspring of an inferior individual with a poor pedigree will be 

 distinctly inferior. 



MATING 



To be suitable for mating, the horses should be as nearly alike 

 in general characters as it is possible to select, otherwise the out- 

 come cannot be foretold. When thx? offspring shows good quali- 

 ties the mating is considered a fortunate nick; when there is no 

 resemblance to either parent, but to some near ancestor, it is 

 called atavism; and if to some far removed ancestor, it is called 

 reversion. Some persons are very skilled in selecting animals 

 that mate to advantage, 



BREEDING PERFORMANCE 



In selecting mares or stallions for breeding purposes we can 

 obtain a very good idea of the suitability of the animals by an 

 examination of the offspring, if such are available. Thus in 

 choosing a stallion, a careful examination should be made of his 

 get, and, if they are deficient or otherwise unfit, he should be 

 rejected. The same procedure should be followed in selecting 



