304 THE H0E8E. 



insufficient. But even more do they require herbage of a pecu- 

 liar kind, full of fine clover, yet free from the coarse grasses, 

 and the laud well drained, and of a sandy or chalky subsoil. 

 The presence of these characteristics has made Yorkshire so pro- 

 minent as a breeding locality, and its thoroughbreds, as well as 

 its horses of inferior blood, have always stood high in the scale. 

 On the other hand, low, marshy situations are unfavorable to 

 the development of the horse, and cause him to be coarse, un- 

 wieldy, and generally unsound. In selecting a breeding farm, 

 therefore, the lirst and the most absolutely essential point, is the 

 soil, and by consequence the herbage. The surface should be 

 undulating, but not very hilly, giving just sufficient alteration 

 to teacli the young stock the difference between up-hill and 

 down, and enabling them to acquire the power of mastering 

 themselves over both variations of surface. The size of the 

 enclosures may easily be altered, if too large or too small ; but it 

 would be well, and would save much subsequent trouble and 

 expense, if a farm could be found divided into small enclosures 

 by banks and strong thorn hedges, and without deep ditches, 

 which are always a source of danger to both colt and dam. 

 Walls are very good divisions, if they are high enough, and the 

 earth is raised against their foundations ; but they are not equal 

 to good banks, with thorn hedges upon them. 



A certain number of hovels proportioned to the mares must 

 be put up, if they are not already in existence, and thej^ may 

 most economically be built by placing four together where tour 

 paddocks meet ; or, if those are very large, by building in the 

 middle of one, and dividing off the Held into the four separate 

 runs, for the mares and foals. But though this plan is very com- 

 monly adopted from economical motives, it is not a good one, 

 because the aspect of two of the hovels must be northerly or 

 easterly, both of which are cold and prejudicial to young stock, 

 besides being too shady during the early spring. It should, 

 moreover, be remembered, that in the spring time, when mares 

 require the most grass they exhaust it the soonest, and therefore 

 it will not be advisable to allot them too small a run, but rather 

 to give each hovel a double one, in order that as soon as the 

 mare has crop])ed one half close she may have a change into 

 the other. The annexed plan of a pair of hovels, with yards and 



