Breeding. 93 



form is represented in the skeleton, which is that of a 

 thorough-bred mare, well formed for this breeding pur- 

 pose, but in other respects rather too slight. By ex- 

 amining her pelvis, it will be seen that the haunch-bone 

 forms a considerable angle with the sacrum, and that, 

 as a consequence, there is plenty of room, not only 

 for carrying the foal, but for allowing it to pass into 

 the world. Both of these points are important, the 

 former evidently so, and the latter no less so on con- 

 sideration, because if the foal is injured in the birth, 

 either of necessity, or from ignorance or carelessness, it 

 will often fail to recover its powers, and will remain 

 permanently injured. The pelvis, then, should be wide 

 and deep — that is to say, it should be large and roomy ; 

 and there should also be a little more than the average 

 length from the hip to the shoulder, so as to give plenty 

 of bed for the foal ; as well as a good depth of back-ribs, 

 which is necessary in order to support this increased 

 length. This gives the whole framework of the trunk of 

 a larger proportion than is always desirable in the race 

 horse, which may be easily overtopped ; and hence many 

 good runners have failed as brood mares, whilst a great 

 number of bad runners have been dams of good race 

 horses. Beyond this roomy frame, necessary as the egg- 

 shell of the foal, the mare only requires such a shape and 

 make as is well adapted for the particular purpose she is 

 intended for ; or if not possessing it herself, she should 

 belong to a family having it. If a mare can be obtained 

 possessing all these requisites in her own person, so much 

 the more likely will she be to produce race horses ; but if 

 not all, then it is better that she should add as many as 

 possible to the needful framework, without which her 

 office can hardly be well carried out. But with this 

 suitable frame, if she belongs to a family which, as a rule, 

 possesses all the attributes of a race horse, she may be 

 relied on with some degree of certainty, even though she 

 herself should fail in some of them. Thus there are 

 many fine roomy mares which have been useless as race 

 horses from being deficient in the power of some one 

 quarter, either behind or before, or perhaps a little too 



