Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1857-11-05
IMPORTANT TO FARMERS.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE BREED OF
HORSES.
Sjecond Article

HORSES.
t5econd Auicle
In an article on this subject last week,
try readers some thoughts relsting to gen.
eral principles concerning this very interest
ing ard important subject. Our views, as
there expressed, are these: That :he great
point to be aimed at is the combining in the
same animal the maximum Of speed COM
patib!e with sufficien. size, bone, strength
and solid power 10 carry heavy weights or
draw large loads, and at the same time to
secure the stock from tie probability, if not
certainty, of inheriting structural deformiiy
Jr constitutional disease from either Of the
parents. We stated, in the first place, as
an established axiom, Tor such It is-and an
article in a journal such as this has not
space TOR augmentation on the poin,--that
the first point is only to be attained, fret,
by breeding as much as possible to pure
blood OF the night kind, and ,, second, by
breeding what is technically called among
spor!smen and breeders up, not dorn. That
is to say, by breeding the mare to a male Of
superior, not inferior, blood to herself, ex-
cept where it is desired to breed like to
like, as Canadian 10 Canadian, or Norman
TO Norman, for the purpose of pcrpetuating
pure strain of any particular variety which
may be useful tor the production of brood
mares. by superior blood we peap ASha,
which approaches nearer to Il oroughSash3
Thus, hilf-bred mare should be put to; q
| ba i-brei stallion, as in that case the pro
duce will, in Dine cases out of ten, degen-
crate below the dam; whereas, if she be
bred to a thoroughbred, the produce will
be superior, and will continually improve,
ad iHfnitun1, by adherlng to the same pro
cess of breeding up. In The second place,
We showed that a reasonable probability OF
raising sound and healthy stock can onfy be
attained by carefully selecting parents free
from disease. which is either hereditary or
apt to 5ecOme 50. 1t is idle, for persons a,
this time of the world, to sneer at the icea
of disease, or other qualities, being hsredi-
tary, or transmissible in the bood--it il
known, both medically and physiologically,
That they are SO. 1t is known that the
chances are feartully in favor of consump-
tive, scruiulOuS, insane Or epileptic mother
producing children tainted with the same
dlathesis-that idio will generally beget
I'd OTIS, ,and deaf mutes bese de af fmutes. Gout
lis hereditrry: ard it is probable also, that
many other diseases of the arterial, gland
ular and nerv US systems are kewise trans
missible iE the blood. So it is with horses
all diseases OF the lungs and windpipe,
known as the heaves, as broken wind, as
roaring, whistling, thick wind, and the like,
are, incon:estably, So transmissibe. Blind.
ness is, if possible, yet more so; and even
when one eye is destroyed by accident, if
the other eye, through a sympathetic affec.
ton, follow Il, We should consider it By no
means sufe to breed from horse SO injured
Lameress, arising from pure &C. ident, is of
course not ;ransmissbIe; but. where a race
horse has broken down, a. it is termed, IN
ruuning-that is to say, where the sinews,
or smaller metacaroiI bInes, commonly
known as tine Splnt bones, have given way,
from want of strength sufficient 10 endure
the stra laid upun them-it will be well
10 observe whether there be not some visible
dete,t fthe conformation ofthe par s,tending
to undue weakness; such as di prJportio.a e
lenghih Of the lower or cannon bone of the
foreieg, which can scarcely be too short; or
the defect which is generally called tying
IN, consisting If an improper contraction of
the volume OF the leg, Immediately below
the fore knee, al indicating an insufici-
ency of the splint bone. These malforma-
tions ere distinctly hereditary. lfa horse,
therefore, break dow d in his forelees, hay-
ing such naiformat.on, the breaking dow n
Itself m " be said TO have been hereditary;
and one would, therefore, eschew breeding
from such horse. Now. to give two cases
in point, there is probably rot horse in
America with good judge would sooner
select, in regard to SIZE, strength, power, and
all other qua 'iications, to which. to put
country mares, than Boston. He is in every
respect the beau ideal of what, in England,
would be considered Hunter getter. And
the English hunter is precisely the stamp
ard style cf horse which is the m4 profit
able for The farmer to raise, for general
purposes. No one in Engis63 Eolh drive
before their carriage, or rid % he road,
anything but English hunters afsthsy could
afford the price; and, as to their powers for
dr..ught OF burden, it is only neeess ry to
say that mn weighing twenty rseman's
stone, or $50 pounds, find no difficulty. being
willing to pay the price, in getting hunters
nearly thoroughbred-none others than such
could do i,-capabe OF carrying them across
country, over hedges, brooks and timber, u
fast as fox-hounds can ron. But-for there
is bu,-Boston went blind, and his best
son, Lexington, has gone bliud also, first of
one eye, and then completely; and this fatal
fact sets Bostan aside forever as country
breeders nurse. For sire of racing stock,
the defect is quite SD fatal; for it appears
likely that the stock of that admirable horse
will not fail in their eyesight until they
have reached an age when horses racing
career, which rarely lasts more than eight or
nine years, may be considered as finished.
l'ul III 81 uoCs 'hS ooJCS-
tion is, as it has be,n observed, fatal. In
the like mabner, but in another direction,
Pr;am. Notwithstanding his high blood.
great beauty. undeniable performances. and
his great success in England as a sire of
racers in this county he has not generally
succeeded, owing to the cross ofhaas Ssood
seemingly not having hit OF nicked (as it is
sometimes called) well with our blood-is
mos, unfit horse for farmers stallion,
owing 10 the in tying of his forelegs. below
the knee. In the paper alluded to above,
in our issue Of October 10, we described at
length the points of form aid mako desir-
able in stallion, which would emiu entity
quail fly him to prove a successful stock get
ter, for general purposes;any material devia-
t ion from which points would render him
very improper horse for the same services.
II is, Of course, understood that he sh all
have exhibited courage and endurance rath
er than speed, but if speed also, so much |