96 



not only lose the money he has invested for the service, but 

 he may lose the foal and the mare as well. 



How many of the breeders of to-day are there who con 

 sider all these little intricacies? Not more than a dozen, to 

 give a big margin. Of course, there are stock farms where 

 such things are known all over the United States ; but there 

 are hundreds where they are not observed, and the result is 

 that an inferior class of horses is produced, often where the 

 mating has been perfect and good foals should have been ob- 

 tained. I could mention many of these instances now, but I 

 do not care to say anything against a man who is in the busi- 

 ness for the purpose of earning a livelihood. A peculiar fea- 

 ture of it, too, is that this carelessness is observed in men 

 above the average in intelligence. They think all that is 

 necessary is for the stallion to receive the mare in his em- 

 brace and then return to the stable and go on with her usual 

 work as if nothing had happened. Something has happened 

 and another race horse is to be born into the world. Whether 

 this animal shall be of high class depends wholly upon the 

 treatment she receives at the hands of the groom who has 

 her in his care. 



To sum it all up, the mare's peculiarities, both bad and 

 good, must be carefully gone over ; then those of the stallion 

 and lastly, but not least, the grooms handling both the ani- 

 mals must have been well instructed. 



