10 FLAT-RAGING EXPLAINED. 



thoroughbred is that conformation and general rac- 

 ing style is a ruling passion with them, much more 

 so than with those who are goverened by financial 

 considerations in the choice of a sire. To make up 

 deficiencies in the dam by the selection of a suitable 

 sire has led, in the furtherance of this particular 

 aim, to most satisfactory results, and has done more 

 to make the thoroughbred what it is to-day than the 

 adoption of any other breeding system. I do not 

 suggest that private breeders do not give effect to 

 the proverbial idea of uniting the best and, at the 

 same time, the most suitable strains. To a very 

 marked degree tlie perpetuation of a direct line has, 

 as events have shown, rightly been made to give 

 place to Nature's requirements in the matter of sus- 

 taining the by no means less important idea of 

 physique. 



Now, what is "physique" in a race horse? The 

 muscular proportions are undoubtedly "physique" 

 in every sense, but the most brilliant specimen of 

 the thoroughbred must go further than what is con- 

 veyed by the w^ords "muscular development." 

 "Where there is bone there is muscle" is an old idea, 

 but it is not too much to say we must have the bone 

 in a structural sense in the right places. For in- 

 stance, how many of the best judges are not satis- 

 fied with size and substance, freedom from lumber, a 



