102 HORSE-BREAKING. 



broken, sore, and the system more or less 

 fevered. Owing to the soreness and tender- 

 ness of the animal's mouth, he is unable to feed 

 well, and thus cannot be got into proj)er con- 

 dition ; besides the colt cannot stand the wear 

 and tear on account of his bones not being 

 formed^ they having more cartilaginous than 

 osseous material in their formation. The adult 

 horse, that is, one that has a full mouth, has § 

 of osseous to ^ of cartilaginous material enter- 

 ing into the composition of his bones, whilst 

 the two-year-old has about half of each ; 

 therefore the cartilage predominating over the 

 required quantity of osseous material causes 

 the bones to be soft and unable to withstand 

 the shocks of early work. Some owners of 

 race-horses run their two-year-olds to find out 

 their weak points. In cases where weak points 

 are observable at that age, if raced, they are 

 sure to develop, and thus cripple the colt per- 

 haps for life, whilst if he had been allowed to 

 lay by until of a maturer age, in all probability 

 this weakness would have disappeared. Again, 



