48 PURCHASING FROM THE STABLES. 



tainly as if the obliquity was on the side of the 

 stallion. A wall-sided stallion, if not very flatsided, 

 and otherwise good, may be bred from, for if put to 

 a well circular-barreled mare, the carcase will always 

 improve : the Godolphin Arabian was wall-sided. A 

 drooping hind-quarter, if only muscular, may be bred 

 from, for if crossed with a straight-crouped mare the 

 quarter will never be bad."* No small carcased, or 

 narrow-chested, or lanky- thighed horse or mare should 

 be bred from ; and no horse or mare with a very long 

 back, or badly set-on head should be bred from : I 

 am speaking as to breeding for the cavalry. Regard- 

 ing the head itself, I should not care what it was 

 like : the less brains a troop-horse has the better ; but 

 I would not breed from a stallion with a small eye, 

 neither would I ever breed from one with a very large 

 yard. Every stallion must have harmony of propor- 

 tion united to general substance, and never be over- 

 laden at the top of the shoulder blade-bone ; and every 

 brood-mare must also possess these qualifications, 

 besides being particularly broad in the haunches. 

 Another great error that is committed, is in the dif- 

 ference of the size of the horse and mare. Not more 

 than an inch and a half difference in the height 

 should ever be allowed, and even that is too much, 

 unless the manager has proper discrimination with 

 regard to the form : for instance, put a very fine, sub- 

 stantial, well-built stallion of fifteen hands to a rather 



*. I. would never breed from a stallion faulty in any respect. I would al- 

 ways breed from faultless stallions, and endeavour to correct the faults in 

 mares which I was obliged to breed from. The better plan however is to have 

 both sir! and dam as faultless as possible, for unless that is the case, one 

 can neVer be sure of the progeny. Never breed from either a horse or mare 

 that has hereditary blemish of any kind, such as spavin, curb, or ringbone, 

 or turning in or turning out the toes. In fact every defect possessed either 

 by the sire or dam is hereditary. Ei>. 



