106 
ON THE MANAGEMENT OF FARM HORSES. 
valuable or worthless ; whilst, on the other hand, there is nothing 
so true as that unhealthy parents will not produce healthy off- 
spring. It is very possible that, where one parent is sound and 
the other diseased, the progeny may turn after the former; but then 
it is just as likely to turn after the latter, and therefore it is very 
unwise to risk the expenses of breeding on such an uncertainty. 
There are few subjects connected with breeding more interesting 
than the relative influence of the male and female parent, and few 
on which such different opinions prevail. Whilst some ascribe 
the principal influence to the male, others consider that it is chiefly 
due to the female, and there are not wanting illustrations that 
appear to support either theory. The freaks of nature (as they 
appear to us) are certainly very curious, and people are often more 
struck by a remarkable exception than even by the rule, and are 
disposed to found their theories accordingly. The Arabs of the 
Desert, so celebrated for their scrupulous attention to the purity 
of their breed of horses, are comparatively indifferent as to the 
stallion, but prize and preserve their mares with the most rigorous 
care. They will part with the former for an equivalent remu- 
neration, but scarcely any thing will induce them to dispose of their 
mares if they belong to the true breed. From this well-known 
fact it has been naturally inferred that they consider the influence 
of the female as pre-eminent, and the supporters of this theory 
adduce the fact just mentioned as a strong argument in its favour. 
Indeed, at first sight it would appear, when we consider the more 
intimate connexion of the female with the offspring, kept up during 
the long space which elapses between conception and birth, that 
the influence of the dam must be greater than the sire. 
Facts, however, appear rather to support an opposite doctrine. 
The offspring of the male ass and the female horse resembles the 
former far more than the latter : the long ears, spare muscular 
development, narrow feet and sluggish action, are almost equal 
peculiarities of the mule and the ass, and strongly attest the 
plebeian origin of the former. The size, too, approximates to the 
ass, for the large Spanish mules we sometimes meet with are 
begotten by asses of great size. 
It is surprising, too, what large colts small mares will breed 
when begotten by horses of great size. Pony mares will thus 
rear stout cobs and galloways ; and well-bred mares about fifteen 
hands high will throw good sized carriage-horses if put to a 
powerful stallion. 
We may, therefore, from these and other similar facts which 
could readily be adduced, be justified in concluding that so far as 
regards the size, general appearance, external form, and muscular 
development, the influence of the male is superior to that of the 
