THE BREEDING OF HORSES 191 



moting the interests of the fit, and what constitutes fitness itself 

 is more or less arbitrarily determined by local conditions. 



The average of merit of stallions standing for service is so 

 low that it will take time to attain to the theoretical or ideal in 

 actual practice. France, with her system of government owner- 

 ship, can afford to be much more independent and dictatorial 

 than our States, which are dependent on private enterprise and 

 capital for whatever breeding there is done. Too oppressive re- 

 strictions may be so discouraging as to destroy the business alto- 

 gether. An individual or company, for instance, may invest 

 $2,500 in a two-year-old draft stallion, which at the time of pur- 

 chase passes an examination for soundness and is accompanied 

 by a registry certificate. In the course of a year or two this colt 

 may develop an unsoundness or some fraud may be detected in 

 his pedigree registry certificate. To require his retirement from 

 service on either of these accounts, would entail a most unjust 

 financial loss upon his owners, and would undoubtedly dissuade 

 them from ever making a similar investment. 



The Attitude of Mare Owners. — The mare owners, while 

 not directly named in stallion license laws, should receive a 

 share of the consideration of the administrative boards. They 

 really hold the key to the whole situation, in the discrimination 

 they show and the amount of the fees they wall allow in their 

 patronage of stallions. Stallions capable of becoming good sires 

 are costly, and their fee must be sufficient to insure some return 

 on the investment. With a liberal policy adopted by the mare 

 owners, there need be no dearth of good sires. The scrub is 

 costly to patronize though the fee is low. As long as the scrub 

 can command his share of the patronage, there is little to induce 

 one to invest in a first-class stallion. It is a fact worthy of note 

 that the average stud fee prevailing in those States from which 

 the bulk of the market supply of horses of this country is drawn is 

 about double that of those districts where the horse business is 

 given up as unprofitable. 



No law can compel mare owners to patronize superior stal- 

 lions, nor is it constitutional to deny them the patronage of the 

 inferior ones, unless they are proven to be an absolute menace 

 to the industry. Education is the only solution, and that is 



