8 HORSES AND HOUNDS. 



can be reasonably expected to produce fine and promising 

 stock. 



Some go to a great expense in making paddocks, erecting 

 skeds, &c., for wliich there is no real necessity; and, as a 

 matter of course, the greater the expenses in such things, the 

 smaller will be the profits, when all these things are taken into 

 consideration. Good paddocks may be fenced in, and sheds 

 constructed to answer every necessary purpose, at a very 

 moderate cost, A plat of healthy ground should be chosen, of 

 even surface, and in a sheltered sitiiation. A quarter of an acre 

 is sufficient space for each mare. The fence may be made of fir 

 poles, placed upright, and high enough to prevent the mares 

 having access to each other. The framework of the sheds, 

 made of wood, and the sides closed up with gorse or wattled 

 hurdles, with a frontage to the south. The ends of the pad- 

 docks should be in a half circle ; all angles are to be avoided to 

 prevent accidents to the mares in turning. The roof of the 

 sheds should be of thatch, which is warmer in winter than tiles. 

 In districts where stone abounds, the fence may be made of this 

 material, and the sheds also, but good wattling, with gorse or 

 straw, rammed down firmly between it, will form a very good 

 protection against wind and rain. 



We now come to a point, at wdiich it is more than iirobable I 

 shall be at issue with many breeders of horses in the present 

 day. It must be, therefore, borne in mind, that the observa- 

 tions I am about to make, on the feeding and general manage- 

 ment of mares and their foals, and horses generally, are not 

 intended, or indeed applicable to racing or training establish- 

 ments. Our purpose is principally to breed for the hunting 

 field, and at as little cost as is consistent with reasonable 

 expectations. It has been asserted by some writers on this 

 subject, that horses should be treated nearly, if not precisely, in 

 the same manner as oxen and other cattle are treated by the 

 enlightened agriculturists of the present day, that is to say, 

 that they should be confined in paddocks, as oxen are in yards, 

 from their earliest age, and kept in a fattening state, until 

 placed in the hands of the breaker. Now, although somewhat 

 of a farmer myself, I am not going to enter upon a discussion 

 whether this system of " beef manufacturing," as it is popularly 

 called, is a remunerating one or not ; my own impression being, 

 that it is not, considering the very low price of fat stock. The 

 chief, and in fact, sometimes, the only return made to the 

 farmer, being in the extra quantity of manure thus produced for 

 his farm, and which again produces so many extra bushels of 

 corn when applied to the land. The treatment of horses and 



