614 
ON BREEDING. 
instead of being* mixed; and in some rare eases it has been 
spotted. ’ 
Those are strong arguments in favour of pedigree, and which 
shew the necessity of the breeder's making his selection of such in¬ 
dividuals as are most conspicuous for their descent; for it cannot 
be denied that an old family, which has preserved its name and 
character for many generations, must have possessed a very solid 
one, or in the course of time it would have been shaken away. 
“ Fortes creantur fortibus et bonis: 
Est in juvencis, est in equis patrum 
Vertus : nec imbellem feroces 
Progenerant aquilae columbam. 
From valour, valour springs, from merit worth; 
The generous steer, the courser prove 
The virtues of illustrious birth; 
Nor do fierce eagles breed the timid dove / 7 
One of the causes that have tended to deteriorate the breed of 
hunters and hackneys is attributed to the encouragement given 
by gentlemen of the turf to the production of a breed of horses, 
in turf language ycleped “ cocktails’’—animals wanting the 
strength, activity, and mildness of the hunter, but possessing’ 
generally all the defects of the blood-horse. Such a breed 
cannot improve the former, and certainly can be of no service to 
the latter. This is one of the causes; but the principal cause is 
quite different. Our race of thorough-breds are (and we will en¬ 
deavour to prove it by and bye) at a higher state of perfection 
than ever they were; but this is not the case w ith hunters and 
roadsters. If the same care was taken of the breed of the latter, 
by'selecting none but mares and stallions that are conspicuous 
for pedigree, symmetry, temper, and constitution—in short, all those 
points that are most likely to produce the required qualities, as 
is practised by breeding thorough-breds—we should not long have 
to complain of the lack of useful and serviceable horses. 
"*■ # • £ 
“ Alike their labours, each alike requires 
Spirit and youth, and speed that never tires.” 
We have already stated, that breeding cannot be reduced to a 
certainty; but that is no reason why it should be left to chance. 
We have never yet met with a bad-shaped mare and stallion pro¬ 
ducing a fine offspring. Therefore unless the sire and dam pos¬ 
sessed those essential points that are most likely to produce the 
necessary qualities in their progeny, we would not breed from 
them, 
“ Though oft they chased the foe, or vaunt their breed 
From Argos, or the sea-god’s earth-born steed.” 
