avery's own farrier. 169 



choosing animals to breed from; and as much or more 

 depends on the dam for this purpose as on the sire. She 

 should be of good size, and of strong constitution; good 

 feet, fine limbs, but rather flat than otherwise, small 

 head and ear, eye prominent, of sound body, good dis- 

 position, and, withall, of good action. As to age, it 

 matters not so much; old ones are thought to bring as 

 good colts as younger ones. In choosing a horse, you 

 should select one that is not disproportionally large, or 

 too small for the mare, for by so doing you lose the ex- 

 cellence and the good qualities of both. He should be 

 in possession of his full strength and power of bone and 

 muscle, and not allowed to serve too many mares; for 

 this is alike prejudicial to the horse and the strength of 

 his progeny. He should be young rather that otherwise; 

 and if he has most of the requisites laid down for the 

 mare, all the better, with a pretty crooked rib, short 

 on the back, deep up and down through the chest, broad 

 breast, with a good neck and tail, and of good symmetry, 

 throughout, he fills the measure of a good horse — that 

 is, the distances should be equal from the point of the 

 shoulder or breast bone, to the point of the withers, from 

 the withers to the point of the hips, and from thence to 

 the point of the haunch or buttock. This gives a well 

 proportioned shoulder, not so heavy as to retard the 

 action. A short back which lil ways accompanies a good 

 loin, denotes strength. A good haunch (according to 

 horseology) enables them to open and shut with the 

 shoulders, being a good requisite for the turf With 

 these requisites you can not fail to be successful in 

 breeding, for like produces like. But it is hardly to be 



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