268 THE ENGLISH TURF 



Then there are the hopelessly barren mares and shy breeders 

 — those who are barren about three years out of five — and 

 we may take it that both classes are more frequently met 

 with amongst thoroughbreds than in other varieties of equine 

 stock. I remember a good-looking black mare, aged seven 

 years, being put up to auction at Cheltenham about the year 

 1870. She was in the stud book, had run as a two-year-old, 

 and had afterwards been sent to the stud. She was barren 

 for three years, however, and her owner determined to get 

 rid of her. She was knocked down for nineteen guineas 

 to a hunting man, and in his hands she won several steeple- 

 chases, besides being hunted for a couple of seasons with 

 the Ledbury Hounds. She then broke down, and was 

 stinted to a cart-horse, then to a thoroughbred again, and 

 lastly to a pony. Still she never bred, yet veterinary sur- 

 geons could find nothing wrong with her, and were quite 

 unable to account for her continued barrenness. 



The proportion of thoroughbred mares that foal every 

 year is rather over two-thirds of the number at the stud. 

 In some years the average is considerably higher than in 

 others, this being probably accounted for by the greater 

 propitiousness of the weather during the breeding season. 

 Thus, in 1896, 3,304 foals were returned to be entered in 

 the stud-book, while the names of 1,287 mares were sent in 

 as being barren in that year. In 1895 the living foals were 

 3,231, and the barren mares 1,327; in 1894 the living foals 

 3,231, and the barren mares 1,410; and in 1893 the living 

 foals 3,275, and the barren mares 1,412. The figures for 

 the four years — a sufficiently lengthy period to provide a 

 reliable average — show that the odds are but slightly over 

 2 to I on any mare breeding a living foal. The mares that 

 slip their foals have also to be taken into account, and, 

 roughly speaking, this happens to about 150 of the 4,500 

 which are annually stinted. 



There are no statistics concerning half-bred stock which 

 can be used for purposes of comparison, but the average 

 half-bred mare, if not put to the stud too late in life, is a 

 more regular breeder than the average thoroughbred, and 

 as a general rule her produce are hardier and stronger, and 



