300 ANNALS OF THE TURF. 



or sheds in the mclosures ; soft and sweet herbage for tlie colts and 

 milk mares ; and finally a very liberal allowance of land in propor- 

 tion to the stock, that there may be not only ample grazing in the 

 grass season, but an equally ample quantity of provisions of the 

 requisite kind during the winter. 



A firm, dry, and hard soil, will have a correspondmg effect upon 

 the feet, limbs, and tendinous system of horses bred upon it ; as 

 will a dr}'^, clear and elastic air upon their wind, animal spirits and 

 general habit. Such are the advantages enjoyed by the horses of 

 the mountain and the desert ; but these advantages are greatly en- 

 hanced in a country v/here abundant herbage and moderate tem- 

 perature are superadded. 



All breeders concur in the propriety of keeping colts well the 

 first and second winters ; for colts from the best shaped parents will 

 degenerate upon insufficient nourishment, and be stinted from the 

 palsying effects of damp and cold in the winter, if a comfortable and 

 general shelter is not allowed them. Good keeping and warmth, 

 during the first and second years, is indispensable, in order to invi- 

 gorate the circulation of the animal's blood, to expand his frame, to 

 plump up and enlarge his muscles, to encourage the growth of his 

 bones, and to impart to them that solidity and strength which pre- 

 serves them in the right line of symmetry. 



It must be interesting to the amateur, the sportsman, and the 

 breeder, to give a correct, though concise account of the most dis- 

 tinguished turf stock of blood horses, which existed in Virginia 

 between the years 1750 and 1790, a period more remarkable for fine 

 horses, than perhaps any other, either prior or subsequent to that 

 lime. 



It was during this period that " races were established almost 

 at every town and considerable place in Virginia : when the inhabi- 

 tants, almost to a man, were devoted to this fascinating and rational 

 amusement : when all ranks and denominations were fond of horses, 

 especially those of the race breed ; when gentlemen of fortune ex- 

 ))ended large sums on their stud, sparing no pains or trouble in 

 importing the best stock, and improving the breed by judicious cross- 

 iiig." The effects of the revolutionary war put a stop to the spirit 

 of racing until about the year 1790, when it began to revive, and 

 under the most promising auspices as regarded the breed of turf 

 horses, for just at that time or a little previous, the capital stallion 

 Old Medley was imported, who contributed his full share to the 

 reputation of the racing stock, whose value had been before so well 

 established. Previous to the year 1800, but little degeneracy had 

 taken place either in the purity of the blood, the form or perform- 

 ances of the Virginia race horse ; and in searching for the causes 

 of a change for the worse, after this period, the most prominent one 

 was the injudicious importation of inferior stallions from England. 

 About the period of time last mentioned. Colonel Hoomes and many 

 others, availing themselves of the passion for racing, inundated 

 Virginia with imported stallions, bought up frequently at low prices 

 m England, having little reputation there, and of less approved 

 blood, thereby greatly contaminating the tried and approved stocks 

 which had long and eminently distinguished themselves for theii 



