Breeding and Management of Horses on a Farm. 517 
The height of a brood-mare may vary, according to her form, 
from fifteen hands two inches to sixteen hands; and where a 
stallion of good blood, and very compact mould, can be procured 
not higher than the mare, he is to be preferred, ceteris paribus, 
to a larger horse, some experiments on breeding having tended 
to prove that a mare put to a horse even somewhat smaller than 
herself is likely to throw a finer foal than when stinted to a larger 
stallion. The age most fitted for procreation of both sire and 
dam is from seven to fourteen years (or somewhat less for the 
dam). The records of our racing studs, which are to be looked 
upon as the mirror of breeding, will not, I believe, furnish many 
examples of any horse having, when young, proved himself a sire 
of superior qualifications; and many a stud-horse that has never 
begotten a racer in his early years, has, after the age of ten, be- 
come the sire of very first-rate stock. 
When proper attention is paid to the shape and soundness of 
sire and dam, their progeny will bid fair to possess that grand 
essential, good action ; but this is a point which should not, 
however, be overlooked in the parents, how well soever they may 
be formed. Really good action does not, by any means, consist 
in that clambering and showy style of going which so many 
people admire, and which not only reduces the length of a horse's 
stride, but, with " much ado about nothing," soon makes him 
show marks of work about the joii.ts. A horse with really good 
action should not raise the leg more than on a level with the 
middle of the fore-arm, but, stepping well above the ground, 
should throw the leg out in a perfectly straight direction, without 
any circular motion, or any inclination of the foot outwards or 
inwards. The hind-legs should be thrown well under the belly, 
and every motion should be performed with ease, grace, and 
springiness. 
Never breed from horse or mare of a bad constitution ; the 
progeny will be weak and unthrifty, either undersized or leggy, 
and will never repay the cost and trouble it will occasion. The 
farmer will probably have little or no opportunity of ascertaining 
the constitution of a stallion, unless he be a horse of repute, but 
compactness of form, and power about the joints, will seldom 
prove an uncertain sign by which to form an opinion on this 
point ; and with respect to the mare, as he will probably have 
every opportunity of forming his judgment of her before he puts 
her to the stud, it will be his fault if he breed from one that is a 
shy feeder, or incapable of undergoing fatigue without long inter- 
vals of rest. It must be clear that, independent of the constitu- 
tional defect of the dam descending, probably, to the foal, such 
an animal is not likely to be able to afford that degree of nou- 
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