The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1871-01-07
IA RM AND OUSEHOLD.
Brood Mares.

The dam of a fine carriage horse, or of
| any first class horse of all work, should be
bred rather than bought. That is to say,
there are so few suitable animals to be
/ found in this country that it would be
/ shorter and surer work to breed any con-
siderable number of them, than to hunt
! them up in the market. If anything less
than perfection be the object, there are
I thousands of good mares with whom the
! chances of success would be tolerablv fair
An important consideration in carriage
/ horses is good size, and this must be sought
chiefly in the dam and the grain bin
! Strong feeding will always increase the
growth of a colt. but there is some danger
| that he may grow to an ill-shape, if forced
much beyond his natural Development
| The dam of the carriage horse need not
have more than one-half thorough blood.
This much is essential for the gamey look
and high stepping action, the bony, mus
cular, stylish appearance that we have
described, can hardly be had with less than
! three-quarters pure blood. AS much more
than this as can he attained without loss of
size will he advantageous but thorough
| bred animals are rarely large enough for
| heavy carriage-horscS, and are often def
cent in the knee action essential to the
most stylish gait.
My own ideas as to the best system of
breeding for carriage use are derived from
Frank Forester, who was unquestiOnably
our best authority in these matters. His
theory, which seemed reasonable one.
was that, considering the large size and
high action that it is desirable to have, and
considering also the Importance of infuSing
as much thorough blood as possible, with
out detracting too far from these qualities,
| the start should be made with the largest
and most stylish mares that it is possible
to get. In his opinion the French Perche-
ron, or Norman, would best supply these
| conditions. The Percheron mare is very
large, has good shoulder and has par
ticularly fine action. At the time of his
death he contemplated importing six of
these mares intending to cross them twice
with thoroughbred horses. All of the
first cross, except the mares selected for
breeding, would have found ready market
at profitable rates. They would even have
made fair, heavy carriage horses and would
have been capital for omnibus teams. etc.
The second cross, three quarters bred, he
| believed would be finer and more valuable
than any other carriage-horses that it would
be possible to obtain. But he would have
selected the finest of these mares to cross
again with the thorough bred, hoping in
their progeny to obtain the perfection of
carriage-horses and weight-carrying saddle
! horses.
These suggestions may be valuable to
farmers who propose to make horse breed
ing the principal item of their business,
but their operations are of much less con-
sequence, so far as the good of the country
is concerned, than is the incidental breed
ing OF small farmers who raise one or two
| colts every year. 1t is to such that my
remarks are chiefly addressed, and it would
selves with Percheron mares for the sole
purpose of breeding. Their wisest course
is, to provide themselves for their farm
work, with the best mares that their cir
cumstances will allow them to get, securing
at least blood-like look, fine action, and
good constitution. That is, securing pre-
cisely the sort of mares, that are best adapted
for work in their own teams.
cannot convey better idea of the kind
of mare it is recommended to use than 10y
condensing description given in "IIer-
bert's Hints to Horse keepers In frame
the mare should be SO formed as to be capa-
BILE of carrying and well nourishing her
offspring that is, she should be what is
called "roomy." The form of hip that is
considered the most elegant, where the tail
is set on very high and the haunch bone is
nearly as high as the hip, is particularly
N'.''N iOA ciS>"i'S p'iPo'NS' iiS oi'pihs
hip gives much more room for the carrying
and the birth of the foal. The back, too,
should be of little more than the average |
length, giving plenty of bed for the foal and
strength for the support of its weight
She must have four good legs under |
her and those legs standing, as founda-
ton, on four good, well-shaped, urge feet,
open at the heels, and concave underneath. |
"She should have 4 good, lean bony head,
smalleared, broad-fronted, well set on,
upon high, ell-carred neck. thin at its |
junction with the head; high withers,
thin, and, above all, long, sloping shoul-
ders. A straight shoulder is an abomina-
ton; it renders speed impossible, and gives
a rigid flexible motion, often producing the |
bad fault of stumbling, She shnnld be |
wide chested and deep in the heart place. |
Her quarters should be strong, well let |
down, long and sickle-shapcd above the |
hooks. 1t is better that she go with her |
hooks somewhat too wide apart, than too
near together; the former indicating power,
the latter weakness Of a bad kind"
The brood mares health should be as
nearly perfect as possible. This is the |
most important point of all. Accidental |
defects may be passed over, nnless they |
indicate a constitutional weakness of the |
affected part. Spavings ring bones, and |
I'LL DoHy engagements are conSlltUtlOnal |
and may be perpetuated Bad feet should |
be especially avoided, unless they have
obviously arisen from bad shoeing. Broken |
winded mares are out of the question, as
they seldom breed. Blindness may or
may not be hereditary. = Simple !
cataract without inflammation undoubtedl
runs in families, and when horse or mare
has both eyes suffering from this disease
without any other arrangement of the eyes,
| should eschew them carefully.
Nor should we breed from mare which |
has any affection of the eyes, unless it be
the direct result of an accident. such as Il |
blow or puncture.'
Any farmer who has the natural eye of |
breeder and fondness for good horses
will recognize a mare coming up to this
standard if he is fortunate enough to find |
one, and he will be wise not to breed from
an animal which has much falling off from
these DOntS i,asrirun 1nrjruIfur,sf