OF THE FOAL. 197 



pick up his living, with a hit of hay in the 

 winter, as was formerly the practice. Now 

 £30 to £35 is often about as much as you 

 can get for an average animal of that 

 age unbroken; and if there be added to 

 the bare cost of keep the expense of the 

 covering fee and his share of the wages of 

 his attendant, etc., it is somewhat difficult 

 to see where your profit in your colt is 

 coming in. 



Great numbers of useful animals are 

 brought over by Irish dealers, and sold at 

 an average of perhaps rather less than this, 

 from which we are bound to infer that Irish 

 colts can rarely be corn-fed at all, or they 

 could not be sold at English fairs at the 

 prices the English breeder has to compete 

 against. In short, any English farmer who 

 is fond of a bit of horse-dealing (a thing 

 which personally I hate and detest) Avill tell 

 you that he can do better by bviying a colt 

 out of an Irish drove than by breeding him 



