BREEDING. 129 



enact such laws, by appointing competent inspectors to 

 grant licenses to those free from blemish or hereditary dis- 

 eases or unsoundness. 



A few years' breeding, under such restrictions, would 

 materially increase the value of horses in each State, and 

 thus be a real blessing to owners and the country. 



In selecting a stallion, look first carefully at his head. The 

 nostrils should be large and well defined ; eyes, that they 

 are full, bright, and clear ; good breadth between the eyes ; 

 the ears lively and rather short and tapering, and the head 

 high between the ears; next, that the throat shows no en- 

 largements of the glands, showing a disposition to be a 

 whistler or roarer; next, the shoulder should be oblique, 

 strong and high; then the fore leg, see that it is not tied in 

 (as it is termed) under the knee, for such are liable to 

 spring; then the feet should be of good size, sufficient 

 depth to be strong in the quarters; spongy and flat feet 

 should be rejected; next, the loin should be strong, the 

 back should be well coupled, quarters broad from point to 

 point of hips, and running nearly straight out to root of 

 tail; stifle should stand low and well out; hocks broad and 

 strong; no puffs or wind galls, as it indicates weakness. 

 As a colt from such a horse at an early age, may show indi- 

 cations of blood spavin or thorough pin, look at the inside 

 of the hock, an enlargement at the point of what is called 

 a jack spavin or curb, enlargement on the back of the leg ; 

 next, at the foot, that there is no enlargement at the edge 

 of the hoof, known as ringbone; weak eyes, or blindness, 

 poll evil, fistula of withers, or in fact any cause of unsound- 

 ness should discard a stallion. I need not remind that the 

 mare should be selected with the same care. Heaves, 

 broken wind, and marked contraction of the feet should 

 discard a horse, and I would by all means discard a bad 

 tempered one. The horse should be in good health or con- 

 dition. This implies that he has been subjected to moder- 

 ate but regular exercise during the season. A horse that is 

 driven hard and hurried from place to place, perhaps over- 

 heated and made to cover from two to four or five mares a 

 day, should be regarded as unsafe, and the colt liable to 

 lack vitality. 



To be successful in breeding any particular variety of 

 horses requires first decision as to the purpose for which 



