266 
Breeding Horses. 
after the sport of the day. The same shape as for the hack is 
the perfection of shape for the hunter ; but a little more length, a 
little more size, and not less than three parts blood, will be 
required to go in a good place with hounds : 15'3 to 16 hands is 
the perfection of size, and quite thorough-bred is the perfection 
of breeding. The back should be particularly good, the hind 
legs short, and well under the weight to be carried. 
The drainage of the stable of the cart-horse, carriage-horse, 
hack, and hunter, can all be carried out in the same way with 
advantage to them all alike: the mangers and hay-cribs should 
be constructed as already described. 
Instead, however, of dividing the standings with bales, as with 
cart-horses, it is better to have boarded partitions, enclosing stalls 
six feet or six feet six inches wide, and ten feet long. The 
ventilation should be arranged upon the same principle, with a 
fixed amount of inlet and outlet, in addition to which another 
portion, under the control of the head of the stable, may be made 
available according to the variations of the atmosphere. Horses 
doing fast work and light of flesh, will bear more warmth than 
those working slowly. The stable should never be without a 
change of air. The temperature should never be above 60° 
Fahr., except when the external atmosphere is above it. Every 
hunting establishment should have a hot-water apparatus, a 
plentiful supply of water, and a bath-room to wash the horses 
in as soon as they return from the field. Loose boxes, sixteen 
feet square, are absolutely necessary in every horse establishment ; 
some of which should be separated from the others for sick 
horses. I have said something about the necessity of blood in 
the breeding of horses, but, knowing what I do, I never think I 
have said enough. I have hinted at the great difference between 
the want of care and attention taken by the breeders of liorses in 
their selection of stallions as compared with that taken by the 
same class of persons breeding cattle, sheep, and pigs, and think 
I have not overstated the truth. Every person who has seen tjie 
great change which has taken place in the quality of the animals 
produced throughout England, Ireland, and Scotland (horses only 
excepted), will admit that the impi-ovement of them is marvel- 
lous ; while horses alone have become deteriorated almost in the 
same degree. Why is this? It is because they have all had 
more care bestowed upon them : the production even of pigs has 
been more actively cared for than the breeding of thorough-bred 
horses (except by racing men for racing purposes). It is simply 
because the breeders of the inferior animals, since the establish- 
ment of Agricultural Societies, have been well rewarded with 
prizes, while the best thorough-bred horses in England, the most 
