MARES ' THROWING BACK' TO ORIGINAL SIRE 37 



purchase has turned * four off' the murder is out, as 

 can at once be seen by a practical breeder ; and much 

 to the disgust and surprise of the ignorant purchaser, 

 this lump of bone and sinew develops into a regular 

 carthorse. 



I have often known many such swans turn into 

 geese, and even when breeding myself, or taking 

 notes of that being carried on by others, I have 

 known mares ' throw back ' to the Clydesdale instead 

 of to the thoroughbred. It therefore behoves every 

 breeder to be as careful as he can be to ascertain the 

 exact history of any good-looking mare which he may 

 be desirous of breeding from, for it very commonly 

 happens that a mare will ' throw back ' to the first 

 stallion she was put to, and that her subsequent foals 

 will not evince the slightest likeness either to herself 

 or the sire she may have been served by. Breeders 

 nowadays fail to produce the good serviceable animals 

 which were formerly to be obtained at a fair price. 

 They breed too much for sale, and so long as they find 

 it remunerative they are satisfied. I have remarked 

 this growing tendency for years past, and am not sur- 

 prised at the results being such as they are. It is now 

 so difficult to obtain a really good hunter that an 

 exorbitant price has to be paid for such an animal, 

 from ^400 to ^500 being no uncommon price, 

 whereas in former days a man could breed the best 

 fourteen - stone horses and pay himself well if he 

 obtained ^150 or ^200; and such horses were 

 infinitely better than those which fetch the higher 

 prices at the present time. 



I have known but very few breeders who thoroughly 

 understood the points necessary to be corrected in 



