RACING, OR TURP HORSES. 227 



phy, or excess of nourishment of the heart, or any bony parts, so is 

 there often a like superabundance of fat causing obstruction to the due 

 performance of the animal functions, and often ending in premature 

 death. This is in great measure owing to want of exercise, but also to 

 over-stimulating food ; and the breeder who wishes his horse to last, and 

 «lso to get good stock, should take especial care that he has enough of 

 the one and not too much of the other. 



In temper, also, there is no more to be added to what I have said 

 relating to the mare, except that there are more bad-tempered stallions to 

 be met with than mares, independently of their running, and this is 

 caused by the constant state of unnatural excitement in which they are 

 kept. This kind of vice is, however, not of so much importance, as it 

 does not affect the running of the stock, and solely interferes with their 

 stable management. 



BEST AGE TO BREED FROM. 



It is commonly supposed that one or other of the parents should be of 

 mature age, and that if both are very young, or very old, the produce 

 will be decrepit or weakly. A great many of our best horses have been 

 out of old mares, or by old horses — as, for instance, Priam out of 

 Cressida, at twenty ; Crucifix, out of Octaviana, at twenty-two ; and 

 Lottery and Brutandorf , out of Mandane, at twenty and twenty-one ; 

 Voltaire got Voltigeur at twenty-one ; Bay Middleton was the sire of 

 Andover at eighteen, and Touchstone got Newminster at seventeen. On 

 the other hand, many young stallions and mares have succeeded well, and 

 in numberless instances the first foal of a mare has been the best she ever 

 produced. In the olden times, Mark Antony and Conductor were the 

 first foals of their dams ; and more recently, Shuttle Pope, Filho da 

 Puta, Sultan, Pericles, Oiseau, Doctor Sjiitax, Manfred and Pantaloon, 

 have all been first-born. Still these are exceptions, and the great bulk 

 of superior horses are produced later in the series. The youngest dam 

 which I ever heard of was Monstrosity, foaled in 1838, who produced 

 Ugly Buck at three years old, having been put to Venison when only 

 two years of age. Her dam, also, was only one year older when she was 

 foaled ; and Venison himself was quite a young stallion, being only seven 

 years old when he got Ugly Buck ; so that, altogether, the last mentioned 

 horse was a remarkable instance of successful breeding from young 

 parents. As in most cases of the kind, however, his early promises were 

 not carried out, and he showed far better as a two-year-old, and early in 

 the following year, than in his maturity. Such is often the case, and, I 

 believe, is a very general rule in breeding all animals, whether horses, 

 dogs, or cattle. The general practice in breeding is to use young stal- 



