24 
he had held with a general officer of cavalry 
‘““who had also had for nearly a year the 
direction of the country studs” :— 
“Secondly, he attributed the great en- 
durance of the Prussian horse to the hard 
and healthy life led by both mare and foal. 
Sturdy mother, sturdy child 
“In a great part of these provinces, in 
Posen and Silesia, the mares and foals, 
though by no means starved, have to roam 
over a large extent of ground in search of 
their daily feed, and necessarily pass the 
greater part of the time in the open air. 
This develops muscles and lungs, par- 
ticularly the former 
“The General assured me that a mare 
and foal seldom travelled over less than 
from four to five German miles [the mez/e 
equals nearly 434 English miles] in the 
course of the twenty-four hours, and that 
he considers this exercise conduced to 
give these horses that predominance over 
straw-yard or stall-fed horses which there 
was no denying was apparent when com- 
paring the Prussian with other breeds in 
Germany ” 
The compulsory exercise is, of course, 
highly beneficial to the growing youngster ; 
but continuous exercise without good natural 
food cannot produce muscle and lay the 
