262 MANAGEMENT AND BREEDING OF HORSES 



combines animals similar in their characteristics, narrows 

 the pedigree to a few and closely related lines of descent 

 and thus gives stability to the strain or breed. This sys- 

 tem secures uniformity and increases the prepotency 

 among horses, but it must be remembered that it acts on 

 good and bad characters equally, and, therefore, necessi- 

 tates vigilance in selecting breeding animals. 



In-breeding. — When animals closely related are united 

 the system is called in-breeding or in-and-in-breeding. 

 This is line-breeding carried to its limits, and conse- 

 quently it intensifies all the advantages and disadvan- 

 tages of that sj^stem of breeding. This system was first 

 employed by Robert Bakewell, who shocked the modest 

 people of his time by mating the animals that possessed 

 the characters he washed to propagate without regard to 

 relationship. Since his time it has been successfully em- 

 ployed by many breeders and many of our breeds of farm 

 animals owe their early origin to this system. 



Breeding from the best. — The feasibility of this system 

 will depend on the situation. If a pure-bred sire is mated 

 with common grade mares due consideration should be 

 given the characteristics of each, as unsatisfactory re- 

 sults would probably follow uniting animals of widely 

 differing characters. The suitability of the animals to be 

 mated should be recognized as well as the perfection of 

 the individuals, otherwise one will soon find himself in 

 possession of animals varying in all essential character- 

 istics. For the beginner, however, and until he learns 

 the attributes of the animals with which he is working it 

 is perhaps safest to recommend the system of breeding 

 from the best, as it is likely to result in the production of 

 good individuals even though they lack in uniformity. 



