280 CONFESSIONS OF A HORSE DEALER. 



saddle-horses, the lineage of which, in a few instances, 

 we can still trace, by their compact forms, to the breed 

 of racehorses encouraged by our forefathers, who bred 

 houses for useful purposes, to carry men long distances, 

 and not the spindle-shanked velocipedes bred by our 

 turfmen of the present day, that break down after run- 

 ning a few furlongs with a baby on their backs; Of 

 what earthly use, I would again ask, are the racehorses 

 of the present day, when they are tried and found want- 

 ing in speed for the purpose for which they were bred? 

 Besides the great change that has taken place in the 

 forms of our racehorses, they are become strongly dis- 

 posed to lameness and disease, and before even starting 

 for their first race, many of tho best are lame; others 

 are rendered so for life by running a short race like the 

 Derby ; nearly all are more or less infirm from their 

 birth, and would knuckle in their pastern joints if they 

 were to carry an average-sized man a reasonable distance 

 on a turnpike road. Our racehorses have been much 

 injured under the existing practice on the turf, of breed- 

 ing in-and-in, as it is only from a small portion of the 

 vast numbers of racehorses that the breed is kept up 

 Every one breeding for the turf sends his mares only to 

 the stallions whose stock has most speed. If the old 

 style of racing had been kept up viz., four mile dis- 

 tances, under a weight of ten to thirteen stone, this evil 

 would have been avoided ; because, when endurance and 

 constitutional vigour became reduced in any stud, the 

 owner of it would naturally have sent his mares to a 



