THE HORSE AND ITS DISEASES. 35 



strength, and perfection, with those who have omitted 

 no expense, or necessary acquisition, that could in the 

 least contribute to the formation of points so very 

 desirable in objects of such tedious expectation, and no 

 little anxiety before their merits or deficiencies could be 

 at all satisfactorily ascertained. 



Those who succeed best, and render the business of 

 breeding a matter of importance, adhere closely to the 

 plan of producing a distinct stock, for either the turf, 

 field, or draught, by a direct systematic union of the 

 requisite qualifications in both sii^e and dam ; for 

 although it remains, and in all probability ever will, a 

 matter of ambiguity why an unblemished horse and mare 

 may produce a colt or filly full of disease or deformity, 

 it by no means follows, that a diseased or deformed sire 

 and dam are equally to produce a progeny of perfection. 

 This being unequivocably admitted, (as by every impar- 

 tial investigator of nature it certainly must be), it will 

 undoubtedly prove an act of consistency to evade so 

 palpable a chance of disappointment, by forming an union 

 of propriety, appai'ently calculated (from every external 

 appearance,) to transmit such original purity to their 

 produce. 



To eff'ect this, the mare having been obtained, corres- 

 ponding in size, frame, bone and strength, with the wish 

 of the breeder, and found, upon accurate examination, to 

 be perfectly free from the blemishes and defects so fre- 

 quently mentioned, the choice of a stallion becomes the 

 object of serious attention ; in him should be accumulated 

 all the points and good qualities it is possible tor a single 

 object to possess, upon a proof exceeding all speculation, 

 (and this every observant natui'alist will allow) that the 

 produce, whether male or female, much more frequently 

 acquires and retains, the shape, make, marks, and 

 disposition of the sire, than the dam; and although 

 such assertion may not obtain immediate credit with 

 many, yet, rigid observation has long since demonstrated 

 the fact, and justifies the gTcat consistency of rejecting 



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