H 
ON BREEDING*. 
for what quality should we cross with the Arab? Certainly not 
for speed, as “ the most miserable specimens of our race-horses, 
with all the disadvantages of being confined in the suffocating 
hold of a ship, and landed in a foreign climate, no matter w hether 
on the frozen shores of Russia*, or the arid plains of Indiat, with 
little time allow ed for training, walk the course for the best 
stakes, in the face of the best native breed.” It is admitted on all 
sides, that the immediate produce of an Arab horse and an Eng¬ 
lish mare is worthless ; hence it is recommended to wait for the 
third or fourth. This would possibly be the surest method of 
ascertaining the truth; but we believe, that even its strongest 
advocates are unwilling* to incur the risk and expense attendant 
on waiting for the progeny of a fourth cross. 
By referring to the Racing Calendar it will be found that in 
the earlier part of the last century it w r as an uncommon occur¬ 
rence to run horses under four or five years old; and that five 
year old horses were then more common than four. This 
accounts for the durability and superior speed of Childers, Old 
Crab, Eclipse, King Herod, &c. &c. who neither of them ap¬ 
peared before they were five years old. We cannot, then, but 
deeply lament, that so many horses are crippled and done up , 
at an early age, which, had they been allowed the necessary 
time to arrive at maturity, would have equalled Eclipse ana 
those w orthies of old. 
How often do we hear of an extraordinary instance of speed 
exhibited at two years old , in consequence of which the colt 
becomes the rage, and attains an elevation in the sporting circles 
which he is unable to sustain ; for at a time w hen the greatest 
speed and strength is expected from him, he deceives his 
backers, and is immediately put out of favour, and precipitated 
down the Tarpeian rock of disgrace. The rapid grow th of the 
favourite’s popularity is sudden as his downfal; his rise and 
decline are indeed “ pari passu:”— 
“ To-day he puts forth 
The tender leaves of hope; to-morrow blossoms, 
And bears his blushing* honours thick upon him : 
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost; 
And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely 
His greatness is a ripening, nips his root, 
And then he falls, ■■ - - -” 
* Sporting Magazine, October 1825, “ Racing in Russia,” See. 
f A singular fact is related in the “Sporting Magazine,” by an “Absentee:” 
he says, “ that a match was run in Barrackpore between the English horse 
“Recruit,” and an Arab “Pyramus,” who had previously beaten all the 
best Arabs in Calcutta, carrying weight for inches, and receiving seven 
pounds besides: the Arab horse was beaten in a canter. 
