12 NOTES ON BREEDING RACEHORSES. 



win races year after 3'ear would not stand for a month the 

 prej^aration for a flat race, much less the race itself; and, 

 finally, as to the excellence at the stud of stallions celebrated 

 as steeplechasers, experience teaches that none such exist who 

 subsequently made a name as sires of racehorses, whereas stal- 

 lions that on the turf belonged to the first class frequently sired 

 superior chasers. As a touchstone for mares intended for 

 breeding purposes, steeplechasing, independent of other con- 

 siderations, is unsuitable, inasmuch as horses are qualified for 

 such work at a more advanced age only. Whereas, therefore, 

 the brood-mare is kept from her vocation longer than is desira- 

 lile in the interest of breeding, her fitness as a matron suffers 

 proportionately by long-jjrotracted training. 



As far as I know, there is in the whole stud book not a single 

 steeplechase mare that has made for herself a great name as the 

 dam of winners on the flat. 



A cardinal point, which continually maintains and regener- 

 ates tlie thoroughbred as a source of power and soundness, and 

 places it, with regard to certainty of propagation, far above all 

 other breeds of the equine race, is the circumstance that the 

 thoroughbred is tried before it is sent to the stud, whereas of 

 the half-bred such individuals only as are unfit for breeding 

 purposes are put to the test. Half-breds at the stud, more 

 especially stallions, from the day thej^ are foaled to that of 

 their death, lead an existence of sluggish idleness, generation 

 after generation, without interruption. However useful cart- 

 mares may be in the plough or other kind of slow work, a half- 

 bred brood-mare is never subjected to a real trial of her capa- 

 bilities, and, as an extremely rare occurrence, such a mare 

 returns to the .stud on account of an excellence accidentally 

 l)rought to light ; but if, however, done so, it will probably be 

 too late for any use for breeding. 



What would become of the usefulness of our half-breds, what 

 of our cavalry, without a continuance of crosses with stallions 

 of pure blood, bred for stoutness and chosen on account of their 

 proper excellent qualities, so as to constantly renew the neces- 

 sary steel in the breed? 



