PRINCIPLES OF HORSE BREEDING 257 



dividuals are recorded, because such animals command a 

 good price on the market. In choosing breeding horses 

 each animal should be closely inspected and only superior 

 individuals placed in the stud. 



Pedigree. — The purity of the ancestry is an important 

 factor in choosing breeding animals, as the capacity of a. 

 horse to produce superior offspring will depend largely 

 upon his ancestors. It is often a question which should 

 receive the more attention, the individual merit or the 

 pedigree. There are four possible conditions that should 

 always be borne in mind : First, the offspring of a superior 

 individual with a good pedigree is likely to possess merit ; 

 second, the offspring of an inferior individual with a good 

 pedigree may possess merit; third, the offspring of a 

 superior individual with a poor pedigree is likely to be 

 inferior in merit; and, fourth, in all probability the off- 

 spring of an inferior individual with a poor pedigree will 

 be distinctly inferior. 



Formerly we associated great length of pedigree with 

 breeding quality, but the present evidence goes to show 

 that it is the immediate ancestors that are of most im- 

 portance. Galton, in his "Law of Ancestral Heredity," 

 sets forth the idea that one-half of the full heritage comes 

 from the parents ; one-fourth from the grandparents, and 

 so on to infinity. This being true, an offspring will pro- 

 cure seven-eighths of its ■ full heritage from the three 

 nearest generations of ancestors. 



In selecting breeding horses, the performance, when 

 available, as in race horses, should be considered, as it 

 affords valuable information as to what the offspring will 

 probably be like. A good example of this is seen iii the 

 speed reduction table where the record time was reduced 

 from 2.48^ to i.S5}i in one century (p. 130). 



Mating. — Two animals, to be suitable for mating, 

 should be as nearly alike in general characters as it is 

 possible to select, otherwise the outcome of a union can- 

 not be foretold. Since, as we have already seen, no two 



