Breeding and Management of Horses on a Farm. 541 
carbon of the blood ; and hence the air that is expired from the 
lungs, if inhaled again without admixture with fresh air, is defi- 
cient in those particles which should effect that chemical change 
in the blood, so necessary to life, of which I have already spoken. 
For this reason closely-shut stables are highly injurious to horses, 
although the plan of stopping up every aperture at night and ex- 
cluding the air is one which is very generally adopted by great 
numbers of people, alike ignorant of the injury they thus inflict 
upon their horses, and of the mode in which their superabundant 
and ill-directed care operates prejudicially upon animal life. 
Many men, while endeavouring to put valuable horses in condition 
prior to offering them for sale, are in the habit of thus coddling 
them up, with a view to improve the appearance of the coat^ an 
advantage which is frequently not gained save at the risk of ex- 
citing inflammatory disease, and always with the loss of some 
portion of that sprightliness of movement and general vivacity so 
indicative of health and vigour. The true method of improving 
the condition of every horse consists in giving him regular exer- 
cise proportioned to his strength ; allowing him such a quantity of 
wholesome and nutritious food as he is capable of perfectly di- 
gesting, and of paying such attention to him in the stable by good 
grooming, sufficient clothing to keep up the circulation in the 
skin, if he require it, and a proper supply of uncontaminated air 
at all times and in all seasons. There are very many minor points 
respecting condition to which I shall forbear any allusion, inas- 
much as the word in its strict sense implies the highest degree of 
health and muscular power which any horse is capable of ac- 
quiring, and which can only be obtained by a system of training 
to which no young horse, merely bred for profit, need be sub- 
jected, as he will probably sell for more money when in some- 
what high condition than when trained down to mere muscle and 
sinew. 
From some of the above observations it is almost unnecessary 
to observe that to keep horses in good health air should not only 
be freely admitted at all times into the stable, in quantity accord- 
ing to the season, but there should likewise be some internal 
aperture by means of which the air may be made to circulate and 
perfect ventilation be ensured. 
It may be expected that, before I conclude this paper, I should 
say something respecting the profit attached to breeding the 
various sorts of horses of which I have taken notice. This is a 
point of some difficulty, inasmuch as the breeder has many risks 
to run in rearing his young stock, and may also breed several 
colts before he succeeds in obtaining one which shall sell for a 
very high price. Nevertheless, I shall essay something like a 
tolerable calculation of the average value of the cart and carriage 
