Hints to horse-keepers : a complete manual for horsemen, and chapters on mules and ponies

Front matter

SVS Sy {o ; y

{ Ng ve oS ge

EF sa nee Ae.

Chapter I. How To Breed A Horse—choice Of Stallion

National Value of the Horse—The best class of Horses the cheapest for all purposes— W hat constitutes excellence—Blood: what it gives ; should be on the side of the Sire—Breed up, not down—Diseases and Defecta Hereditary—General Rules - - - - - - 17

CHAPTER. IL.

HOW TO BREED A HORSE—CHOICE OF THE MARE.

Size, Symmetry and Soundness more important than Blood— Points of the Brood Mare—Diseases Hereditary—Condition of the Mare—Should have moderate work when with Foal—Food and care during gestation —Health and temper—General Rules - ° ° : - 25

CHAPTER IIL

HOW TO BREED A HORSE—MUTUAL ADAPTATION OF SIRE AND DAM.

First consideration in Improvement of ‘cold’ Blood—Relative size of Sire and Dam—Defects in either Parent—How Remedied in Progeny— Bloods which “ hit’—General Rules - - - - - - 85

CHAPTER IV.

HOW TO BREED A HORSE—CANADIAN BLOOD.

The Canadian originally the French Norman—Characteristics—Hardihood— Speed—Mode of Improvement—Crossing with Thorough-breds - 465 11)

12 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V.

HOW TO BREED A HORSE—NORMAN BLOOD.

Origin and History of the Percheron Norman—A pure race—Characteristics and Points—Importation into this country ° - - - 61

CHAPTER VI.

HOW TO BREED A HORSE—MODERN ARAB BLOOD.

English and American Thorough-breds derived from Oriental Blood—are now superior to the Modern Arabs—Nolan Arab : ° - 68

CHAPTER VIL.

PONIES—THEIR DIFFERENT BREEDS, CHARACTERISTICS AND UTILITY. Unknown to the Ancients—Origin—Different Breeds—Shetlands and Scote

—Galloways and Narragansetts—Mustangs and Indians—Profit of raising Ponies eR te ee eet hy, or eh ere

CHAPTER VIII.

HOW TO BREED MULES.

Value of Mules—Their History and Natural History—The Mule and Hinney —Thorough-blood wasted in the Dam for Mules—The Mule in the United States—Large Size not Desirable—Varieties of the Ass—The kind of Mares to be selected - ° - - - - - 81

CHAPTER IX.

HOW TO BUY A HORSE. ~

Of whom to Buy it—Extraordinary Cheapness and Extraordinary Excellence not consistent with each other—Points to be Regarded—How to examine the Eye—Broken Wind—Roaring—Whistling—Broken Kneea —To examine the Legs—Splents—Damaged Back Sinews—Spavins— Ringbones—Curbs —Thorough-pin—How to tell the Age ofa Horse 94

CHAPTER X.

HOW TO FEED A HORSE.

Consequences of Improper Feeding—-Different Food for different conditions —Food for the Brood Mare—for the Foal—-For Working Horses— Green Food—Carrots—Corn—Feeding Horses in Training— While Travelling—Summering Horses—The Best Method—Management of Omnibus Horsesin New York - - + + + + «= 193

=

CONTENTS. 13

CHAPTER XI.-

HOW TO STABLE AND GROOM A HORSE.

Roquisites fora good Stable—The economy of Proper Arrangements—V entilation—Grooming; its necessity for all descriptions of Horses—How Performed—Clothing—Treatment of the Horse when brought in from Work - ° ie ° ° 24s - - 139

CHAPTER XII.

HOW TO BREAK, AND USE A HORSE.

What is required in a well-broken Horse—His education should commence when a Colt—Biting—Putting in Harness—How to Use a Horse— Travelling—W orking— Pleasure Horses—Punishment - - 1é\

CHAPTER XIII.

HOW TO PHYSIC A HORSE—SIMPLE REMEDIES FOR SIMPLE AILMENTS.

' Causes of Ailments—Medicines to be given only by the order of the Maste —Depletion and Purging—Spasmodic Colic—Inflammation of the Bowels—Inflammation of the Lungs—How to Bleed—Balls and Purga tives—Costiveness — Cough — Bronchitis — Distemper—Worms—Diseases of the Feet—Scratches—Thrush—Broken Knees : - 163

CHAPTER XIV.

FARRIERY, ETO.

-Castration—Docking and Nicking—Blood-letting—-Treatment of Strains ane Wounds—Galls of the Skin—Cracked Heels—Clipping and Singeing— Administering Medicines—Diseases of the Feet - - - - 184

CHAPTER XV.

HOW TO SHOE A HORSE.

Unskilful Shoers—Anatomy of the Foot Illustrated—The Foot of a Colt— Preparation of the Foot—Removing the Old Shoe—Paring the !oot— The, Shoe—Fitting the Shoe—Nailing—Number of Nails—Diseases of the Foot - me Sigs ers - - - - - : - 219

CHAPTER XVI.

BAUCHER’S METHOD OF TRAINING HORSES.

What Constitutes a Weil-trained Horse—To make him come at your call— The Philosophy of Training—i'lexions of the Jaw—Flexions of thr Neck— Flexions of the Cronp—Backing—-The Paces—Leaping - 241 .

14 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVII.

HOW TO RIDE A HORSE. :

The Sadd.e—The Girths—The Stirrups—Saddle-Cloths—The Crupper—The Martingale—The Bridle—Spurs—Mounting and Dismounting—The Seat —The Hands—The Legs—The Paces—Hints for Special Cases—-The Art of Falling—Riding with Ladies - ° ° ° - - 261

CHAPTER XVIIL

LADIES’ RIDING—WRITTEN BY A LADY.

Learning to Ride—The Side-saddle—The Girths—The Stirrup—The Bridle— The Martingale—The Bit—The Dress—Mounting and Dismounting— The Position—The Hands—The Leg and Whip—Accideuts - 288

CHAPTER XIX.

HOW TO DRIVE A HORSE.

The Art of Driving—Pleasure Driving—How to Hold the Reins—Driving a Pair—Four-in-hand Driving—Driving Working Horses—Plowing— Three-a-breast - - : - : : ° ° : - 304

CHAPTER XX.

RAREY’S SYSTEM OF HORSE-TAMING.

Rarey’s System a New Discovery—Previous System—Principles of this System—TInstructions for practicing Rarey’s Method—To Stable the Horse —To Approach the Horse—Tying up the Leg—Laying the Horse Down —Finale—Vices and Bad Habits —Rearing—Kicking—Baulking—Pulling on the Halter—Shying - - - ° - - - 817

CHAPTER XXI.

RACING.

Training the Racer—Training Stables—Feeding Horses in Training— Laws of Racing—Table of Weights for different Ages--Handicapping 333

CHAPTER XXII.

: VETERINARY HOMEOPATHY.

Principles of tie System—Table of Remedies—General Directions—Treat ment of a Sick Animal—Diet—Remedies for Specific Cases-— Glossary of Diseases : : : : : ° ° - ° - 344

CONTEN'TS, 15

CHAPTER XXIIL CARRIAGES.

General Remarks—Lifferent Varieties of Vehicles—The Wheel, Hub, and Axle—The Springs—The Shafts and Pole—The Body and Top—Painting and Varnishing—Trimming and Plating—Harmony of Colors— How to Keep Carriages in Good Condition - i - 844

CHAPTER XXIV.

HARNESS,

The Quality of Leather—Stitching—The Collar—The Traces—The Sadde and Breeching—The Bridle and Reins—Minor Details—How to Keep Harness in Good Condition - ° ° a cae ae - 402 yp Woon n | l Yy Le Hi Hy Yh)

I H i

SATIRIST.

HINTS 10 HORSE-KEEPERS,

CHAPTER I.

HOW TO BREED A HORSE—CHOICE OF STALLION.

RATIONAL VALUE OF THE HORSE—THE BETTER CLASS OF HORSES THE CHEAPEST FOR ALL PURPOSES—WHAT CONSTITUTES EXCELLENCE ?— “BLOOD ;” WHAT If G1VES—SHOULD BE ON THE SIDE OF THE SIRE— BREED UP, NOT DOWN--DISEASES AND DEFECTS HEREDITARY—GENERAL

_ RULES, . :

To enter into an argument at this day of the nineteenth century, to show that the horse stock of any country is a material item in the account of the national wealth, strength and greatness, would be to admit the arguer him- ~ self an ass, or at least to show that he believed himself to be addressing an audience of asses. In no country in the world, perhaps, is such an argument less needed than in our own, where, certainly, the keeping of horses for the _ purposes of pleasure as well as of utility is more largely disseminated among persons of all classes than in any other, and where the desire and ability both to keep and breed horses of a high grade is daily gaining ground, both in town and country. Among farmers the desire to rise valuable stock is, at least, increasing proportionally to the’ inerease of the profit to be derived from them, which is (17)

18 HOW TO BREED A .AORSE.

advancing every day not in consequence of any casual or temporary caprice, butis attributable to the growing percep: tion of the fact, among all horse-keepers, that it is not only as cheap, if one keeps a horse at all, to keep a good as to keep a bad one, but in reality much cheaper. ‘The prime cost is the only difference to be considered: the price of stable-room keep and care is identical; the wear and tear is infinitely less in the sound, able, useful animal than in the broken-down jade; the work which can be done and the value earned by the one is in no possible relation to those by the other; while, to conclude, the cash value of the superior animal, judiciously worked,—and by judiciously is meant profitably to the owner, as well as moderately and mercifully to the beast,—and properly tended, is actually increasing annually at a greater rate than that at which the inferior animal is deteriorating.

In other words, a four-year-old horse, well bought at a price of two or three hundred dollars or upward, will, when he has attained the age of seven or eight years, after hayving earned his meat and paid the interest of his prime cost by his services, be worth twice the money, either for work- ‘ing purposes or for sale, if the owner see fit to dispose of him; while an animal bought for half or a third of that price, at the same age, will probably, at the same increased age, be wholly worn out, valueless and useless; and the greater the excellence of the animal in the first instance, the greater and more rapid will be the increase in value;

the lower his qualities, to begin, the speedier and more complete the deterioration.

Now, as to-what constitutes value or ipl ee in all horses.—It is indisputably quickness of working; power to move or carry weight, and ability to endure for a length of time; to travel for a distance with the least decrease

CHOICE OF STALLION. 1S of pace; to come again to work day after day, week after week, and year after year, with undiminished vigor. And it is scarcely needful to say that, under all ordinary circumstances these conditions are only compatible with the highest form and highest physical health of the animal. Malformation must necessarily detract from speed and power; hereditary disease or constitutional derangement must necessarily detract from all powers whatsoever. Under usual circumstances it would hardly be necessary to undertake to show that quickness of working, or, in other words, speed, is necessary to a high degree of excellence in a horse of any stamp or style, and not one iota less for the animal which draws the load or breaks the glebe, than for the riding horse or the pleasure traveller before light vehicles. But it has of late become the fashion with some parties to undervalue the advantages of speed, and to deny its utility for other purposes than for those of mere amusement; and, asa corollary from this assumption, to disparage the effect and deny the advantage of blood, by which is meant descent, through the American or English race-horse, from the oriental blood of the desert, whether Arabian, Barb, Turk, Persian or Syrian, or a combination of two or more, or all of the five.

The horse which can plough an acre while another is ploughing half an acre, or that which can carry a load of passengers ten miles while another is going five, independent of all considerations of amusement, taste, or what is generally called fancy, is absolutely worth twice as much to his owner as the other.

Now the question for the breeder is simply this: By what means is this result to be obtained? The reply is, by getting the greatest possible amount of pure blood com patible with size, weight an1 power, according to the pur pose for which he intends to raise stock, into the animal bred. For not only is it not true that speed alone is the only good thing derivable from blood, but something very nearly the reverse is true. It is very nearly the least good thing. That which the blood-horse does possess is a degree of strength in his bones, sinews, and frame at large, utterly out of proportion to the size or apparent strength of that frame. The texture, the form and the symmetry of the bones,—all, in the same bulk and volume,—possess double, or nearer four-fold, the elements of resistance and endurance in the blood-horse that they do in the cold-blooded cart-horse. The difference in the form and texture of the sinews and muscles, and in the inferior tendency to form flabby, useless flesh, is still more in favor of the — blood-horse. Beyond this, the internal anatomical construction of his respiratory organs, of his arterial and venous system, of his nervous: system, in a word, of his constitution generally,—is calculated to give him what he possesses, greater vital power, greater recuperatory power, greater physical power, in proportion to his bulk and weight, than any other known animal—added to greater quickness of movement, and to greater courage, greater endurance of labor, hardship, suffering—in a word, greater (what is called vulgarly) game or pluck than will be found in any other of the horse family.

But it is not to be said, or supposed, that all blood-horses will give these qualities in an equal degree; for there is as much or more choice in the blood-horse than in any other of the family. Since, as in the blood of the thorough-bred horse all faults, all vices, all diseases are directly hereditary, . as well as all virtues, all soundness, all good qualities, it is more necessary to look, in the blood-horse, to his anteeedents, his history, his performances, and, above all, to his

_ CHOICE OF STALLION, | shaye, temper, soundness and constitution, than it is in any other of the horse family.

To breed from a small horse with the hope of getting a large colt; from a long-backed, leggy horse, with the hope of getting a short, compact, powerful one; from a broken-winded, or blind, or, flat-footed, or spavined, or ringboned, or navicular-joint-diseased horse, with the hope of getting asound one; from a vicious horse, a cowardly -horse,— what is technically called a dunghill,—with the hope of getting a kind-tempered and brave one; all or any of these would be the height of folly. The blood sire (and the blood should always be on the sire’s side) should be, for the farmer-breeder’s purposes, of medium height, say 15:1 hands high, short-backed, well-ribbed up, short in the saddle-place, long below. He should have high withers, broad loins, broad chest, a straight run:p,—the converse of what is often seen in trotters, and known as the goose rump ; a high and muscular, but not beefy crest; a lean, bony, well-set-on head; a clear, bright, smallish, well-placed eye; broad nostrils and small ears. His fore legs © should be as long and as muscular as possible above the knee, and his hind legs above the hock, and as lean, short and bony as possible below those joints. ‘The bones can-

not by any means be too flat, too clear of excrescences, or ioo large. The sinews should be clear, straight, firm, and hard to the touch. From such a horse, where the breeder san find one, and from a well-chosen mare (she may be a little larger, more bony, more roomy, and in every way ’ eoarser than the horse, to the advantage of the stock), sound, healthy and well-limbed, he may be certain, acci- . dents and contingencies set aside, of raising an animal that will be creditable to him as a scientific stock breeder, and profitable to him in a pecuniary sense.

22 HOW TO BREED A XORSE.

The great point then to be aimed at is, the combining in the same animal the maximum of speed compatible with sufficient size, bone, strength, and solid power to carry heavy weights or draw large loads, and at the same time to secure the stock from the probability, if not certainty, of inheriting structural deformity or constitutional disease from either of the parents. The first point is only to be attained, first, by breeding as much as possible to pure blood of the right kind; and, second, by breeding what is technically called among sportsmen and breeders, wp, not down: that is to say, by breeding the mare to a male of superior (not inferior) blood to herself,—except where it is desired to breed like to like, as Canadian to Canadian, or Norman, to Norman, for the purpose of perpetuating a pure strain of any particular variety, which may be useful for the production of brood mares. |

By superior blood we mean that which approaches nearer to thorough blood. Thus, a half-bred mare should never be put to a half-bred stallion, as in that case the produce will, in nine cases out of ten, degenerate below the dam; whereas, if she be bred to a thorough-bred the pro duce will be superior, and will continually improve ad infinitum, by adhering to the same process of breeding up. In the second place, a reasonable probability of raising sound and healthy stock can only be attained by carefully selecting parents free from disease, which is either hereditary, or apt to become so.

It is idle for persons at this time of the world, to sneer at the idea of disease or other qualities being hereditary, or transmissible in the blood: it is known, both medically and physiologically, that they areso. All discases of the lungs and windpipe, known as the heaves, as broken wind, as roaring, whistling thick wind, and the like, are, incon

CHOICE OF STALLION. 23 testably, transmissible. Blindness is, if possible, yet more so; and even when one eye is destroyed by accident, if _the other eye, through a sympathetic affection, follow it, we should consider it by no means safe to breed from a horse so injured. Lameness, arising from pure accident, is of course not transmissible; but where a race-horse has broken down, as it is termed, in running,—that is to say, where the sinews, or smaller metacarpal bones, commonly known as the splint bones, have ‘given way from wantof strength sufficient to endure the strain laid upon them,—it will be well. to observe whether there be not some visible defect of the conformation of those parts, tending to undue weakness: such as disproportionate length of the lower or cannon bone of the fore leg, which can scarcely be too short; or the defect which is generally called tying in, consisting of an improper contraction of the volume of the leg, immediately below the _ fore knee, and indicating an insufficiency of the splint bone. These malformations are distinctly hereditary. If a horse, therefore, break down in his fore legs, having such a malformation, the breaking down itself may be said to have been hereditary; and one would, therefore, eschew breeding from such a horse. Now, to give two cases in point: there is probably not a horse in America which a good judge would sooner select, in regard to size, strength, power, and all other qualifications, to which to put country mares, than Boston. He is in every respect the beau: ideal of what, in England, would be considered a hunter getter. And the English hunter is precisely the stamp and style of horse which is the most profitable for the farmer to raise, for all general purposes. No one in England would drive before his carriage, or ride on the road, anything but English hunters, if he could afford thé price ; and, as to their powers for draught or nee it is only necessary to say that men weighing twenty horseman’s stone, or 280 pounds, find no difficulty, being willing to pay the price, in getting hunters nearly thorough-bred—none others than such could do it—capable of carrying them across country, over hedges, brooks and timber, as fast as fox-hounds can run. But—for therc is a tui—Boston went blind, and his best son, Lexington, has gone blind also, first of one eye, and then completely ; and this fatal fact sets Boston aside forever as a eis breeder’s horse.

From the foregoing, then, may be dedneod the following GENERAL RULES: _

First. The more valuable horses are the most economical for all purposes.

Second. The more “blood” compatible with the size required, the better,—the high-bred animal having greater quickness, strength, bottom, health and vigor of constitution, | as well as courage and pluck.

Third. The “blood” should be on theside of the sire ; that.is, the stallion should be pporouen -bred, or at least . purer blood than the mare.

Fourth. Choose a stallion in every respect sound, short backed, well ribbed up, short in the saddle-place and long below, with high withers, broad loins, broad chest, straight rump, a high and muscular but not beefy crest, a lean, bony, well-set-on head, a bright, clear, smallish, well-placed eye, broad nostrils and small*ears. His fore legs above the knee, and the hind legs above the hock, should be long and muscular, and below these joints short and bony. The bones of the legs should be large, flat, and free from excrescences—the sinews clear, straight, and hard to the touch.

CHAPTER IZ.

HOW TO BREED A HORSE.—CHOICE OF THE MARE,

BIZE, SYMMETRY AND SOUNDNESS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BLOOD—POINTSA OF THE BROOD MARE—DISEASES HEREDITARY—OCONDITION OF TEE MARE—SHOULD HAVE MODERATE WORK WHEN WITH FOAL—FOOD AND CARE DURING GESTATION—-HEALTH AND TEMPER—-GENERAL RULES.

WE now come to another and by no means secondary part of the business; that is to say, to the choice of the mares. And here we say that the first thing to be looked for is, not blood nor performances, but size and symmetry, accompaniéd, as a matter of course, by constitutional. and structural soundness. Blood from the sire, beauty from the dam, is the golden rule of the breeder. We know it is commonly said by farmers, concerning some miserable, undersized, ewe-necked, cat-hammed wretch of a mare, broken-winded, ring-boned and spavined, ‘ Oh, she will do to raise a colt out of!” Soshe will! But what will the colt be? ‘The breeder had better, for all purposes, especially for his own pecuniary benefit, have shot her at once; for the colt will not be worth the mare’s grass, let alone the price of the stallion’s services. When we say that blood is not to be looked for, we mean not as a primary necessity. Of course, it is to be looked for, thus,—that a fine mare, having the breeding points finely developed, got by a prime thorough-bred horse, is a preferable animal for a dam, to an equally fine mare who has no thorough yar [25]

20) HOW TO BREED A HORSE, blood at all. But, on the contrary, a mare with all the best bloods in the world in her veins, if she has not good shapes, good size, and good points, is not fit for a stud mare. We do not merely mean as to the absence of actual deformities, or constitutional disease, such as spavin, ringbone or navicular disease, but as to lack of structural excellence and beauty. We go so far as to say that a farmer had far better let alone breeding from a mare which he knows to be herself a good and true one, if she be cross made, unsightly, and deficient in points of strength or in action; for excellence will sometimes be found, accidentally and exceptionally, in all shapes, even the most unlikely. But it will be found, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, that the ill shapes will be transmitted, while _ the excellence will not. Therefore, say we, when a good old mare, however good she may have been, if she want ize, bone, muscular development and form, has done her work, it.is better to let her go, her duties done, than to seek to turn her to farther profit by breeding ‘from her, since the profit is extremely likely to prove a loss. An unproved mare, of fine form and good temper, with plenty -of bone, good constitution, and free from unsoundness or vice, is a better animal from which to raise stock than the toughest bit of mare’s flesh that ever stood on iron, if she materially lack any one of thor conditions.

“Tn choosing the brood mare,” says an excellent modern writer on the horse, though he is speaking of thorough- -breds, “four things must be considered: First, her blood; secondly, her frame; thirdly, her state of health ; aad

- fourthly, her temper.

‘““In frame, the mare should be so formed as to be capable of carrying and well nourishing her off- “spring ; that is, she should be what is called roomy.’ There is a formation of the hips which“is particularly unfit for

CHOICE OF THE MARE, 27 breeding purposes, and yet which is sometimes carefully selected, because it is considered elegant; this is the level and straight hip, in which the tail is set on very high, and the end of the haunch bone is nearly on a level with the projection of the hip bone. Nearly the opposite form is the more desirable, where, on examining the pelvis, it will be seen that the haunch bone forms a considerable angle with the sacrum, and that there is, as a consequence, plenty of room, not only for carrying the foal, but for allowing it to pass intothe world. Both of these points are important, the former evidently so, and the latter no less so on consid: eration; because, if the foal is injured in the birth, either of necessity or from ignorance, it will often fail to recover its powers, and will remain permanently injured. The pelvis, then, should be wide and deep,—that is to say, large and roomy; and there should also be a little more than the average length, from hip to the shoulder, so as to give plenty of bed for the foal, as well as a good depth of back ribs, which are necessary to give the strength to support this increased length. This gives to the whole frame-work of the trunk a larger proportion than is always desirable in the race-horse, which is easily overtopped in race-horses,”—that is to say, they may easily have more body than their legs can properly carry,—‘‘and hence many _ good runners have failed as brood mares, while a great number of bad runners have been dams of good horses. Beyond this roomy frame, necessary as the egg-shell of the foal, the mare only requires such a shape and make as is an adapted for the purpose she is intended for,” that is to say, for producing colts of the style and form she is in-

tended to produce. We will add, that she must have four good legs under her, and those feos standing as a foun: dation on four good, well- -shaped, large feet, open-heeled,

and by no means flat-soled. That she should have a good, lean, bony head, small-eared, broad-fronted, well set on, upon a high, well-carried neck, thin at its junction with the head; high withers, thin, and, above all, long, sloping shoulders. A straight shoulder is an abomination; it renders speed impossible, and gives a rigid, inflexible motion, often producing the bad fault of stumbling. She should be wide-chested, and deep in the heart-place. Her quarters — should be strong, well let down, long and sickle-shaped above the hocks. It is better that she go with her hocks somewhat too wide apart than too near together—the former point indicating power, the latter, weakness of a ‘bad kind. It has been shown that a brood mare may, nay, should, be considerably longer in the back than one would choose a working horse to be; but if she be particularly so, it is desirable to put her to a short-backed and - close-coupled horse.

“In health,” says the same writer who has been quoted above, ‘‘the brood mare should be as near perfection as the artificial state of the animal will allow; at all events, it is the most important point of all; and in every case the mare should be very carefully examined with a view to discover what deviations from a natural state have been entailed upon her by her own labors, and what she has inherited from her ancestors. Independently of the consequence of accidents, all deviations from a state of health in the mare may be considered as more or less transmitted to her, because, in a thoroughly sound constitution, no ordinary treatment, such as training consists of, will produce disease; and it is only hereditary predisposition which, under this process, entails its appearance. Still there are positive, comparative and superlative degrees of objectionable diseases incidental to the brood-mare, which should be accepted or refused accordingly. AJl accidental de- ' fects, such as broken knees, dislocated hips, or even

CHOICE OF THE MARE. 29 breaks-down,’ may be passed over; the latter, however,

only when the stock from which the mare is descended © are famous for standing their work without this frailty of sinew and ligament. Spavins, ringbones, large splents, side- bones, and, in fact, all bony enlargements, are constitutional defects, and will be almost sure to be perpetuated, more or less, according to the degree in which they exist in the particular case. Curby hocks are also hereditary, -and should be avoided; though many a one, much bent at the junction of the os caleis and astragalus, is not at all liable to curbs. It is the defective condition of the ligaments there, not the angular junction, which leads to curbs; and the breeder should carefully investigate the individual case before accepting or rejecting a mare with suspicious hocks. -Bad feet, whether from contraction or from too flat and thin a sole, should be avoided; but when they have obviously arisen from bad shoeing, the defect may be passed over. Such are the general considerations bearing upon soundness of limb.

‘“ Broken-winded mares seldom breed, and they are therefore out of the question, if for no other reason; but no one would risk the recurrence, even if he could get such a mare stinted. Roaring is a much-vexed question, which is by no means theoretically settled among our chief veterinary authorities, ncr practically by our breeders. Every year, however, it becomes more and more frequent and important, and the risk of reproduction is too great for any person wilfully to run, by breeding from a roarer. As far as I can learn, it appears to be much more hereditary on the side of the mare than on that of the horse; and not even the offer of a “ Virago” should tempt me to use her as a brood-mare. There are so many conditions of what is termed “roaring,” that it is difficult to form any opinion that shall apply to all cases. In some _ mstaneces, where it has arisen from neg'ected strangles,— generally known in the United States as colt distemper,— or from a simple inflammation of the larynx, the result of a cold, it will probably never reappear; but when the genuine ideopathic roaring has made its appearance, apparently depending upon a disease of the nerves of the larynx, it is ten to one that the offspring will suffer in the same way. BY ‘Blindness, again, may or may not be hereditary; but in all cases it should be viewed with suspicion as great as that due to roaring. Simple cataract, without inflammation, undoubtedly runs in families; and when a horse or mare has both eyes suffering with this disease without any other derangement of the eye, I should eschew them carefully. When blindness is the result of violent inflammation brought on by mismanagement, or by influenza, or by any similar cause, the eye itself is more or less disorganized; and though this is of itself objectionable, as showing a weakness of the organ, it is not so bad as the regular cataract.” The writer quoted is one of much and standard authority, yet it is questionable whether, in his desire to put the question fairly in all its lights, he has not laid too little rather than too much stress on both these perilous affections. We should say, under no possible circumstances breed from a stallion which has any affection of any kind, of the respiratory organs, whether seated in the lungs or in the windpipe, or from one which has any affection of the eyes, unless it be the direct result of an accident, such as a blow or a puncture,—nor even then if the accident having occurred to one eye, the other has sympathetically followed suit; and, on the other side, we should say, on no account breed from a mare affected in either way, unless she be possessed of some excellencies so extraordinary and countervailing that for the sake of preserving the stock, one