i6o 



A If/SrOAT OF 'IHE ENGLISH TURF. 



in the early eighteenth century, which was as innocent of Enclosed Meetings as it 

 was of Two- Year-Old Scurries, nearly every man who raced a horse had bred him, 

 and very often both trained and rode him too. An owner with his own brood mares 

 in his own paddocks, who carefully selected his sires in every case and kept the 

 produce for his own racing, was not likely to have an establishment .too unwieldy 

 for his own personal supervision, and never feel the necessity of overstraining a 

 colt by racing him too soon or too often merely because he wanted to " get his 

 money back." That most probably had some effect upon the value and life of 

 the horse later on at the stud. It certainly had a direct influence upon the colt's 

 form. Modern trainers who deliberately train a young brute into the cramped 



and unnatural habits 

 necessitated by a hur- 

 ried bucket off the in- 

 stant the flag falls, are 

 not likely to encourage 

 the long, low, sweeping 

 action and the powerful 

 stride which are essen- 

 tial to stamina over a 

 long course. In other 

 even more important 

 details, too, many 

 modern trainers and 

 breeders seem to me 

 to affect those artificial 

 methods of education and training which cannot benefit the breed. In the early 

 eighteenth century a horse was at least naturally treated as a natural animal, and 

 I believe he was the better for it. Without the faintest desire to talk about 

 " deterioration," I am still unable to conceal my conviction that modern conditions 

 must, in the long run, exercise a prejudicial effect upon our bloodstock, and that 

 the best horses to-day are not only those which are best bred, but those whose 

 breeding is given the best chance of showing its quality and value by a natural 

 upbringing and an unstrained atmosphere. 



For some inexplicable reason that fortunate moment in the eighteenth century 

 seems never likely to recur. We no longer possess a native breed of horses which 



Sir Marmadtike Wyvill's " Volunteer." 

 By permission of II. R. 11. Prince Christian. 



