54G Breeding and Management of Horses on a Farm. 
able to the farmer. If any accident happen to a fine carriage- 
colt, he is still fit for the work of the farm, unless greatly in- 
jured, an advantage that is not to be derived from the horse of 
better blood and smaller bone; and, if he do well, the sum he 
may realize from the London dealer may be quite equal to that 
brought by the hunter (unless he be a very superior animal), 
besides the gain derived from his being able to do some farm 
work, at least at an early age. 
The profit derivable from the cart-colt must, on the average, 
in most cases, be moderate, and with respect to the hunter is a 
speculation, agreeable, perhaps, but doubtful. Considering the 
first expense of the mare, and the subsequent outlay of from five 
to ten guineas for a stallion of some repute, added to keep for 
one or two years, I would strenuously recommend those farmers 
who are within a moderate distance of the metropolis, who are 
good judges of a horse, and who wish to rear hunters, to buy 
them at the hammer at Tattersall's, at one or two years old, or 
even later, rather than breed them. In the latter case you can- 
not possibly tell what sort of foal your mare may throw, or whe- 
ther some accident may not happen to her in foaling ; whereas 
by buying colts when young, you may form a tolerably correct 
estimate of what sort of horses they will make, and save the 
breeding expenses into the bargain : young colts being frequently 
knocked down at the hammer for less money than they cost their 
owner on the day they were foaled. 
I have now taken a cursory view of the principles on which 
the breeding of good horses should be based, and have likewise 
shown the best method of rearing them, in accordance with the 
laws of physiology. I might, it is true, have entered into a much 
more minute detail of the treatment and general management of 
the horse, but so many works upon this subject are extant, that it 
is unnecessary to do more than allude to them.* There is one 
remark, however, which I will run the risk of repeating, as a 
warning to all breeders ; and that is, never to be smitten with the 
general appearance of either a stallion or mare, if the more im- 
portant points of the frame Mill not bear minute investigation. 
It is in vain that a horse possess a showy crest, or a well-carried 
tail, or have a general bearing that may captivate a novice ; if his 
shoulders, carcass, quarters, joints, and feet be not well shaped, 
* The reader curious in all that relates to horses may consult ' Per- 
cival's Hippo-patholos:y,' ' Youatt on the Horse,' ' Biacey Clarke on 
the Foot of the Horse," Spooner on the same subject, ' White's Veterinary 
Farriery,' and ' How to buy a Horse,' in which everythins; connected with 
the purchase, soundness, and improvement of the horse by stable-manage- 
ment is considered. 
