354 
Breeding of Huivters and Roadsters. 
at two guineas each, and the owners made a good business bv the 
number of subscriptions obtained ; an attempt should be made 
to open up this channel again. \\Tiat are called tried stallions 
are not wanted for this purpose ; there are always young blood- 
horses in various localities, advertised to serve mares at ten 
guineas each, which do not pay their wav ; vet these, if properly 
appreciated in a breeding district, would get plentv of mares. 
Horses so emploved have full as much chance to obtain some 
blood-mares as if they were kept at more impoitant centres, 
where those of established repute stay. Brutandorf was serving 
mares at two guineas each, in the East Riding, when one of his 
sons, " Phvsician," was the first young stallion of his dav, and 
another, Hetman Platoff, one of the best horses in training. 
The owner of Brutandorf did his business well, over a succession 
of seasons, in the same district ; and when the horse was about 
twentv vears old, he was sold to go to Russia, for nearly as many 
hundreds of pounds. 
The wintering of mares and foals calls for little special notice 
in studs which are well provided with shelter, and paddocks for 
exercise. Farmers, however, can only adopt such measures as 
are essential or least inconvenient ; and although individually 
they may have only two or three mares, still on them we are 
dependent for the greater part of our general supply. In their 
case the farmvard is commonly made the receptacle for stock 
indiscriminatelv, when the fiekl affords neither food nor shelter. 
There is a commonly prevailing notion that wet about horses' 
feet and legs is either good or not injurious. Nothing can be 
further from tlie truth. Without discussing the relative value 
of open and covered farmyards, I may state that a wet farm- 
vard is most injurious to horses. A small home-field, with 
a drv soil, is of the greatest use to turn the young horse-stock 
into dailv. Shedding can be made temporarily in fields distant 
from home bv means of upright posts, across which Juialler 
timber or rough materials may be placed, to be covered with 
furze, reeds, haulm, and such-like material, and finished off with 
thatch. Such a shed for mares and foals or young growing colts 
will be as comfortable and as conducive to their health as the 
most elaborate building. Care must, however, be taken t'liat 
the site is drv and free from all accumulations of wet, nor 
should these animals be allowed to stand upon an accumulation 
of dung, but their sheds should be as clean and dry as a well- 
kept stable. Those rules are not less applicable to permanent 
buildings; firm, clean stone bottoms arc the best surfaces for 
horses to stand on ; tliese should be thinly covered over w ith 
clean straw, which should be changed and the floor swept daily. 
Breeders of hunters require to be, as they mostly are, good 
