206 
ON THE CASTRATION OF COLTS. 
years resided upon a small farm in my neighbourhood, has 
had two or three mares in foal every season, and in rearing the 
colts has adopted the eastern custom of not castrating the 
horses, and in every case where this has been tried I have seen 
it followed by complete success. 
During the period that the young horses remain under the 
charge of his own groom, (and he seldom disposes of them till 
the fourth or fifth year, and sometimes longer,) they have 
Invariably shewn themselves as docile as geldings at the same 
age generally are. Although I must confess, that, in some few 
instances, after passing into other hands, they have been some¬ 
what less tractable. This I think must be owing to bad ma¬ 
nagement generally, or carelessly allowing them to approach 
and tamper with mares while horsing, and which might of 
course be easily avoided. 
The strength, symmetry, and spirit of the horse is always so 
much diminished; and the light, elastic, and bounding step, 
which every one who has been in the habit of riding entire 
horses must have found so agreeable, is so completely lost by 
this operation, that, could breeders be induced to give it up, or 
at least not resort to it until the temper of the horse shewed 
it to be necessary, it would materially tend to improve the 
breed of horses. Every one must have remarked many horses 
cast' in nature’s finest mould rendered, by castration, incapa¬ 
ble of procreating their species. 
Should you insert these few hurried lines in your valuable 
miscellany,' I shall certainly feel proud, and highly obliged by 
having your opinion on the practicability of the plan, with any 
hints upon the subject generally. 
Your obedient servant, 
^ C —N Manor, near Edinburgh, 
May 15, 1828. 
Georgos. 
OUR opinion is dicided, that the . present system of breeding 
cannot be' materially changed; but we give insertion to the 
above letter, because the subject is important, and may elicit 
valuable remarks from some able and experienced correspond¬ 
ent. Edit. 
