Horses.—It does not seem necessary in this connection to give descriptions of the various breeds of horses, as comparatively few of our animals can fairly be said to be of any pure or distinct varieties. Names are common enough, but the great majority of the horses among us are so mixed in their descent from the breeds which have been introduced at various times from abroad, as to be almost as near of kin to one as to another. Success in breeding will depend far more upon attention to selection in regard to structure and endowments than to names. Although it may be somewhat beyond the scope of an attempt to treat merely of the principles of breeding to offer remarks regarding its practice, a few brief hints may be pardoned; and first, let far more care be taken in respect of breeding mares. Let none be bred from which are too old, or of feeble constitution, or the subjects of hereditary disease. No greater mistake can be made than to suppose that a mare fit for nothing else, is worthy to be bred from. If fit for this, she is good for much else—gentle, courageous, of good action, durable and good looking; outward form is perhaps of less importance than in the male, but serious defect in this greatly lessens her value. She should beroomy, that is the pelvis should be such that she can well develop and easily carry and deliver the foal. Youatt says, "it may,perhaps, be justly affirmed that there is more difficulty in selecting a good mare to breed from, than a good horse, because she should possess somewhat opposite qualities. Her carcass should be long to give room for the growth of the fœtus, yet with this there should be compactness of form and shortness[27]of leg."
The next point is the selection of a stallion. It is easy enough to say that he should be compactly built, "having as much goodness and strength as possible condensed in a little space," and rather smaller relatively than the mare, that he should be of approved descent and possess the forms, properties and characteristics which are desired to be perpetuated. It is not very difficult to specify with tolerable accuracy what forms are best adapted for certain purposes, as an oblique shoulder, and depth, rather than width, of chest are indispensable for trotting; that in a draft horse this obliquity of shoulder is not wanted, one more upright being preferable, and so forth; but after all, a main point to secure success isrelative adaptation of the parents to each other, and here written directions are necessarily insufficient and cannot supply the place of skill and judgment to be obtained only by careful study and practical experience; nor is it always easy, even iffully aware of the necessary requirements, to find them in the best combination in the horses nearest at hand. A stallion may be all which can be desired for one dam and yet be very unsuitable for another. In this aspect we can perceive how valuable results may accrue from such establishments as now exist in various sections of the country, where not a single stallion only is kept, but many, and where no pains nor expense are spared to secure the presence of superior specimens of the most approved breeds, and choice strains of blood in various combinations; so that the necessary requirements in a sire are no sooner fairly apprehended than they are fully met. On this point therefore, my suggestion is, that this relative adaptation of the parents to one another be made the subject of patient and careful study; and a word of caution is offered lest in the decisions made, too great importance be attached to speed alone. That speed is an element of value is not doubted, nor do I intimate that he who breeds horses to sell, may not aim to adapt his wares to his market as much as the man who breeds neat cattle and sheep, or the man who manufactures furniture to sell. But I do say that speed may be, and often has been, sought at too dear a rate, and that bottom, courage, docility and action are equally elements of money value and equally worthy of being sought for in progeny. Nor is itunlikely that an attempt to breed for these last named qualities, with a proper reference to speed, would result in the production of as many fast horses as we now get, and in addition to this, a much higher average degree of merit in the whole number reared.
Another suggestion may not be out of place. Hitherto (if we except fast trotting) there has been little attention paid to breeding for special purposes, as for draft horses, carriage horses, saddle horses, etc., and the majority of people at the present time undoubtedly prefer horses of all work. This is well enough so long as it is a fact that the wants of the masses are thus best met, but it is equally true that as population increases in density and as division of labor is carried farther, it will be good policy to allow the horse to share in this division of labor, and to breed with reference to different uses; just as it is good policy for one man to prepare himself for one department of business and another for another. The same principle holds in either case.
Sufficient attention has never been paid to the breaking and training of horses. Not one in a thousand receives a proper education. It ought to be such as to bring him under perfect control, with his powers fully developed, his virtues strengthened and his vices eradicated. What usually passes for breaking is but adistant approximation to this. The methods recently promulgated by Rarey and Baucher are now attracting attention, and deservedly too, not merely for the immediate profit resulting from increased value in the subjects, but in view of the ultimate results which may be anticipated; for, as we have seen when treating of the law of similarity, acquired habits may in time become so inbred as to be transmissible by hereditary descent.
[24]This was commenced by a cross of Cœlebs, a Short-horn bull, upon a common cow of remarkable excellence.
[24]This was commenced by a cross of Cœlebs, a Short-horn bull, upon a common cow of remarkable excellence.
[25]Annals of Agriculture, Vol. 11, p. 224.
[25]Annals of Agriculture, Vol. 11, p. 224.
[26]The Hampshires are somewhat larger than the South Downs, and quite as hardy—the fleece a trifle shorter. The Oxford Downs are not to be confounded with the New Oxfordshires.
[26]The Hampshires are somewhat larger than the South Downs, and quite as hardy—the fleece a trifle shorter. The Oxford Downs are not to be confounded with the New Oxfordshires.
[27]Mr. Youatt here probably refers to length below, rather than above, the knee and hock.
[27]Mr. Youatt here probably refers to length below, rather than above, the knee and hock.
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