THE HORSE, BREEDIXG AND RAISING. 0^ 



expect good, strong, well-formed, thrifty, and spirited o:ffspring from a 

 mare that is either too young or too old ; or that is subjected, even in 

 maturity, to hard work, poor and insufficient food, and cruel handling. 



rv. Principles of Transmission. 



Let us next notice this principle, that ivhen the dam a7id the sire both 

 JI)Ossess a due amount of vigor, the foal will combine in itself the most 

 marked characteristics of both ; while any quality that is peculiar to either 

 of them is api to be prominent in the offspring. This applies to both dis- 

 position and physical conformation. 



It will be seen from this statement that no matter what the general line 

 of policy to be pursued by the breeder, that of in-and-in, or that of 

 crossing, he must select his stallions and mares mth the view to having 

 one supplement the other. If the mare is deficient in any point, the 

 horse should be full or predominant there, and vice versa ; and if any pe- 

 culiar trait is desired, that should be very strongly developed in either 

 sire or dam, while merely nominal in the other. 



Another special point to be considered is this : that for the production 

 of a full-formed, symmetrical, vigorous, and thrifty foal, the mare should 

 be proportionately larger than the horse. An overgrown stallion, of great 

 power, serving a mare of diminutive size, or of size somewhat less in pro- 

 portion than his oavu, will beget her a strong embryo that will require 

 more room and more nourishment than the mare can afford ; and the result 

 must be weakness, and, probably, deformity — almost inevitably diminutive 

 size. Men's mmds were particularly called to this fact in Great Britain 

 when, during a course of years, the farmers of Yorkshire thought that by 

 breeding their mares to the very largest stallions they could find, and 

 without regard to the size of the mare, ihey could meet the demand in 

 LondC/^ for great overgrown horses, which it was then the fashion to drive 

 in coaches and other heavy carriages. The result was a race of almost 

 worthless creatures. 



In other points than mere size, more depends upon the selection of the 

 mare than that of the horse. The great majority are mares bred after 

 their own stock unless the stallion is so powerful as to neutralize or over- 

 come this physiological peculiarity ; so that it is necessary for her to be of 

 good lineage if the best results are wanted. If she has come from dis-= 

 eased, vicious, or in any way evil ancestry, though she may be free from 

 perceptible taint, the bad pomts of her stock will very probably appear 

 in her offspring. This principle makes it necessary to have a regard for 

 her color and for the color that is known to have been prevalent in her 

 line, since any dirty, vari-tinted, and other^\^se disagi-eeable colors may 

 appear in a foal of hers if her progenitors have had such a hue. 



