BREEDING AND REARING. 13 



longevity is said (and there is a certain 

 amount of truth in it) to he in proportion to 

 his rate of speed. Thus the carthorse would 

 he quite old at twenty, the half-hred at 

 twenty- five, and the thoroughbred at thirty. 



Two very young or very old animals should 

 not be mated together, the progeny in such 

 cases being apt to be weakly and undersized. 

 Both vigour of youth and full maturity 

 should be on one side or the other in all 

 unions. Thus, if a young mare is chosen, 

 say three or four years old, her mate should 

 not be less than from eight to twelve ; while 

 if the mare is of mature age, she may be 

 sent with advantage to a fresh young horse ; 

 and in this way the services of any animal 

 it may be wished to breed from can be 

 safely utilised at almost any age. 



In the rearing of young horses two ex- 

 tremes would seem to suggest themselves 

 •for avoidance — namely, too much coddling 

 and too little care. It must never be lost 



