THE BREEDING OF HORSES 197 



reduce a draft stallion to anything like race horse condition in 

 order to insure virility. It is natural for a draft horse to be fat 

 in a degree which would be abnormal in a road horse, and he is 

 not at his best in any other condition. Tbere is what might be 

 termed an optimum or best normal weight for any horse, i.e., his 

 weight wlien in normal condition as to flesh, muscular tone, and 

 vigor. If that can be determined and then maintained by estab- 

 lishing a balance between feed consumed and exercise taken, the 

 greatest virility may be expected. 



Exercise. — If a horse is gaining over his normal weight, in- 

 crease his exercise first, and if he continues to gain, reduce his 

 ration. If he falls below normal weight and is receiving only 

 a reasonable amount of exercise, increase his ration first, then, 

 if necessary, reduce the exercise. But it is generally the former 

 rather than the latter condition which the stud gToom has to 

 meet. The old country practice of travelling the horse is one 

 of the most practical means of solving the exercise problem, and 

 is for that reason commendable, although there seems to be a 

 prejudice against it in some parts of this country. It is often 

 found practicable to give the draft stallion work about the farm. 

 If there is no such opportunity, he should be led or driven several 

 miles per day, but at a walk. This is the draft horse's gait, and 

 if a more ingenious than industrious groom imagines that he can 

 concentrate the benefits of a long walk into a short trot, he will 

 find the results much in favor of the walk. 



Exercise is just as, essential to the best breeding condition of 

 the light stallion, but the trotter is more certain of his daily jog 

 and the Thoroughbred of his morning gallop than is the drafter 

 of his walk. In the lighter classes of stallions there is not the 

 premium placed on weight which induces the feeder to fatten the 

 horse beyond all reason. 



Regulation of the services of the stallion is of vital impor- 

 tance. Opinions differ as to just what such regulation should be, 

 but nearly all agree that many horses are misused in service. 

 It is well to remember that a horse's success is not measured by 

 the number of mares he serves, but by the number and character 

 of the colts he gets in a given season. No definite number of 



