40 NOTES ON BEEEDING RACEHORSES. 



ackno'^yledged very best stallions are scarcely ever for sale, it 

 may be readily understood how difficult it is to acquire a stal- 

 lion of the first class adapted to the production of thorough- 

 breds, and if first rate form and undeniable pedigree be strictly 

 adhered to, how necessary it is sometimes to be more indulgent 

 with regard to the exterior than under other circumstances 

 inclination would admit. 



Our German public knows nought of such difficulties, and 

 requires that the thoroughbred stallion of the first class, besides 

 form and quality, be possessed of the power and truth of shape 

 of the half-bred, and the action of the Arab. The good people 

 forget that everything in the world has its limits, and that 

 Nature herself is impotent, when asked to produce an animal 

 of the strength of the elephant with the agility of the gazelle. 



It is difficult and requires much local knowledge to buy 

 sound mares of the best strains of blood and some public form 

 or proved excellence at the stud, yet is their number not nearly 

 so narrowly limited as that of sires. It is therefore advisable, 

 in the choice of mares, to be more rigorous with regard to make 

 and shape, else the thoroughbred will scarcely fulfil its mission 

 — the production of capable half b]'ed stallions, answering the 

 conditions which the lireeders of such and of cavalry horses are 

 justified in making. 



The realization of this purpose by judicious mating of sire 

 and dam is materially facilitated, if the breeder is not only 

 familiar with the peculiarities of the families from which they 

 are descended, but also has known them during their racing 

 career. The impression received on the racecourse of the horse 

 in the height of condition is with greater truth reflected in its 

 immediate descendants, than that which is derived from the 

 same animal when at the stud. In the former case nothing is 

 hidden by superfluous flesh, and every imperfection of shape 

 is rendered more conspicuous, when every muscle, sinew, and 

 tendon is braced by hard work. 



It may, perhaps, not be out of place here to express my views 

 on the, of late years, steadily increasing disorder of roaring. 



I have observed that in the English thoroughbred the growth 



