436 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK in. 



referring to the mistaken idea current amongst many as to the existence 

 of hereditary vice in animals, Mr. Wilson proceeds : " I quite admit 

 that most diseases are transmissible from parents to offspring. I also 

 hold that temper is transmissible, and that either a quick or a slow 

 temper can be intensified or modified according to the mating of sire 

 or dam, for when a high-spirited or quick-tempered mare is mated 

 with an equally quick-tempered horse, the characteristic will be 

 heightened in the progeny, and vice versa ; but I cannot place these 

 characteristics of temperament under the category of hereditary vice. 

 By many, too many, however, they are so classed, and when the high- 

 spirited and playful young horse or pony comes under the charge of a 

 groom holding this erroneous notion, he remembers that the sire or 

 dam also showed evidence of the same mercurial temperament, and 

 he has not a shadow of a doubt in his own mind as to the repressive 

 treatment to be pursued. The vice (?) must be curbed in its incipient 

 stage, and from that hour the animal never knows what kind usage 

 means. Blows, cuffs, and harsh words are henceforth its portion, and 

 when it is given into the hands of the breaker, its character is given 

 with it, and the same mistaken treatment is continued, until what 

 wonder if it emerges at last a demon in its temper ! Again, if the 

 young animal be descended from parents of lethargic temper, it is 

 at once put down as sullen and wicked; its father or mother was 

 so, it is remembered ; that must be taken out of it, and by the same 

 means harshness and brutality. Thus, only those animals of placid 

 and equable temperaments have the chance of escaping this mistaken 

 system of training, and the quick and the slow are spoiled. There 

 is probably no animal so sensitive to kindness as the horse ; no 

 animal, unless it be the dog, so attached to man ; no animal that, 

 under firm and kind treatment, would be more amenable to man's 

 control. With the treatment above described, need we wonder that 

 the animal becomes reckless, nervous, or sulky, and liable to be thrown 

 off its balance in emergencies ? It has never experienced kindness 

 from man, consequently it has no confidence in him, and to this I 

 attribute a great proportion of the accidents that occur. What can 

 stop a pony pulling and make him settle down to his work quicker 

 than a kind word, provided he is not frightened at his master's voice ?" 



The proper period for castration depends on the breed of the horse, 

 and the purpose for which he is designed. On the colt destined 

 for common agricultural purposes, it is usually performed when he is 

 about twelve months old. It is an operation then attended with little 

 danger, provided the weather is not too hot. 



If the colt, however, is intended either for heavy or for speedy 

 draught, the operation should be delayed until the animal is a year 

 and a half or two years old, when his fore-quarters will be tolerably 

 developed. It should then be performed as speedily as may be con- 

 venient, lest he should become too heavy before, and perhaps a little 

 self-willed. May or September are the best months for the per- 

 formance of the operation. 



Castration, being the business of the veterinary surgeon, need not 

 be described here. 



