34 THE HOKSE. 



would be lost in a mixed congeries of grotesque and daily-de- 

 generating hybrids and monsters. 



And this is a fact which never ought to be forgotten by the 

 breeder of animals. He may raise a superior animal by the 

 crossing of an inferior with a superior blood ; but he can never 

 establish that cross — never keep it stationary — never render it 

 capable of reproduction, preserving its improved attributes un- 

 altered. 



Thus from a Cleveland Bay mare, one may, by the service of 

 a thoroughbred sire, readily produce a most valuable half-bred 

 animal, for many pui-poses of the field, the road, or the farm. 



Naturally, one would suppose, that by taking two such half- 

 breds of oj)posite sexes, the offspring of parents entirely uncon- 

 nected by birth, but both pair holding the same relation of 

 blood, that is to say, both the sires thoroughbred and both the 

 dams Clevelands, and breeding them together, he would obtain 

 an offspring similar to the immediate parents ; of which it ne- 

 cessarily possesses the identical blood, in the identical propor- 

 tions — viz. one half thorough, one half Cleveland Bay, blood ; 

 though in four, instead of two crosses. 



No such thing, however, is the case ; as is well known to 

 every breeder in the north of England, if not elsewhere. 



No man, putting his half-bred mare to a half-bred, or even 

 two-thirds-bred, stallion, would expect to have a colt equal to 

 either of the parents ; or even, in case of the sire having two 

 or more crosses of pure blood, equal to the progeny of a com- 

 mon mare with a thoroughbred horse. 



Nor would any man dream of buying an animal so bred, 

 with a view to hunting him ; knowing right well, that before he 

 had gone fifteen minutes at the best pace of hounds, his tail 

 would be shaking ; and that, before half an hour, he would 

 stand still. Yet the same man would not hesitate to ride a 

 half-bred, by a thoroughbred. 



Why these things should be, we do not know. It is one of 

 the mysteries of nature, which we cannot fathom, and of which 

 we must rest content to know, that they are, and will continue 

 to be, in despite of all man's weak attempts, whether intentional 

 or casual, to interrupt the course of nature. 



Even in our own race, it is an assured fact, that the off- 



