INTRODUCTION. XI 



the blue Ally Fiatt by Imp. Hedgeford, she out of Lady Thompkins by Americati 

 Eclipse. Glenmore's grandam SaHy Lewis is by Imp. Glencoe her dnm Motto by Imp. 

 Barefoot out of Lady Thompkins by Am. Eclipse. Barefoot was by Tramp and Glen- 

 coe's dam by Tramp, so that he is, strictly speaking, incestuously bred; yet he was a 

 first class race-horse. Norfolk, a superior race-horse, is iabred to Sir Archy and Dio- 

 med. Falsetto is inbred to Lexington; the dam of his sire is by Lexington, and his 

 grandam by Lexington, and he has nine crosses of Diomed. Imp. Eclipse was much 

 inbred; his dam Gaze was by Bay Middleton son of Sultan and Cobweb by Phantom 

 son of Walton, Flycatcher, his grandam, was by Godolphin son of Partisan by Walton, 

 and his great grandam was an own sister to Cobweb by Phantom. Then if the Lex- 

 ington, Leamington and Glencoe blood is to be preserved to, the country it can only be 

 done by a judicious course of inbreeding, and so uniting the choice of both as to com- 

 bine and render peimament the qualities possessed by each. Some regard inbreed- 

 ing as an active cause of degenerating, as unnatural and calculated to develop heredi- 

 tary diseases. These evils can only spring from abuse of the system. If proper care 

 is taken to exclude the weak and those having hereditary tendencies to disease, from 

 participation in reproduction it may be the means of preserving tliose estimable quali- 

 ties so much desired in the equine race, and transmitting them unimpaired to succeed- 

 ing generations. The greatest success has been achieved by breeding from the nearest 

 affinities of blood, and one should not hesitate to breed a half-brother or sister to- 

 .gether where they possess many points of superiority. In the selection of a stallion 

 we want first pure blood, size, substance and conformation with symmetry, not a tall 

 narrow-chested horse, but one inclined to be thick-set ; all coarseness should be avoided 

 especially in the head, neck, shoulders, ankles and hocks ; the eye should be large, 

 clear and bright, with no coarse hair about it, the absence of which is indicative of 

 high breeding in all animals ; the jaw bones not too massive or heavy, tapering gradually 

 to the nose, free from beefiness; good space between the jawbones for the windpipe; 

 a clear, full steady eye denotes good temper and enduring qualities, whilst the one 

 showing too much white is generally found in Highty, speedy, non-staying horses. 

 The neck of moderate length, deep and not too thick at the crest or curve, 

 nostrils large, full and roomy. The chest moderately wide, the shoulder 

 blade oblique and inclined backward with sufficient muscle to cover it, 

 with arms long and muscular, cannon bones short and flat, and the pasterns 

 moderately long not upright, knee broad and flat and rather inclined to arch or bend 

 over than backward or calf-kneed, which causes an extra tension on the back tendons; 

 chest deep extending down between the elbows which should be straight, inclining 

 neither in nor out, and toes pointed straight forward, body and barrel round and not too 

 long, muscular arched loins, with good length from point of the hip to haunch bone, u 

 slight drooping towards the root of the tail, good length from hip to point of stifle and 

 thence to the hock, which should be broad, finely cut and free from beefiness; the can- 

 non bones flat, tendons detached and well defined, feet strong and hoof not too large 

 or too small, back ribs long, round, and slightly detached from the hip joint. There 

 should be sufficient general length not to be determined by the length of the back, 

 but the ground the horse coverswhenstandinginanatural position. Good blood is essen- 

 tial and necessary, but good form is superiority. In the selection of brood mares, form 

 is as much a desideratum as in the stallion. First select from the most fashionable blood 

 from running families on both sides with conformation, constitution, good temper, and 



