CONCLUSION. 241 



CONCLUSION. 



EVERYBODY complains now-a-days of the 

 degeneration of our breeds of horses. Ap- 

 prehensive too late of a state of things which 

 threatens even the national independence,* 

 patriotic spirits are seeking to go back to 

 the source of the evil, and are arranging 

 divers systems for remedying it as soon as 

 possible. Among the causes which have 

 contributed the most to the loss of our old 

 breeds, they forget, it seems to me, to men- 

 tion the decline of horsemanship; nor do 

 they consider that the revival of this art is 

 indispensable in bringing about the regenera- 

 tion of the horse. 



* Much in this chapter, though written for France, 

 applies with great appropriateness to our own country. 

 TRANSLATOR. 

 21 



