■R,

LIBRARY

OF

LEONARD PEARSON

VETERINARIAN

« -G>

0

^

D\s

c:

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2009 with funding from

Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation

http://www.archive.org/details/youngracehorseOOgilb

THIRD EDITION

YOUNG RACE-HORSES

(SUGGESTIONS FOR REARING)

Sir WALTER GILBEY, Bart.

London

VINTON & CO., Ltd.

9, New Bridge S lreet, Ludgate Circus, E.C.

189S

Q313

UNi

.a

o

3

di

INTRODUCTION

/ trust that my practical experience as a
breeder of most descriptions of stock may be
held to excuse me for offering an opinion on
so important a subject as the rearing and
feeding of blood stock. I skotcld not venture
to put forward the suggestions in the following
pages had not its application to horses and
cattle been productive of strikingly beneficial
results.

The history of the horse, including the
race-horse, has been my study for many years.
I have also carefully watched the success
which has attended the horses of certain
studs from the days of Mr. Bowes, Lord
Glasgow, Mr. Merry, Sir Joseph Haw ley,
Lord Falmouth and the Hampton Cowl
St?id down to the horses bred and raced in
more recent ti??zes.

Whenever large breeding studs have been
established, I have found in every instance

VI.

that after a period the animals have failed
to maintain their original standard of excel-
lence. I am convinced that their deterioration
has been due to the overgrazing of the land
whereon the dams and young stock were
pastured — overgrazing or "staling" of the
larid reacting ttnfavourably on the horses;
a?id that soundness, bone, muscle and stamina
depend very largely upon the treatment of
the dams and young animals which, above
all things, need fresh and untainted grazing.

Elsenham Hall, Essex,
July, i8g8.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Writers on the Subject ... ... ••• ••• ■•• 7

The Horse in his Primitive State 7

Over-stocking and consequent Deterioration 8

Letting Grass Lands : restrictions as to Horses 9

Stale Pastures unfavourable to Horses n

Failures with Young Stock n

The Effect of Artificial Feeding M

The Trainer's Difficulty ... IS

Natural Treatment and Food ... ... ... ... 15

Treatment of Mare from Conception 16

Mouths of Horse and Ox • •■• 18

To Breed the Best 21

Experience gained with Heavy Horses ... 22

Race-horses in America ... ... ... ... ••• 23

Australian Horses ••• 25

German Horses ... ... ... 26

Limestone Soil ... ... ... ... •■• ••• 27

Other Soils 28

Climate 29

Increase in size of Thoroughbreds ... ... ... ... 29

Luck, or Racing Uncertainties ... 30

Conclusions ... ... ••■ 32

WRITERS ON THE SUBJECT.

The art of breeding, rearing and training
race-horses has been the theme of writers
both numerous and well-informed ; the books
on the subject would of themselves form a
considerable library ; but it is strange that of
all these authorities, among whom we include
the celebrated writer C. J. Apperley —
" Nimrod " ; C. Bindley — " Harry Hieover" ;
R. S. Surtees ; Captain F. W. Carlton, —
" Craven " ; and other contributors to the old
sporting magazines, with their exhaustive
knowledge, not one has fully grasped the
significance of the example set by the horse
in his primitive state, nor realised the potent
influence wrought by natural habit of life on
stamina and constitution.

THE HORSE IN HIS PRIMITIVE STATE.

Not one of these writers has touched upon
the subject of herbage, on the importance of
providing fresh and untainted pastures, or on
the evil results of over-stocking. One most

prominent characteristic of the horse in his
native wilds has apparently quite escaped
their notice, or at least has suggested nothing
to them : that characteristic is the singularly
wide and continuous roaming of the horse in
search of food ; a habit which indicates the
animal's craving for fresh grazing, for new
pastures whereon he may find natural grasses
whose luxuriance has supported no animal
life, at all events for some considerable time.
When we remember that the wild horse
chooses his daily, almost hourly, feed over
a wider area than does any other beast- — is
even a greater wanderer than was ever the
bison on his limitless prairies — it is impossible
to ignore the fact that the primary result, if
not the first purpose, of such continuous
roaming is to provide the horse with the
freshest grazing.

OVER-STOCKING AND CONSEQUENT
DETERIORATION.

Omission to appreciate this fact at its true
value is the more curious because it is a
matter of common knowledge among agri-
culturists and breeders that over-stocking
results in material injury to pasturage. The
domestic fowl "stales" or taints the land
whereon it runs in such degree that poultry

farming on any considerable scale has in-
variably failed owing to the disease which
the birds have contracted thereby. Pheasants
are even more liable to maladies brought
about in the same way, but the higher price
commanded by pheasants enables the breeder
to rent a sufficiently large area of land to
afford the birds the frequent changes to fresh
soil their health and well-being require. In
the days of cock-fighting those who devoted
themselves to the sport knew well that fresh
ground was essential to the rearing of strong
and hardy birds ; hence it was the practice
in the cock-fighting days to insert in leases a
clause to the effect that the tenant farmer
should "run a game cock" for his landlord.
The system of walking puppies for the
Master of the Hounds is a modern parallel
which at once suggests itself.

LETTING GRASS LANDS ; RESTRICTIONS AS
TO HORSES.

More than this, we find in the agreements
relative to the letting of grass lands in certain
counties stipulations that prove recognition
of the fact that horses cause peculiar damage
to pasture. In Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Cam-
bridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, and Denbigh-
shire, and doubtless in other parts of England,

IO

it has long been customary to restrict the
number of horses which may be grazed on
any given area. The following details are
taken from the schedule of the auctioneer's
bill for the letting of " Crow's Marshes " in
Norfolk last year : —

Names of Marshes

Head of Horse
Stock Allowed

Big Thurston Marsh
Thurston Hill Marsh ...
Thurston Fifteen Acre Marsh
Two Marshes over Brick-Arch
Bill Thurston Marsh
Fowler's Marsh ...

The above shows that on an average not
more than one horse may be grazed on
about six acres. It is to be remarked also
that while the "stipulations" as to letting
contain the clause "The hirers will be
restricted to the number of horse stock as
stated in the particulars to each lot," there is
no restriction concerning the head of cattle
which may be grazed thereon. Other docu-
ments of the same character show that on
some of the best and richest pastures in
Lincolnshire horses are not allowed at all.
One such bill containing particulars of
twenty-four paddocks and fields aggregating
over 218 acres specifies four fields measur-
ing about thirty acres in all, as lots on which
horses may be grazed.

1 1

STALE PASTURES UNFAVOURABLE TO HORSES.

Horse breeders have not grasped the fact
that this deterioration of the horses' food
reacts unfavourably upon the animals them-
selves ; or if they have done so none of
the writers on breeding and rearing have
referred to it. The only statement bearing
on this point that some considerable research
has revealed was that made by Lord
Charlemont, who, as the largest breeder
of all sorts of horses in Ireland at the. time,
gave evidence before the Select Committee
of the House of Lords on Horses in 1873.
Lord Charlemont, referring to his establish-
ment, Charlemont Fort, said (answer to
Question 652), "I may say that I have
three or four farms for the purpose of chang-
ing about. / am satisfied that horses, like
any other animals, eventually soil the land,
and they require to be removed and shifted
from one place to another to preserve their
health and soundness."

FAILURES WITH YOUNG STOCK.

From the first selection of the foundation
stock, whether the mare be one which has
been running faithfully for her owner, or was
selected for stud purposes, the occupation

12

of breeding young horses is a source of
pleasure both immediate and in anticipation ;
and whether it be undertaken as a means of
profit or otherwise, the one object in view
should be to breed the best, especially in
days like these when the standard of merit
required to attain success is raised so very
high.

It has been well said that a great majority
of our race-horses at the present day are
carefully as well as expensively bred, also
they are reared with care, abundantly fed,
and when put into training or sent to the
sale ring are as handsome as they can
possibly be made. Up to this point their
breeders can regard them with unmixed
satisfaction.

Unfortunately, this is only the threshold
of the young race-horse's career ; and too
often his claims to public notice begin and
end with the price his sire's reputation
obtains for him under the hammer. The
animals which succeed on the Turf, after
realising a long figure in the sale ring, are
very few in number ; how few is not
generally recognised, and in this connection
it will be interesting to refer to an article
on " Blood Stock Sales in 1897," which was
published in the Times of 27th December
last : —

" There has not been quite such a rush to pay high
prices for yearlings which are either related to horses
that have distinguished themselves on the Turf or
are promising in appearance, as buyers are gradually
becoming alive to the fact that yearlings sold for a
1,000 guineas or upwards are nearly always failures.
No more striking illustration of this could be had
than in connection with those sold in 1896 for a total
of 51,250 guineas. These were thirty-two in number,
ranging from a filly by St. Simon — Dart, who cost
5,100 guineas and has run once without success, to
Meldola, a filly by Melton — Fame, who has been
beaten each time she ran. These thirty-two yearlings
are represented by two winners of five races, Florio
Rubattino and La Veine, who have contributed about
,£"2,000 to the total cost ; and there is not, so far as
can be known, a single one of the remaining thirty
with any prospect of making a race-horse. It may
be said that Mr. Wallace Johnstone's Disraeli should
be included in the computation, as he was sold by
Sir Tatton Sykes for 1,000 guineas, but this was not
at the hammer. He may, however, be included for
the sake of argument, and the 1,005 which he won at
Derby may be added to the total. Even so the return
is a very poor one, and it is the same with the
yearlings which fetched high prices in all the preced-
ing seasons, no matter how far back the search is
carried. Thus in 1895, twenty-two yearlings were
sold for 46,200 guineas, and they won three races
worth ^"1,080 last season, and one worth ^"100 this ;
while the twenty-two sold for 34,850 guineas as
yearlings in 1894 have not, though their racing career
is in nearly every case over, earned one half of what
they originally cost, their only winning representative
this season having been Knight of the Thistle, who
secured three races worth about ^3,000. If the
calculation is carried back as far as 1883, when these
high prices became frequent, the general result will
be found to be the same."

The smallness of the percentage of even
tolerably successful horses out of the prodi-
gious number bred at an enormous outlay
should convince owners that a youngster
must possess attributes other than good
breeding and good looks if he is to be worth
training, much more become a classical
winner.

THE EFFECT OF ARTIFICIAL FEEDING.

All young stock must have good food to
promote their development, but this should
not be strong artificial food which young
animals cannot assimilate with their natural
stomachic juices. The fatted horse, fed on
artificial food, will of a necessity be a source
of trouble to his trainer, as before muscle can
be put on useless flesh must be worked off to
the detriment of his feet and legs ; and dur-
ing this process the proper development of
the young horse is retarded if not altogether
at a standstill. Thorough-bred foals, like
all young highly bred stock, are liable to
"joint-ill " and diseases of the joints. These
ailments are due to their close confinement
in boxes and to the artificial life led by foals.
Such diseases seldom or never occur anions
young" horses whose dams are allowed liberty
and which are pastured in fields that are
not over-stocked.

THE TRAINER S DIFFICULTY.

The over-fed young animal which has not
had natural exercise comes to the trainer in a
condition that demands hard work while he
is physically incapable of standing- it ; and
the endeavour to give such a candidate
sufficient exercise results in most cases in
enlargement of the fetlocks and round joints.
On the other hand, the young horse which
from his earliest days has enjoyed large
liberty and has indulged his innate love of
galloping comes to the trainer in the best
possible condition to be prepared for the
business of his life.

The trainer's work is rendered heavier
and more difficult by the grossness of condi-
tion which too often is the foundation of
disappointment to the owner. It is worth
remembering that in the old days of four
mile heats and heavy weights when the
gentleman breeder was the owner of the
horse trained under his personal supervi-
sion he allowed the youngster plenty of
fresh pasturage, and did not "force" him
with artificial food as is now too often done.

NATURAL TREATMENT AND FOOD.

Horses, then, should enjoy as far as
possible the conditions of life which nature

i6

has prescribed ; that is, be allowed ample
space over which to roam and graze in
imitation of the extensive and perpetual
travels of the horse on his native plains
which bring him daily to fresh and untouched
grazing.

Disregard of this cardinal feature in the
life habit of the horse accounts in some
measure, as I venture to think, for the
multitude of failures which so persistently
doe the best and most careful endeavours of
the breeder. Adopting a method at variance
with the laws of nature, he expects to
succeed while actually courting failure ; and
he can hardly hope to stem the tide of what
he calls "bad luck " unless he recognise that
pedigree and good looks avail nothing
against over-stocked or tainted pasture and
artificial feeding.

TREATMENT OF MARE FROM CONCEPTION.

Nor will it suffice to reserve natural treat-
ment for the newly-born foal ; the dam —
and this is a point to which the breeder's
attention may be directed as one upon which
it is impossible to insist too strongly— the
dam, from the moment she conceives or is
known to be in foal, should be grazed only
on pastures which for a long period have not
known the print of a hoof.

i7

Professor Ewart, in his recently published
pamphlet, A Critical Period in the Develop-
ment of the Horse (Adam and Charles
Black), makes, though not in this immediate
connection, some remarks which point to the
extreme importance of following Nature in
our treatment of the horse : —

" The question now arises, can anything be done to
prevent mares breaking service ? In dealing with the
horse, the fact must never be lost sight of that he is
an extremely high-strung animal, liable in a panic to
completely lose the little self-control he has inherited
from his wolf-worried ancestors. This nervousness,
which was his salvation when in a wild state, has in
some respects been increased rather than diminished
by the unnatural life it is now his lot to lead. The
horse has strong likes and dislikes, and frets often
when separated from his companions. This being
the case, it will be easily understood that sudden
changes — changes of temperature, of food, of com-
panions, changes of his surroundings or environment
generally — will greatly influence mares, more es-
pecially at the breeding season.

" At the beginning of the breeding season changes
of food, of temperature, and of the surroundings
generally, should be made as carefully and judiciously
as possible ; and during at least the first two months
after service the mares should neither be over-
excited nor over-exerted, neither chilled nor over-
heated, neither over- nor under-fed, and, in fact, all
extremes should be carefully avoided."

It thus appears that in applying natural
methods with a view to the accomplishment
of one important end we shall be achieving

another, or at least avoiding a literally vital
danger.

It is an axiom among- breeders that the
mare in corn seldom stands to the horse ;
for which reason brood-mares are always
sent to grass for some weeks before being

Mouth of Horse — Showing how Teelh Meet.

put to the stallion. In other words, arti-
ficial feeding is productive of such influence
on the constitution of the mare, that her
reproductive powers are seriously impaired
and can only be restored by a return to
natural food.

MOUTHS OF HORSE AND OX.

The horse and the ox in their natural
state are purely herbivorous, subsisting

19

exclusively on herbage or vegetable food ;
their modes of grazing, however, differ
widely one from the other, and in this
difference we discover the reason why the
horse inflicts injury upon pasture so much
more rapidly and in so much greater degree
than the ox. The structure of the mouth
of each shows that they must collect their
feed in very different ways.

Mouth of Ox — Showing pad in upper jaw.

The upper lip is lifted to display the pad against which the front
teeth of the lower jaw perform their function.

The upper and lower jaws of the horse
are each furnished with front or cutting teeth
which meet like a vice, evenly and close
from corner to corner, and the animal is thus
enabled to take so sharp a hold on the
herbage that he tears and bruises every stem

20

that comes between his teeth. He also bites
close to the ground thereby bruising and
injuring the crown of the plant.

The ox — from its fifth year, when it is
said to be " full mouthed " — has eight cut-
ting teeth in the front of the lower jaw and
none in the front of the upper jaw to corres-
pond ; the cutting teeth in the lower jaw
of the bullock work against a fibrous and
elastic pad which fulfils the office of teeth
in the forepart of the upper jaw. The
grass is collected and rolled together with
the long flexible tongue of the bullock and
held firmly between the cutting teeth and
this pad aided by the upper lip, to be torn,
not bitten off.

It is evident, therefore, that the stems are
less bruised by the mouth of the bullock than
by the teeth of the horse. It is hoped that
the illustrations will explain this more fully.

The grasses destroyed by the horse take
from three to five years to come again, and
this is particularly noticeable with the white
clover and natural small grasses which form
so essential a portion of his diet. Great im-
portance attaches to the quality and quantity
of the grasses in horse pastures, because
these rather than his artificial food conduce
to the growth and development of bone and

21

muscle. It must be added that his droppings
differ somewhat in character from those of
cattle and lack their fertilising properties.

TO BREED THE BEST.

The breeder wishing to breed the best
should therefore refrain from grazing his
in- foal mares and young stock on pastures
which have been continually and recently
grazed by horses ; preference must be given
to fields in which horses have not fed for at
least three years, and for longer if possible.
Thus the dams and young-sters will obtain
fresh, untainted food. During the past few
years much arable land has been laid down
in grass and the young herbage on such
lands will be found suitable for grazing
young horses, being far superior for the
purpose to stale and over-fed old grass. It is
to be observed also that the rich fattening
pastures such as those which will "finish" a
bullock without cake are not the most suitable
for horses. The object is not to lay on meat
which animals grazed on rich lands have a
tendency to do, but to gain flesh that will
nourish the muscle developed by work.
The deer of the mountains and the hare
found on downs whose grass is poor rather
than rich are proverbial for their activity, the

22

result of muscular elasticity ; and the same
animals in parks and on low pasture lands
where the grass is rich have neither the
same speed nor equal endurance.

The number of animals should be strictly
limited in accord with the area of the stud
farm, which should be sufficiently extensive
to allow periodical changes to fresh land ;
one yearling to every five or six acres is
plenty. On this point my experience in
breeding stock, especially horses, has led me
to form a very strong opinion.

EXPERIENCE GAINED WITH HEAVY HORSES.

An instance of the benefit derived from
the treatment advocated may be mentioned
here, though it is an experience gained in
breeding heavy horses. The theory of fresh
grazing has been tested by placing a certain
number of mares, on their return from
service by the best sire money could procure,
upon land where the pasture was not fresh ;
in the following year the same number of
mares, served by the same sire, under iden-
tically similar circumstances, have been
placed on pastures which had been freshly
laid down, or upon old grass land on which
horses had not been grazed for several years.
The produce in the latter case have been to

an extraordinary extent superior in bone,
muscle and constitution to their brothers and
sisters of the previous year. I can attribute
their superiority to nothing else than their
"nature's" feeding. These tests of the
fresh-grazing theory have not been confined
to one year, but have run over several years.

Is it too much to assume that a method
which has been productive of such strikingly
good results in respect of size, muscle and
bone with young heavy horses would be
equally applicable to young blood stock ?

I may say that I have been carefully
watching the exhibits of such horses at the
various shows, and am convinced the success
of many animals is due to the fact that they
had been grazed upon land which had not
been over-horsed. In some cases the winners
came from studs which had been recently
established upon land that had grazed only
oxen before. I may add that similar ex-
amples of show-yard success among sheep
could be cited to prove the potent influence
for good that is exercised by fresh grazing.

RACE-HORSES IN AMERICA.

The form displayed by American horses
of late years offers testimony in support of
the theory. It may be urged that it is un-

24

just to measure American race-horses as a
breed by the performances of the few which
visit this country, these being the best the
States can produce ; but on the other hand
we have the opinion of the American jockey
Sloane, who made so conspicuous a mark
here last autumn. In conversation with
racing men in this country he is said to
have stated his belief that, apart from
Persimmon and Galtee More, the English
race-horse was not superior to the average
American bred horse ; and " not superior "
can only be read as the polite expression for
" inferior."

If Sloane's opinion be correct, the superi-
ority of the American horses cannot be
accounted for by any difference in breeding.
The imported English sires Messenger and
Shark, exported 1786, laid the foundations
of the thoroughbred on the other side of
the Atlantic, and since that date Americans
have been regular purchasers of breeding
stock in this country, taking some of our best
sires. In 1835, the Earl of Egremont's
Chateau Margaux, the only son of Whale-
bone, was exported and in the same year His
Majesty's Tranby was sold to an American
purchaser for 7,000 guineas. The names of
several great sires which have been sent

25

over to the United States will occur to every
student of Turf history.

May it not be that the superiority of race-
horses reared in America, if they be superior,
is attributable to the advantages enjoyed by
their breeders in possessing immense areas
of pasturage in Kentucky and other states?
These pastures, thanks to their size, have
never been staled or tainted by over-stocking,
and to the freshness of their grazing is no
doubt due the stamina and gameness that
seem to distinguish these American-bred
horses.

AUSTRALIAN HORSES.

The popularity in India of the Australian
horse, or "Waler," is due not only to his
superiority in size and weight-carrying power
over Arabs and country breds but to the
soundness of constitution and limb for which
Australians are famed. The conditions under
which these horses are bred tend to produce
a sound and useful animal. Some of the
best English blood has been imported by
Colonial breeders, who have the advantage
of a warm and dry climate, and, as in
America, vast ranges of grass land over
which the horses feed. Furthermore the
mobs or droves of horses have an incentive

26

to travel in the frequent scarcity of watering"
places ; there are localities where at certain
seasons the horses may be obliged to travel
twenty miles to find the "water hole" or
stream whereat they can quench their thirst ;
and it is obvious that such extensive and
frequent travels in search of water must
have as a result continual change of pasture.

GERMAN HORSES.

In the memorandum submitted by Major-
General Beauchamp Walker, Military Attache
at Berlin, for the information of the Select
Committee on Horse Breeding in 1873,
already referred to, we find the following
remarks on the cavalry horses of Germany.
General Walker quotes from a conversation
he had held with a general officer of cavalry
" who had also had for nearly a year the
direction of the country studs : " —

" Secondly, he attributed the great endurance of
the Prussian horse to the hard and healthy life led
by both mare and foal. Sturdy mother, sturdy child.
In a great part of these provinces, in Posen and
Silesia, the mares and foals, though by no means
starved, have to roam over a large extent of ground
in search of their daily feed, and necessarily pass
the greater part of the time in the open air. This
develops muscles and lungs, particularly the former.

General assured me that a mare and foal

seldom travelled over less than from four to five

2/

German miles [The meile=4.'68o$ miles English] in the
course of the twenty-four hours, and that he considers
this exercise conduced to give these horses that pre-
dominance over straw-yard or stall-fed horses which
there was no denying was apparent when comparing
the Prussian with other breeds in Germany."

The compulsory exercise is, of course,
highly beneficial to the growing youngster ;
but continuous exercise without good natural
food cannot produce muscle and lay the
foundation of the sound constitution which
gives endurance. The officer quoted by
General Beauchamp Walker was uncon-
sciously giving valuable evidence in support
of the theory upheld in these pages.

LIMESTONE SOIL.

The subject of grazing cannot well be
dismissed without passing reference to the
subjects of soil and climate, which are
necessarily involved therewith. As regards
soil, much may be said ; there are probably
very few soils in England which are unsuit-
able for horse rearing. Limestone is usually
put first in order of merit, exceptional bone-
producing qualities being attributed to it ;
but is it not a fact that limestone soils (pro-
vided that the substratum is not of such
character as will retain the wet on the sur-
face of the land) produce the best grasses
and clovers which in oreat measure are the

28

factors, under proper treatment, in the
development of the horse ? We need not
question the bone-producing properties of
limestone soil ; but recognition of their exist-
ence must not blind us to the fact that lime-
stone soil has grass-producing properties to
which, perhaps, its merits may with more
correctness be referred. Another point in
favour of the limestone subsoil is its dryness;
it usually gives out into brooks an abundant
supply of the good hard water which is
essential for animals' drinking.

OTHER SOILS.

The deep soils of the Midlands and York-
shire have also proved favourable to horse
rearing, for, though the subsoil is most
generally clay, they are well drained ; and
although these lands grow herbage less
succulent than those produced by limestone,
they have compensating advantages in being
of wide extent and exceedingly healthy.
Where not over-stocked they' had served
admirably for horse-breeding purposes.

The soil and climate of the East are
obviously those best suited to the horse. On
dry soils and in warm climates he attains
his greatest perfection in shape and propor-
tion and fitness for all the highest purposes

29

for which horses can be employed ; and it is
therefore reasonable to suppose that in this
country sandy or gravelly loams with chalky
bottoms are also good ; always provided that
the substratum is not of such nature as to
retain the wet on the surface. Pasturage on
these soils must, however, be used with
judgment, and required to carry less stock in
proportion to their acreage than pastures on
limestone or clay.

CLIMATE.

In regard to climate, although England
can be placed before any other European
country, Ireland undoubtedly claims pre-
eminence for the reason that its humid
atmosphere so perfectly co-operates with the
limestone soil in producing those particular
horse grasses to which reference has already
been made. Further, it must not be for-
gotten that up to the present time in Ireland
the horse has not over-crowded his pastures ;
and probably we may attribute something of
Ireland's pre-eminence to the greater rapidity
with which grasses "come again," thanks to
the humidity of the climate.

INCREASE IN SIZE OF THOROUGHBREDS.

Better proof of the suitability of the
British Isles for horse breeding- cannot be

tJNIVff. ?.SJTV

3°

found than in the steady and remarkable
progress which Turf history shows us has
taken place in the size of our thoroughbreds.
At the beginning of the last century the
thoroughbred seldom exceeded a height of 14
hands 2 inches ; but from about 1740 to 1770
a compact horse of 1 5 hands was described as
"a racer competent to carry 12 stone." He
has ever since been increasing in stature, on
an average one inch in twenty-five years, till
we now seldom proclaim him a race-horse of
the first-class unless he stands 15*3 to 16
hands. In speed, he has far surpassed the
Arab stock whence he sprang. The Scale of
Weights in Weight for Age, and Weight for
Age and Class Races, adopted by the
Calcutta Turf Club, shows the difference that
separates the English horse and the Arab
on the modern Indian Turf; the weight
allotted a horse of the former class by this
scale is always at least three stone more than
that awarded an Arab of the same age when
the two meet in the same event.

LUCK, OR RACING UNCERTAINTIES.

When the propositions enunciated in the
foregoing pages are applied to facts, do we
not find much to strengthen them in the
modern history of our breeding studs ? We

31

see well-established and successful studs
degenerate, not from any want of capital or
energy, but simply from loss of quality in
the animals produced ; and the waning for-
tunes of owner or stable are glibly referred
to "a vein of bad luck." On the other hand,
we see newly-formed studs spring in a season
into celebrity by furnishing great winners ;
this is "a streak of good luck," if we are to
believe the public spokesmen of the Turf.
In my humble opinion there is no such thing
as " luck " so potent in its mystery that the
fortunes of one establishment consistently
decline while those of another rise without
apparent reason or cause. Is it not at least
possible that the success of a breeder wanes
when his over-stocked and over-grazed
pastures, staled by generations of horse-flesh,
begin to react upon the animals which fed
thereon? Is it not equally possible, too,
that the brilliant success which sometimes
raises a new stud to fame is in some measure
due to the possession by the breeder of fresh,
untainted pastures on which to graze his
mares and young stock ? The temptation to
draw examples from the Turf history of the
last few years is great.

We all know that the competition main-
tained in the endeavour to breed successful

32

race-horses involves the expenditure of an
immense amount of capital. It therefore
seems a great pity that we should ignore the
primary factor in the production of that
stamina without which no horse can come to
the front.

CONCLUSIONS.

To sum up from this brief paper on the
treatment of young blood-stock, the. conclu-
sions which it is desirable to bear in mind
will, I think, be found as follows : —

First. You must have a sound brood
mare, choicely bred, and she ought
to be mated with judgment.

Second. From the time of her conception
she should be allowed to roam in
fresh untainted pastures ; if pastures
where horses have not been for the
last three years, all the better.

Third. After foaling, the same policy
should be adopted towards the mare
and her foal as regards fresh herbage.

Fourth. The foal from its weaning should
be treated in as natural a manner as
possible ; turned out and fed on
pastures where the herbage is succu-
lent, and allowed a free run at
his pleasure.

Fifth. Not more than three yearlings
should be turned out in any one
pasture, and the field should not be of
less extent than fifteen acres.

Lastly. In accepting the truism that " like
begets like " it should not be forgotten
that the adage applies to animals and
birds in their natural wild state.
Those who wish to breed from
Nature's type must bend their
thoughts to the horse's habits in a
state of nature, because it has been
proved that mere size without consti-
tution is useless on a race-course.

/\

Works by SIR WALTER GILBEY, Bart.,
Published by Vinton & Co., 9 New Bridge Street, London, E.C.

Modern Carriages Published April, 1904

The passenger vehicles now in use, with notes on their origin. Illustrations.
Octavo, cloth gilt, price 2s. net ; post free, 2s. 3d.

Poultry- Keeping on Farms and Small Holdings Punished 1904

Being a practical treatise on the production of Poultry and Eggs for the Market.
By Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart. Illustrated. Price 2s. ; post free, 2s. 3d.

Early Carriages and Roads Published 1903

In this publication attention has been given to the early history of wheeled convey-
ances in England and their development up to recent times. With Seventeen
Illustrations. Octavo, cloth gilt, price 2s. net ; post free, 2s. +d.

B*tertrmri$*n

The lives of fifty animal painters, from the year 1650 to 1850. Illustrated.
Two vols., quarto, cloth gilt, Two Guineas net.

The Great Horse or War Horse Published 1899

From the Roman Invasion till its development into the Shire Horse. New and
Revised Edition, 1899. Seventeen Illustrations. Octavo, cloth gilt, price 2s. net ;
post free, 2s. 3d.

Harness Horses Published 1898

The scarcity of Carriage Horses and how to breed them. 3rd Edition. Twenty-one
Chapters. Seven full-page Illustrations. Octavo, cloth gilt, price 2S. net; post
free, 2s. 3d.

Young Race Horses — suggestions Published 1898

for rearing, feeding and treatment. Twenty-two Chapters. With Frontispiece and
Diagrams. Octavo, cloth gilt, price 2s. net ; post free, 2S. 3d.

Life of George Stubbs, R.A. Published i89s

Ten Chapters. Twenty-six Illustrations and Headpieces. Quarto, whole Morocco,
gilt. £3 3S. net.

UNIVERSITY