BREEDING HORSES. 
689 
consists in “like produce like and this maxim applies not 
only to the production of the qualities of external form and 
utility, but to the constitutional vigour and the predisposi- 
tion to disease. Experience has most fully shown that no 
animal is more liable than the horse to transmit blemishes as 
well as beauties, and that the diseases of all sorts are trans- 
mitted to the progeny ; if not in the first generation, they 
very speedily appear in that immediately succeeding it. This 
consideration increases the necessity of a judicious selection; 
for the propagation of diseases of any kind is even worse 
than the continuation of unsightly forms and of condemned 
points. 
The mare from which the farmer intends to breed must be 
free from disease of any kind ; carcase roomy — barrel wide, 
large, and round formed, with the ribs curving from the back, 
the short rib “ well home / 5 or leaving a small space between 
it and the hook bone 1 — thighs deep and muscular — bone of 
the legs flat and thin — clean of rank hair — must have no 
appearance of swelling or any kind of thickness — feet clean, 
firm, and sound — pasterns short, but not thick and greasy — 
the arm in front wide and brawny — chest deep — shoulders 
oblique, and sloping backwards at the withers and shortening 
the back — top of the shoulder narrow — neck rising in an 
arched form from the withers, and drooping a little to the 
set on of the head — crest strong and firm, and thickening 
downwards — ears long and fine, and quick in motion — eye 
prominent, bold, quick, and lively — face broad between the 
eyes, and tapering to the muzzle — cheek-bone not very broad, 
which shows coarseness — muzzle small — lips short and thin 
— nostrils expanded, but neat — fore-legs standing well for- 
ward, and not under the belly of the animal — bone clean, 
and short in hair — feet standing concave, and not flat — knee- 
joints flat and broad — colour of the animal black, or black- 
brown, with white on the hind feet, but no more. A variety 
of colours shows much cross descent. Horses that are 
white, or even having a white hair mixed in the coat, as grey 
horses, are reckoned to be delicate in constitution, and 
experience seems to confirm the observation. 
The most objectionable points that the farmer has to guard 
against are heaviness of form and dulness in action, and 
round, heavy, hairy legs. These latter indicate disease, and 
never fail to constitute a dull, lumbering animal, with a 
sluggish motion and a funeral pace. In order to remedy 
this defect, ample elements exist, so soon as the farmer is 
able to divest himself of the idea that bone and flesh consti- 
tute strength. A heavy belly of great depth of rib is also 
