THE PERFECT HORSE:
HOW TO KNOW HIM. I HOW TO TRAIN HIM.
HOW TO BREED HIM. \ HOW TO SHOE HIM.
HO W TO DRIVE HIM.
BY WILLIAM H. H. MURRAY.
AN INTRODUCTION BY REV- HENRY WARD BEECHER j
AND A TREATISE OH
AGRICULTURE AND THE HORSE,
By Hon. GEORGE B. LORING.
CONTAINING ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BEST TROTTING STOCK-HORSES
IN THE UNITED STATES, DONE FROM LIFE, WITH THEIR
PEDIGREES, RECORDS, AND FULL DESCRIPTIONS.
BOSTON :
JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY,
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873,
By JAMES R. OSGOOD & CO.,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
Boston!
Rand, Avery, ft Co., Elbctrotyfms and Printers.
TO
Ulysses S. Grant,
President of the Republic,
AND LOVER OF THE HORSE,
I RESPECTFULLY DEDICATE
THE AUTHOR.
AUTHOR’S PREFACE.
I purpose in this volume to treat of the most noble and
useful of domestic animals, — the horse. I desire to put
into a small compass and cheap form the result of many
years of reading and observation, that every farmer’s boy in
New England may have in his possession a book which shall
contain within its covers enough of instruction to qualify him
to breed, train and drive,*buy and sell, horses intelligently and
profitably. This is my hope. I purpose, also, to lay before
him the true principles of animal propagation, following
which the breeding of fast and valuable horses shall be in
no sense the result of chance or ” good luck,” as the phrase
is, but of causes clearly understood and arranged from the
start. I shall show him how to raise a vicious or amiable
colt, a slow or fast one ; what to discard and what to include
in his selection of dam and sire ; and how, when the perfect
animal is produced, to educate him properly, and bring him
forward in intelligence and docility until he is able to con-
tribute most directly and fully to his owner’s profit or
pleasure. While I shall advance and strive to sustain my
own views, I shall, in all cases, give my reasons therefor. I
lay no claim to originality. I have no hobby to advance, or
VI PREFACE.
pet theory to advertise to the public. My success, if success
attend my efforts, will be due to the patience with which I
have studied the subject, and the entire absence of passion
and prejudice in writing out the views thus obtained. I
confess my indebtedness to many books and many authors.
The cumbersome volume of veterinary practice, the quaint
mediaeval treatise, and the sensational pamphlet of the profes-
sional ” horse-tamer ” who perambulates the country to-day,
astonishing the uninitiated with the tricks of his trained
ponies, have alike supplied me with material for reflection.
I wish to give in a condensed form the aggregated wisdom
of all, to the end that whoever may purchase this work shall
have the sum and substance of what is known concerning
the horse.
I do not deceive myself so far as to suppose that I have
wholly succeeded ; for the subject is a vast and intricate one,
and man’s performance is seldom equal to his desire. Still
it may be that enough has been done to vindicate the motive,
and serve the public. If this should be the verdict of my
patrons, I shall rest content. If any should express surprise
that one in my profession should devote his leisure to such a
purpose, I have this to say, That to me it has been a labor
of love in the first place for the noble animal of which I
write, and whose existence and services have ever been and
are ‘to-day closely connected with the commercial, social, and
religious development of the country; and, in the second
place, I acknowledge the presence ill my heart of a desire to
associate myself in every honorable way with that class of
my countrymen, to which, by birth, early education, and pres-
ent aspiration, I belong, — the agricultural class. Compelled
by the obligation of public life to pass the larger part of my
time in cities, my mind and heart continually revert to
PREFACE. VU
the country, where, in the cultivation of the products of the
earth, and the propagation and training of the domestic ani-
mals, man finds, as I judge, his most honorable and happy
employment. I have no sympathy with that professional
exclusiveness which forbids to the intellect the powers and
pleasure of general knowledge and universal studentship;
nor do I ever wish to see the day, when, restrained by a false
sense of professional dignity, I shall refuse to impart needed
information to any one, of whatever walk and pursuit of
life, who may be assisted and bettered thereby. With this
purpose, and prompted by this impulse, I now send this vol-
ume forth, and bespeak for it the careful perusal of those
who admire and are interested in the noble animal of which
it treats.
W. H. H. MURBAY.
Boston, 1873.
AUTHOR’S ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
In sending this volume forth to the public, the preparation
of which has been a matter of profound interest and pro-
longed labor to me, I wish to acknowledge the courtesy of,
and return my thanks to, the scores of men, who, scattered
over the country, have given me their encouragement and
assistance in my work. Especially would I acknowledge
the courtesy of the President of the Nation in accepting so
graciously, and with such manifest interest, the dedication of
the work ; and the great services done me personally by Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher in contributing the Introduction, and
by Hon. George B. Loring in the preparation of his most
interesting and valuable article.
It is not often that one can see such a grouping of names
as this ; and it does of itself suggest how wide-spread and
profound is the interest in and affection for the animal of
which they write. To these gentlemen, and to all who have
aided me by favor and counsel in my effort, I regard myself
personally a debtor.
W. H. H. MURRAY,
viii
INTRODUCTION.
My dbab Mb. Murray, —
What do you expect ? I am not competent to discuss the
mysteries of a training-farm, nor the political economy of
the horse.
If, now, you needed a word on the joys of riding on
winged horses, or the experience of long journeys over
prairies and through Western forests on horseback,* I could
supply such material. I also could give you a chapter on
the reverse side of the art of selecting and buying horses,
so that one should be able, five times out of six, to be
cheated, and pay a large price for an unsound horse. I
could teach one how to buy dear, and sell cheap. But
these are things aside, — the mere chaff and wastage of the
subject.
I really hope that you have made a standard book : first,
because you are a clergyman, and it behooves all clergymen
to do well whatever they do at all ; and, second, because
many men think horse-culture a theme unbecoming a moral
teacher. Not long ago, many people thought that good folks
ought not to own good horses ; that a fast horse was a sign of
a fast man ; and that only publicans and sinners had a right
ix
X INTRODUCTION,
to nags that could trot inside of 2.40 ; while the righteous
were doomed to amble through life on dull, fat, family-horses,
fit only for a plough or a funeral.
It is part of the same foolish prejudice which marvels
how a preacher could write a book on horses. ” Would
St. Paul,” say they, ” pause to write on the horse ? ”
But would Paul have written upon astronomy? or upon
the history of the Jews ? or upon agriculture ? or on com-
mon schools ? Would he have written poetry, or commu-
nications for a newspaper, or magazine-articles, or Latin
grammars ? If he had lived in our time, he certainly would,
if he felt moved thereto, and perceived that thereby he
might contribute, directly or indirectly, to the great inter-
ests of political economy as included in Christian civilization.
Who finds fault with clergymen for contributing to the
welfare of society through any of the great channels of
influence ?
From time out of mind, husbandry has been deemed a
proper pursuit for clergymen. But what topic in husbandry
is more important, and better worthy of dignified treatment,
than the history and culture of that noble animal, the horse ?
Society owes to the horse a debt of gratitude a thousand
times greater than it does to thousands of men who abuse
him. He has ministered to progress ; has made social inter-
course possible where otherwise it would have been slow
and occasional, or altogether impossible. He has virtually
extended the strength of man, augmented his speed, doubled
his time, decreased his burdens, and, becoming his slave, has
released him from drudgery, and made him free. For love’s
sake, for the sake of social life, for eminent moral reasons,
the horse deserves to be bred, trained, and cared for with
scrupulous care ; and, if a minister can teach men how to do
INTRODUCTION. XI
■
it, it is not abandoning his profession, but pursuing a remote
department of it, which has too long already been left to
men who look upon the horse as an instrument chiefly of
gambling gains, or of mere physical pleasure.
HENRY WARD BEECHER.
Twin-Mountain House, White Mountains,
Aug. 27, 1873.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE.
Points of a Horse, or the Masks bt which a Good Horse is known . 1
CHAPTER H.
The Principles op Breedino. — Reasons why Breeders have not been
financially successful 72
CHAPTER IIL
Breedino.— How to Succeed 80
CHAPTER IV.
The Sirs 89
CHAPTER V.
The Dam 189
CHAPTER VI.
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT 168
CHAPTER VII.
The Horse’s Foot, and how to Shoe it 226
CHAPTER VIII.
The Morgan Horse : his Relation to Breeding . . . . . .292
AGRICULTURE AND THE HORSE 848
Pedigrees of Noted Horses 429
How to lay out a Mile Track 465
Gallery of Celebrated Horses . • 467
INDEX 478
LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS.
” The White Mare ” Froniispiece.
Fearnaught . 8
Live Oak 82
Taggabt’s Abdallah … 64
Thomas Jefferson 96
Carenaught 128
Rysdyk 160
Daniel Lambert 192
Fearnaught, Jun «… 224
Harvard 256
Robert Bonner 288
Manchester 304
Morgan Abdallah . 352
Lola and Foal 416
TEE PERFECT HORSE.
BY W. H. H. MURRAY.
THE PERFECT HORSE.
CHAPTER L
POINTS OF A HORSE, OR THE MARES BY WHICH A
GOOD HORSE IS KNOWN.
To a young man starting out in the business of
breeding, or to any person about to purchase a horse,
nothing can be of greater value than the knowledge of
those points or marks which characterize a perfect
animal Not that all of these desirable qualities of
bone, muscle, and nervous organization, can be found
once in a thousand times combined in any single animal;
for the perfect form in any order of life is rarely if ever
seen. But, nevertheless, a standard is needed by which
the buyer may measure the several animals inspected,
in order to ascertain where to place them in the column
that represents aggregate excellence, else his blunders
will be many and mortifying. The question arises,
therefore, — and it is of the most practical significance to
the young breeder and general purchaser, — Is there any
standard or representative horse, the marks of which,
2 THE PERFECT HORSE.
being known, would enable one to buy with intelligence
and wisdom ? How can one who has had little if any
experience with horses go to the mart or field, and in-
vest his money in such a way as to escape the ridicule
of his more experienced companions and neighbors, and
the censure of his after-judgment? I reply, that such a
standard can be formed, — a standard which, when it
has become known and familiar to the mind, enables it
to discriminate with accuracy touching the excellences
or deficiencies of every animal inspected, and qualifies a
man to fix surely and at once the money- value of the
animal he wishes to purchase. In other words, there
are certain elements of nature, and certain peculiarities
of form, and a certain style of action, which the perfect,
the ideal horse invariably possesses, and which, accord-
ing to the degree with which they are possessed by an
animal, rank it in the column of value and price. Nor
are these marks, on the one hand, so numerous as to be
beyond the capacity of the poorest memory to commit
them ; nor, on the other, are they so latent, that, when
once pointed out, they cannot be perceived by even the
most casual glance. Nature does not disguise herself
from those that seek to know her, nor so mask her excel-
lences that they cannot be perceived and admired even
by the careless eye. I propose, therefore, to point out
to the reader those marks which characterize the perfect
or ideal horse ; and I do so for the sole purpose that
every boy who reads these pages may have with him the
knowledge which forbids blundering and financial loss
HOW TO KNOW HIM.
in the selection of animals from which to breed, or for
general or special use. Nothing is more preposterous
than the idea which seems to be current, that there is
something mysterious in the art of buying and selling
horses wisely, which has been hidden from the average
farmer or gentleman, and revealed only to jockeys,
grooms, and stable-boys. It is abput time for the pub-
lic to realize that the organization of the horse is too
high, and his physical anatomy too intricate, for the
ignorant and drunken to understand ; and that the gen-
tleman’s companion, as I hold the horse to be, can best
be understood and managed by gentlemen. I will now
call your attention to certain elements and characteris-
tics of the horse which the perfect animal must have.
The first, and to my mind the most essential, point to
be observed touching the horse, is his
TEMPERAMENT.
I ask you to distinguish temperament and temper.
The temper is an accident, the result of education or
treatment ; in rare instances, of birth : but the tempera-
ment is a law or mode of being affecting and modifying
the physical structure and the nervous forces. The
temper can be modified or changed : the vicious can be
made amiable ; and the amiable, vicious. Not so with
the temperament : that is fixed at birth, and remains im-
mutable, dominating over the entire organization. Diet,
training, treatment in sickness, — these, and much beside,
are suggested to the thoughtful mind by the tempera-
THE PEBFECT HORSE.
ment of the horse. There are four principles and dis-
tinct temperaments seen in horses, — the nervous, bilious,
sanguine, and lymphatic. They are by nature distinct,
dissimilar, and not seldom antagonistic. Still they rare-
ly are found pure, separate. In most cases they are
found to be blended, mingled, co-existent. Still, gener-
ally, one is found preponderating over all others ; and
according to the degree of this preponderance of the
one over the rest is the constitution of the animal being
inspected determined. Let us suppose that we are
examining a horse with a nervous temperament. Such a
horse will have a large, full brain, well-developed spinal
column, and nerves of acute sensitiveness. From such
an organization come quickness of movement, nervous
excitability, and great delicacy of feeling. Such a horse
will have rapidity of motion, a quick, lightning-like
gather, a restless ear, and a bright, animated counte-
nance. He will be apt to take the hills at a jump, and
enter and leave his stable with a spring. He will suffer
untold agonies on the application of the iron curry-comb
in the careless groom’s hand, and will need watching
and a taut rein on the road to prevent his shying.
This, in brief, is the picture of a horse with a nervous
temperament The Vermont Black Hawk types this
class.
The next in order is the bilious temperament This
temperamental organization is associated with a large
muscular system. The horse with a bilious temperament
will have large bones and large muscles. The masses
HOW TO KNOW HIM.
of fibrous flesh about the quarters and shoulders,
the shank and fore-arm, will be well brought out, and
well packed in. To the hand they will feel hard and
firm. Such an animal impresses you with the appear-,
ance of strength : you can see written all over him in
capital letters the word ” endurance.” He will stand any
amount of work. In strength he is an equine Hercules.
Nothing but bad treatment and the passage of many
years can break such a horse down, or wear him out.
Such an animal was the Old Morrill horse; and like
him; in a large measure, is the whole Morrill family, in-
cluding his most famous descendant Fearnaught. They
are all horses of great muscular vigor and power.
Consider now, in the third place, the sanguine tempera-
ment
Sanguine is from the Latin, — sanguis, sanguinis,
meaning blood. This temperament, therefore, as it.
name implies, is closely related in its origin to the blood-
system, and suggests a large development of heart, lungs,
and blood-vessels. A horse with such a temperament will
prove long-winded. He will come down the home-stretch
with wide-open and capable nostril. He will not pant and
labor in aspiration at the close of the heat. Whatever,
in the way of speed, he is able to do, he will do with
ease. .Consider, also, how closely the blood and arte-
rial system are connected with the nourishment and sup-
port of the body. Remember that it is by the blood
alone that the nutritious elements of food are dissemi-
nated through the entire system, and the needed suste-
THE PEBFECT HORSE,
nance carried to every part. You observe, therefore,
how vital a part this order of temperament plays in the
economy of the system, and how prominent a place it
should hold among those characteristics and qualities
which the purchaser and breeder of horses must observe
in order to reach by an accurate analysis a true and
proper conclusion touching the value of the animal
under consideration. The horse with such a tempera-
ment will not only have excellent lungs, but he will be
generally healthy : what he eats will actually nourish
him ; and day by day, by exercise and food, will he
renew his symmetrical life.
The last of the four kinds of temperament is the lym-
phatic. A horse with this temperamental organization is
to be shunned. He will be large in the abdomen, lazy,
and inclined to lay on useless fat. He will be sluggish,
slow-moving, and shambling in his gait ; a stumbler, and
kicker-up of dust ; a heavy, fleshy animal, — more of a
pig than a horse.
I have now enumerated the four kinds of tempera-
mental organization peculiar to horses as to men, arid
endeavored to so describe and illustrate them that my
youngest reader may khow them at a glance. They
teach us an instructive lesson ; none the less so because
generally unnoted by those who have attempted, by
voice and printed page, to teach us concerning the
structure and constitution of the horse. The lesson is
this, — that by no study of the outward form can one
judge correctly of this noble animal. You must push
HOW TO KNOW HIM. 7*
your analysis within, you must question the nervous
forces of the organization, you must knock at the por-
tals of, and actually gain admission to, the brain of the
animal, before you can judge of his value to you, or the
place he holds in the column that represents compara-
tive or absolute excellence. You observe, also, that, to
the breeder, this question of temperament is of vital sig-
nificance. The problem with him is one of judicious
mingling of the three essential temperaments in order
to produce the most desirable results. The nervous
temperament alone will not answer. Rapidity of move-’
ment is not enough. He must breed into his colts mus-
cular power ; and this is represented by the bilious tem-
perament.
But of what avail are quickness of motion and mus-
cular strength, unless to these are joined capable lung-
power, elasticity of the heart-structure, and that efficient
arterial and. venous development, by the steady and
healthy action of which the system can alone be minis-
tered unto, the wasted fibre removed, and new nerve
and muscular substance daily supplied. The true
point, therefore, for the breeder to consider, is this:
Granted such or such a temperament to the mare,
what stallion is there whose temperamental organization
is of such a character, that the two, meeting and min-
gling together in the foal, may produce in this third or-
ganization the harmonious union of the greatest number,
and in the greatest degree, of the needed and essential
elements? for the relative proportion in which they
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. .’• “t v ! !’v ■•< ■•< . ! r’v ; I: «». i:” ■•■! ‘ i ‘! DC’! i ‘.’Mil , 1 ■ I . . •• » • • .. I ‘ ■ f ■ » v ‘ ■’.'■} ‘ . . k • l» »• ? I ‘ •., r •■ ii : ‘ » T « 1 ‘* ^ i ».’..» ■ 4 HOW TO KNOW HIM. 9 casual examination of the subject, that the slightest alteration in temperament makes a corresponding altera- tion in the power and efficiency of every individual part. A horse does not draw by virtue of his weight, nor in proportion to his size. The public scales and the measuring-tape can never assure us how much a horse can draw, or how many miles he can pull a wagon and its owner in a day. Muscular action and nerve-force must be considered ; and these are both closely allied to, and dependent on, the temperament of the animal. The well-bred horse, inch for inch, and pound for pound, is far stronger than the dray-horse ; and old Justin Morgan, the founder of the most wonderful family of horses (all things being considered) this or any country ever saw, could draw logs that horses of twelve and thirteen hundred pounds could not even start, albeit he weighed only about nine hundred pounds, and stood barely fourteen and a half hands high. It is the amount of vital force, that at the end of a stick of timber, or a weary day’s journey on a heavy road, tells the story. Having ascertained the temperament of a horse (that is, the inner characteristics of his nature and being), let us now examine the outward conformation, and those physical marks which meet the eye of the buyer. What is that/om, and what should be the shape and relation, one with another, of the several parts of the body, in order to secure in the highest degree the things most to be desired in a horse ? Let us begin, then, to pass in 10 THE PERFECT HORSE. review those points or characteristic marks of a horse which assist the judgment in forming a correct estimate of his real worth. And, first of all, let us carefully consider THE HEAD. The head is the glory of the horse, as it is of man. Through it the vital forces look out upon the scene of their exercise and their triumph. The passions and emotions use it as their interpreter ; and every mood and feeling run to it for advertisement. If a man’s soul, as it has been claimed, can be judged by his face, a horse may be known by his head. Granted a certain confor- mation, and you will have viciousness ; granted another, and you have amiability. Next to the human face, the countenance of a horse is most expressive of the quali- ties within, and the most beautiful form of animal life. How grave, how cheerful, how amiable, how vicious, how playful, how positive and determined, the counte- nance of the horse can become ! What brightness and vivacity, what majesty and courage, what energy and terrible power, the look and countenance of the horse are capable of expressing ! . No wonder that it has always been a favorite subject for the brush of the artist and the chisel of the sculptor, and deemed worthy by the inspired writers to adorn the poetry of the Bible. The first thing for you to consider, reader, when examining a horse in judgment, is his head. First of all, get a good front view: observe the distance be- HOW TO KNOW HIM. . 11 tween the ears, the length and curvature of the same, the space lying between them and the eyes, the eyes themselves, the cheek-bones, the muzzle, the nostrils and lips. Then step to one side, and scan the head in pro- file. Observe the way it is joined to the neck ; its bal- ance and pose, the conformation of the jowls, the nose- line, and the make-up of the lower jaw and lip. Do all this before you have even given a glance at the body ; for by the study of the shape of the head and the look of the face, beyond any thing else, will you be able to decide touching the temperament of the animal, which, as I have shown, dominates for good or ill over the entire organization. If you wish to decide whether a man is a kind husband, a good father and courteous neighbor, honest and industrious, cheerful and happy, a delight to all his friends, and a useful member of society, look at his head, and not at his body. It is the head and .face that reveal to us the character and relation of those nervous and vital forces which really represent the man, and not his legs or chest, or bone and muscular structure. So it is with the horse. He, too, is an animal of high organi- zation, endowed with a large degree of intelligence, capable of forming strong and enduring attachments, subject to moods and tempers, and distinguished by the quickness and strength of his impulses. The right or wrong adjustment of these forces represents his value, and gauges the degree of his worth or worthlessness. The bones and muscles are mere servants of these high / 12 THE PEEFEOT HOUSE, and efficient forces, and used by them at will as a slave is directed by his master to serve or kill his guest. Never can a man be a good judge of a horse so long as he looks upon him as an animal of low organization, composed merely of bones, muscles, fibre, and flesh, and represented by these. Such a view of swine is correct ; but such a view of horses is most erroneous : and yet many buyers who deem themselves in every way com- petent to select good horses, and plume themselves on their ability to ” buy close,” never look farther into the organization of a horse than to examine his legs, feet, shoulders, quarters, and muscles, — the mere material and lower part of the animal ; while the qualities which really in fact represent the horse, and decide his com- parative value, are taken for granted. I select the following description of the head of a perfect horse from a little volume written by James C. L. Carson, M.D., of Coleraine, Ireland, published in 1859 (a little book, by the way, from which many compilers of books on the horse have copied about all the sense there was in their works, without giving him the credit of it), because I would .like to bring this book into notice, and because the description harmonizes, point by point, with my own ideas of a perfect head. He says, — “The head of every horse should be as small as would be in keeping with the rest of his body. A large, coarse head is a defect, in every person’s eye ; and it has no advantages to counterbalance its deformity i HOW TO KNOW HIM. 13 • The muzzle should be fine, and of a moderate length ; the mouth invariably deep for receiving and retaining the bit ; and the lips rather thin, and firmly compressed A fine, tight lip is a pretty sure indication of an active temperament, and consequently affords a measure of the energy and durability of the animal. Horses with short, thick, flabby lips, lying wide apart, are prover- bial for sluggishness. The nostrils should be large, so as to be capable, when open, of allowing the air to have free access to the lungs. In conformity with the uniform condition of the Creator’s works, it will be found that there is a direct relation between the de- velopment of the nostrils and the capacity of the lungs for air. Hence arises the necessity of observing the size of the nostrils. Capacious lungs would be of no use if the orifice which connects them with the exter- nal atmosphere were so contracted that they could not get properly filled The race-horse must have very wide and dilatable nostrils to admit a large volume of air, with the utmost freedom and greatest speed, into his widely and rapidly distended lungs ; but the horse of slow work can take more time in his breathing, and consequently does not require such a very large nostril as the racer, hunter, or steeple-chaser. Care must always be taken, recollect, not to confound a naturally well-developed nostril with one which looks large in consequence of having been kept in a state of perma- nent distention by disease of the lungs or air-passages. The muzzle ought to be fine a good way up ; and then 14 THE PEBFECT HOESE. the parts should enlarge suddenly, in order to give plenty of breadth to the under-jaw, as well as thickness from side to side. This is a point of great beauty, as it gives breadth to the jaw-blade, and breadth from eye to eye, whilst the fineness of the head generally is maintained. A head that is narrow between the eyes, and narrow on the side of the jaw, is painfully disagree- able to the eye of every judge. The space between the two blades of the under-jaw ought to be so broad and so deep as to freely admit the lower edge of the neck when the chin is reined in towards the counter ; but it should not be wider than this, as it would then appear coarse. If there is sufficient room in this locality, the horse can be reined up to the proper pitch without stopping up his windpipe. The face, on a side-view, should be dipped in the centre between the eyes and the nose. This is generally the case in the Arabian and English blood-horse ; and it is a much more beautiful formation than either the straight or convex profile. However ornamental it may be to the human face, a Roman nose certainly does not improve the appearance of the horse. The line of beauty in the one case is very different from the other. A dish-faced horse is admired on all hands ; but a pug-nosed man, with a pro- jecting, upturned chin, will have, some difficulty in car- rying off the prize for beauty. The face must be very broad between the eyes ; but it should taper a little as it approaches the ears. If the breadth is carried all the way upwards, the top of the head will be too wide, the HOW TO KNOW HIM. 15 ears ill set, and the horse probably sulky. Now, in re- spect to the head, it also should be examined in detail, for in it are distinct organs having distinct uses, and each contributing its share to the proper understanding of the animal to which they belong, and to which they serve. But, of all these organs, perhaps the eye is the most expressive and characteristic of them all. Through it, in all the different phases of animation and repose, we most directly behold the mind of the horse, and the character of that disposition, the various moods of which are revealed through the eye. And this will not appear strange, that, both by its location and office- work, it is in close and direct communication with the brain. It might well be called the window, through which we can look, and behold the activities going on within, and which would be forever hidden from us were this friendly window darkened. The eye of the horse should be kindly, bold, full of suggestions of la- tent heat and fervor, but spread over all a mild and gentle look. I do not favor myself an eye ringed with white, for this suggests timidity or mischief; although I have known subjects in which this eye was seen, and the animal was at the same time entirely free from fault. Still, in the main, I hold that this judgment is correct, uttered by one wise in horse-craft, that l a horse which is always looking back so far as to expose the white of the eye is generally on the alert for mischief, and is not to be trusted with his heels.’ ” As to the size of the eye, I suppose that eyes are 16 THE PERFECT HORSE. nearly of the same measurement in all horses ; but the apparent size differs widely in different cases, and this difference springs from two causes as we understand it : first, whether the eye is set well forward or back- ward as to its position in the socket ; and, in the second place, to the thinness and openness of the eyelids, or the reverse. The eye should set well out, yet not so far as to be exposed to outward injury. I think too little at- tention is paid to the color of the eye, because from this, as we think, can be judged the character of the temper. A little observation on the part of the reader will substantiate this, or prove us to be in error. As to the EARS, I would observe that they should be thin, not over lengthy, free from long hairs, curved a little inward at the point, and full of vein-tracery. They should be rather close together at the base, strongly set on, quick and lively in movement, and covered with fine, short hair. You will never find an indolent, sluggish, heavy- moving horse blessed with such ears. I think also, but to a less degree, the color of the hair should be considered. I do not think that color is a mere matter of taste, as some assert. We know that the color of a man’s skin does assist one in forming a correct judgment as to his temperament. We know that the florid complexion denotes the san- guine temperament ; that with the darker skin we as- sociate the bilious temperament; and the chalky hue HOW TO KNOW HIM. 17 points to the lymphatic. Why should this not hold true in relation to the horse? We believe it does. Other things being equal, I should not select a sorrel horse, nor a white-haired horse, nor a jet-black. I do* not regard these as hardy colors. I should prefer rather the rich chestnut, the deep blood-bay, or a handsome brown. The former colors suggest scrofulous constitu- tions and imperfect blood-conditions; while the latter point to fineness of bone-texture, and perfection of the venous system. The portion of the head lying between the eyes and the ears is worthy of the closest possible attention ; for it is the section occupied by the brain itself, — the seat of all intelligence, docility, and motive-power. This section of the head can scarcely be too full. I would never breed a mare to a stallion deficient at this point of his structure. I want no colts from a sire with a flat forehead ; for such a horse is a savage, sulky, detestable brute. To start with, he will have no memory : he will forget to-morrow what you taught him to-day. Even if he wished to remember it, he could not ; for he is incapable. To 9, bad memory must be added a bad disposition. He is sour, cross and crabbed, tricky and malignant. His cunning is not playful, but mean ; and his tricks are tricks of cruelty. No one ever saw a • horse, with such formation of front, tractable and trusty. But if, on the other hand, you meet a horse with a bold, prominent forehead, a noble fulness at that point where the brain is lodged, you will find him to be of a docile 18 THE PERFECT HOESE. and silky disposition. You can teach him any thing ; and, when once taught, he will rarely if ever forget. Indeed, his great intelligence suggests to his owner a caution : Never teach him to do any thing that you do not desire him to do always and at all times ; for what- ever he has once acquired you can only with great difficulty eradicate. I do not wish to be understood as saying that every horse with a fine brain development is gentle ; for he may have been trained under a system so essentially vicious, that no natural amiability could withstand its savage friction : but this I do wish to be understood as saying, — that every horse with this full and fine brain development is by nature courageous, docile, and loving ; and that, if they ever become other- wise, it is owing to the vicious management of those who have them in charge. THE NECK is the next portion of the horse to be considered. Nor do I think that sufficient attention is paid by would-be horsemen to it. It is evident that much of the beauty of the horse is associated with the neck. If it is too thick, or too straight, or too much arched and drawn back, the entire appearance of the animal is changed and marred. It is also to the shape of the neck that we look for traces and proof of the animal’s breeding. According to its length, moreover, is he easy to the hand in driving, and safe in saddle-work. In the first place, the head and neck must have a certain adjust- HOW TO KNOW HIM. 19 ment ; and this must be of such a character as to cause the nose to project forward, and out of the line of the perpendicular: still the projection must not be too positive, else the horse will be what is called ” a star- gazer.” Such an animal not only has a vicious appear- ance, but is difficult to manage, and is actually unsafe ; because the bit, which should keep a safe purchase on the lower jaw, will be drawn up into the angles of his mouth, so that the reins have little or no control over his course, and he can go how and whither he pleases. Concerning the length and thickness of the neck I have this to observe; viz., the same neck is not desira- ble in every horse, but should vary somewhat according to the service to which it is to be put. For speed the neck cannot be too light, provided that it allow suffi- cient room for the passage of wind and food. All weight carried here is dead-weight ; that is, weight that does not help propel the horse, and should, consequent- ly, be bred away. The model neck, in this respect, is found in the thorough-bred English racer ; and to this pattern the American breeder should strive to bring the neck of the trotting-horse. The Morrill neck, the Ham- bletonian neck, the French or Canadian neck, and, for the most part, the average neck of the American trot- ting stallion, is by far too gross and heavy either for beauty or for speed. But observe at this point, that, while the large neck is disadvantageous for a horse kept for speed, in the case of the harness-horse and carter, thickness of neck at the base, where it enters the shoul- 20 THE PERFECT HORSE. der, is both desirable, and actually essential This cau- tion should always be kept in mind, that both length and lightness must not be pushed in breeding to an ex- treme, for fear that, in so doing, constitutional weakness would be the result. The centre of the neck should be decidedly thicker than either the upper or nether edge, and grow in thickness as it approaches the shoulder ; for this thick- ness at the centre of the neck is suggestive of muscle. At the other end (viz., at the jowls) the neck can hardly be too thin. In formation along the upper edge, the neck should rise from the withers in a free and noble curvature, which, connected with the desirable length, will insure beauty of appearance when being ridden or driven, and a mouth easy to the hand. Nor is this length and curvature of the neck a mere matter of beauty, and easy subjection to the driver’s will; but more yet is it desirable, because this formation is alone con- sistent with that true balancing of the body on the legs by which gracefulness of motion, and freedom from stumbling, are secured. We now come, in our analysis and description of a perfect horse, to what, perhaps, stands second only in importance to the brain ; viz., THE CHEST. The reason why this portion of the horse is so impor- tant, and the accurate understanding of it so desirable, to the breeder and purchaser, arises from several causes. HOW TO KNOW HIM. 21 And, first, because it is the home of the heart. The heart, please remember, is the centre of the entire blood- system of the body. By the blood which it circulates alone can the structure be nourished and sustained in vigor and health day by day. By it, also, alone can the effete substance which is constantly accumulating in the system, as the result of every motion the animal makes, be collected, and discharged from the system. It is to the heart, therefore, you see, that we are indebted for whatever needed element is added to the system, and whatever unneeded and harmful element is removed therefrom. Heart-health means muscular health, bone health, universal health. Heart-disease means weakness of the muscles, unreliable bone substance, and a more or less impairment of the entire system. Whatever con- cerns the heart, therefore, and whatever affects it, direct- ly or indirectly, for good or ill, is worthy of the closest attention. Especially the chest, — in which the heart’is lodged, by which it is protected, and which either cramps it, or allows it the needed liberty of action, #*— as it is properly or improperly formed, challenges our inspection. In the second place, the reason why the chest of the horse is worthy of the horseman’s most careful study is because it is the cavity in which Nature has located the lungs. I shall, in another portion of this work, treat more fully of the use and condition of the lungs. But this much I will observe at this point : the blood which is circulated by the heart can be vitalized and 22 THE PERFECT HORSE. purified only by coming in contact, in passing through the lungs, with atmospheric air. When quiet, the blood in an animal’s body moves through the circulating chan- nels slowly, and respiration is performed easily : but in exertion the circulation is quickened ; the blood is pumped in and shot out of the heart with great rapidity ; the breathing becomes labored, and a fearful pressure is put upon the lung substance ; the multitudinous air-cells are dilated, and exposed to a strain which nothing – but the strongest possible texture can withstand. In addition to this, the reader must bear in mind that the blood that is brought back to the heart after having gone the rounds of the system is in an impure condition, and can only be purified by the oxygen taken with every breath into the lungs ; so that the lungs and heart work, as it were, in unison, and are mutually dependent one upon the other. Every ounce of blood circulated by the heart must re- ceive a certain amount of air from the air-cells of the lungs ; and, as the rapidity of the circulation is gauged by the degree of exertion put forth, it follows that the capacity of the heart and lungs decides, in a great meas- ure, the amount of exertion which the horse can put forth. To illustrate : The faster he goes, the greater the number of heart-beats and the amount of air required; so that the capacity of the heart and lungs really decides (the proper temperament and muscular strength being grant- ed) the speed of the horse. Hence the necessity of paying special attention to the shape and size of the chest, in which the heart and lungs are placed HOW TO KNOW HIM. 28 I am not writing a minute anatomical description of the chest ; and I need only sky that it is bounded on the front by the neck, on either side by the shoulder-blades and the ribs, underneath by the breast-bone, above by the spine, and in the rear by the diaphragm, which acts as a division between it and the intestines. Draw a line from the hindermost point of your saddle until it touches the back-side of the girths, near the breast-bone, and you see with sufficient accuracy the position of the dia- phragm. It is a large sheet of muscular tissue, reaching, from side to side in such a way as to completely divide the power separating it into two great cavities. It is pliable in texture, and, when moved backward or for- ward, lessens or enlarges either of the cavities between which it is drawn. The front one of these two cavities is occupied almost entirely by the heart and lungs. Here they dwell almost alone in the home which Nature has provided for them, and which they monopolize. The heart is small in size, and alters little, whether in repose or action, sickness or health. Not so with the lungs : they expand and shrink with every breath. In their substance they are highly elastic, and capable of being enormously distended ; and each distention is followed with a commensurate collapse. To accommodate this mighty expansion, which results from every aspiration made by a horse when in violent action, Nature has made a wonderful provision. When the aspiration begins, the arch made by the ribs is elevated, and the diaphragm is drawn back, in order that the cavity between them 24 THE PERFECT HOBSE. may be enlarged to accommodate the expansion of the lungs. When the ribs are lifted, and the diaphragm drawn back, the lungs swell out, being inflated, and fill the enlarged chest ; and the air rushing into the air-cells of the lungs, and then coming in contact with the impure blood waiting to receive it, purifies it, and is then dis- charged through the windpipe, from the nostrils. The lungs are thus reduced to their former size, and the chest shrinks to its normal proportion. This is the process of breathing ; and upon its proper performance depend the health and usefulness of the horse. An old horseman has well expressed it thus : ” Wind,” says he, “is the grand secret of a fast horse. Good lungs will cover a multitude of faults ; whilst, on the other hand, perfection of shape and form are useless when the wind is out.” The chest, therefore, in all cases, should be large and capacious. In shape it may vary somewhat, according to the service to which the horse is to be put. If he is kept for slow work and heavy drawing, the chest may be nearly circular in form, because this shape is the one for strength and bulk, to receive and bear up against the pressure of the collar ; while, at the same time, sufficient room is secured for that expansion of the lungs caused by slow and regular work. But, if the chest is circular, let it be at the same time deep, or else the lungs may be cramped. A horse with a shallow chest is worthless for any purpose. The rule, then, is this : For a draft-horse, a circular but deep chest ; but as you pass through the HOW TO KNOW HIM. 25 different degrees of speed, up to the racer and trot- ter, the chest must increase in depth compared to its roundness, until, for the highest rate of speed, you must have a chest as deep as a greyhound, and, at the same time, not lacking in breadth. Every breeder should keep this rule in mind when selecting his brood-mares and stallion; for he may be sure that shallow-chested parents never beget deep-chested colts. In order to illustrate the faultiness of the circular chest, an inge- nious writer has put it thus : — ” Take, for example,” he says, ” a piece of pasteboard, and form it into a cylinder about six inches in length, and two inches in diameter; leaving it open at both ends, so that it can be compressed equally from end to end Place one end on a table, and compress two of its sides until the cavity assumes a perfectly oval or elliptical form, and then fill it accurately with fine shot. When it is nicely filled and levelled on the top, re- move the pressure from the sides, so that the pasteboard may again form a perfect cylinder ; and it will be found that the shot is not nearly sufficient to fill the cavity. Now, as the quantity of pasteboard remains exactly the same during the entire experiment, it is quite plain the change of capacity is owing solely to the change of form. ” Let us suppose, then, that a horse has a perfectly circular chest ; and it will follow, as a necessary conse- quence, that the elevation of the ribs on the side, in place of increasing its capacity, will actually lessen it, 26 THE PERFECT HORSE. by bringing it more or less into the elliptical form. In this case the cavity of the chest would be larger when the breathing would be suspended than at any other time, because its original shape was such as not to ad- mit of an increase of size by any change of form. The farther it would be changed from the cylinder, the smaller it would become. But if, in the first instance, the chest were a great deal deeper than broad, the ele- vation of the ribs on the side would just serve to bring it into the circular shape, which is the most capacious of all. Hence it must be evident that depth of chest is indispensable in all cases. u As the lungs of the horse occupy a much larger space when he is in active exercise than when he is at rest, we are justified in concluding that he requires to have the power of increasing the size of his chest in proportion as he is called upon to increase his speed. Contrary to the popular opinion, the chest must, to a certain extent, be flattened on the sides, in order that it may be capable of being changed from the elliptical into the circular form. The horse for very slow work may have his chest approaching the circle, because the trifling elevation of rib which is required by his quiet mode of breathing will only be sufficient to complete the circular shape. Whilst he may do with this kind of chest, it cannot, however, be considered advanta- geous, as a greater power of wind might often be of decided service to him, and could never be injurious. The depth of the chest, when compared with its width, HOW TO KNOW HIM. 27 must invariably increase in direct proportion to the in- crease of speed and distance required of the animal. In the steeple-chaser or the flat-racer it should be of enormous depth, in order that the elevation of the ribs may assist in forming a capacious circle, for the purpose of accommodating the rapidly and frequently distended lungs during the trying period of the race. In such cases a round chest would be of no use, as the wind would be completely pumped out of the horse before he had gone half the requisite distance.” — Carson on the Horse. The best form the chest can possibly take in a horse used for speed is the following: It should be wide above, moderately so below (near the breast – bone), and slightly flattened, but very deep, along the sides. Such a shape to the chest will enable him to trot his mile in 2.20, and be free from pain at the close of the decisive heat. I might pursue these remarks much farther ; for the subject is profoundly interesting to the student of the horse, and I have by no means exhausted it : but my t space is limited ; and perhaps enough has been said to give the reader, and young purchaser and breeder, the main, essential points most worthy of attention. But, before I pass to another section, I caution all would-be breeders of fast and enduring horses, whether for the racing or trotting course, as also all on the lookout for a fast horse for their private use, to remember that that portion of the horse where Nature has placed the heart . 28 THE PERFECT HORSE. and lungs should receive at their hands the closest inspection: for a merely circular chest, or a narrow, pinched, and shallow chest, does not give heart and lung room enough ; and without this there can be no high, prolonged rate of speed. After the head, neck, and chest have been . duly in- spected, and their excellences or defects remarked, the buyer should turn his attention to the BONES, in order to ascertain whether they supply the animal with the needed upholding and supporting power, not merely when at rest or in easy action, but when, in his high flights of speed, he delivers his strokes with the energy of a locomotive. For when a horse, weighing, perhaps, eleven hundred pounds, comes rushing down the course, the shock to his bone structure, as represent- ed by his legs, is something beyond our power to realize ; and how such a small column of bone as the canon-bone, for instance, can sustain the blow, I have never been able to comprehend. The first point for the student of the horse to bear in mind is, that the size of a bone does not give the true measure of its strength, but rather the size and texture both. The leg-bone of a thorough-bred horse, as all know, is much smaller in size than the leg-bone of the cart-horse; but, at the same time, it is many times stronger. The reason of this is, that, in the one case, the bone is coarse and porous in its texture ; while in HOW TO KNOW HIM. 29 the other it is fine, dense, and compact. A section from the canon-bone of a low-bred cart-horse, after being exposed to the action of the atmosphere, is seen to be, when held up between the eye and the sun, spongy, porous, and full of holes: while a section from the canon-bone of. a thorough-bred horse is solid and hard as ivory ; so much so, indeed, that it will take a polish like a piano-key. This fact reveals the whole story, and prevents all future blundering. Of course, a certain size is requisite ; but all above the absolutely needed amount is only unnecessary weight, which, without giv- ing any assistance to the animal, he is compelled to carry along. Now, when you reflect that the differ- ence of even ten pounds in the weight of two drivers will lose the heavier driver’s horse the race, albeit he is in every respect equal to his rival, you will readily per- ceive how important, when we come to the matter of speed, this point of bone-weight is : for it is as. bad to weight the horse in the limbs and neck as it is in the sulky ; nay, worse ; for it exhausts the horse more to carry ten pounds of lead, we will say, fastened to his legs, or tied around his neck, than to draw it on wheels. I advocate, therefore, the breeding of colts with as slim neck as is consistent with constitutional endurance, and with as small limbs as comports with strength ; for this reason, if for none other, — because every ounce of un- necessary bone substance and flesh about the neck is so much dead-weight for the horse to carry. But beyond this is the question of beauty, which, none will deny, 30 points directly to fine-bred limbs, neck, and head. I urge all my readers to remember this also, — that no one can be a good judge of the horse, no matter what his pretensions are, unless he is perfectly familiar with the size, length, and proper position of every bone in the skeleton: for they are the props and levers of the entire structure; and on their shape, length, position, and texture, the capacity of the animal for any allotted service depends. I will now ask your attention to the SHOULDER. There is no one type of shoulder, either as to its bone and muscular structure or its length and position, which may be called the perfect shoulder ; because, be- yond almost any other part of the horse, the shoulder is to be considered in relation to the service required of him- Hence it becomes necessary for one to make him- self acquainted with the several kinds of shoulder; each of which, in their way, is the perfect shoulder for the work to which it is adapted. This prime fact is often overlooked by the purchaser and breeder in his selection of horses and brood-mares; and hence the more need of some remarks, at this point, upon it A draught-horse requires such a construction of the shoulders as to offer a fine and abundant resistance to the collar, and so shaped as to fit it evenly ; thus dis- tributing the pressure over the entire surface, with weight enough to assist the hind-quarters in moving the enormous loads which the animal is often called HOW TO KNOW HIM, 81 upon to draw. To meet these several wants, Nature, whose results are always such as the highest reason would suggest, builds an upright, thick, and heavy shoulder formation, so rounded and filled out with mus- cles, flesh, and fibre, that the pressure is not borne by that point where it begins when the horse u settles into the collar,” but is carried up and over the entire resist- ing surface. This, to a heavy draught-horse, is a “per- fect shoulder ; ” and no amount of excellence in the other parts of the animal’s organization can make good any variation from this construction of the shoulders. Such a horse will be a “great puller,” but heavy and slow of movement, and. utterly incapable of speed beyond a kind of ox-like trot. For the purposes of lighter draught the shoulders should be lighter, less circular, and more oblique, with a decidedly higher wither; for this variation in the shoulder formation will qualify him to do moderately heavy work, and at the same time enable him to move more lightly and quickly. This modified draught-horse is the one for general farm- work, aild family-service on the road. The old Morgan type of shoulder formation — such as Justin Morgan had, for instance — is the best possible form for such service, and which, in connection with the other excellent qualities he possessed, made that horse able to move a heavier dead- weight than any other horse of his size of which we have any record. The horse destined for the saddle and carriage service should, on the other hand, have an altogether different I -J ’1 »’ !•. t >’ :*.i i ‘■•■ ‘.’ *’
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< ‘ I . , » • ! i « , i ! i • HOW TO KNOW Hltt. 33 is ; and this no horse with high withers can do. The point is this, — that a low-going horse loses less time in his stride than a high-going one ; and this fractional varia- tion, however minute, counts in a race where the horse is timed to, and can only hope to beat his competitor by, the fraction of a second. Hence many horsemen of close observation prefer a horse whose rump is quite as high as the withers, if not a little higher ; and I confess to an agreement with them in the matter. But however men may differ upon this point, still I think all will agree in this, — that it is most unwise, in selecting a horse solely for speed, to choose one higher forward than behind. Such a horse can never win a race, where, in other respects, his rival is his equal. Be this, moreover, observed, that it is exceedingly easy for one to misjudge touching the length and obliquity of the shoulders ; and this is done in five cases out of ten when you base your decision on the appearance of the withers and upper portion of the shoulder. The height of a horse’s withers is not a true index of the position or length of the shoulder-blades, or of the depth of his chest. Many horses with high, thin withers, and appar- ently sloping shoulders and deep chest, have, in fact, very upright shoulders, and too little chest-room to accommo- date the heart and lungs ; while, on the other hand, many horses with low withers and apparently circular shoulders have the best possible shoulder conformation for wind and speed. This is the case especially with some of the * French or Canadian trotters, and with the whole Morgan 84 THE PERFECT HORSE. family, which, in our opinion, have produced more rapid trotters, all things being considered, than any other branch of the American trotting family. And in proof of this, although the data gathered are not by any means complete, and do not show the family to the best ad- vantage of which it is capable, I would refer the reader to that section of this volume in which I discuss the Morgan family at length. There are two bones which in the skeleton represent the shoulder, and which are of such importance as to deserve prominent mention ; the uppermost of which is called the scapula. This bone, beginning at the edge of the withers, runs downward until it makes an angle with the next succeeding bone (the humerus), near the front- breast. Two points in reference to it should be especially noted : first, it cannot be too long for the purposes of speed ; secondly, its upper extremity should lie in as close as possible to the ribs and spine. The scapula is a wide, flat bone embedded in a great mass of muscles, and so protected by Nature as to be almost invulnerable to any shock or wrench. In ninety-nine cases in a hundred, ” shoulder lameness ” is in reality a lameness in the foot or lower bones of the leg, no matter what the u horse- doctor ” of the neighborhood may say. I have never seen an instance of bond-fide shoulder lameness; al- though I have seen scores of horses being treated for that complaint As a peculiarity of construction, and as evidence of that supreme wisdom with which God through Nature acts, it should be noted that the shoul- HOW TO KNOW HIM. 85 der-blade is not connected to the framework of the body, as all other bones are, by the cartilages or joints, but is • attached to it by means of muscular substance only. It is literally slung or wrapped up and held by a mass of muscle. This is the reason why it is so difficult for any jar or wrench to hurt it. The upper edges of the scapula cannot, by any pressure or blow, be driven up against any other bone (the spinal column or ribs), unless by a blow that should literally drive it out through the skin, and tear it from the body. By this arrangement, Nature has amply provided both for its own protection, and also for the ease of the rider, in that the shock of the gallop or jump is thereby reduced to a minimum. A writer has well said, u If the smith were aware of this fact, he would not trace to the shoulder, as he is apt to do, one-half the diseases that are located in the foot and leg. By referring the lameness to the shoulder, he can account easily to the owner of the horse for the result of his bad shoeing.” Precisely. Of the second bone in the shoulder — viz., the hume- rus — it is not necessary for me to speak, save to say that it should be of good length, and well slanted upward toward the scapula. Nothing remains, therefore, for me to mention, in connection with the shoulders, but the muscles. These — by which I mean all connected with the shoulder — cannot be too large or powerful, no matter to what use the horse may be destined. Every ounce of strength here tells. I like to see a shoulder packed in 86 THE PERFECT HORSE. * and laid over with” great layers and masses of muscle ; none the worse, but all the better, if they reach up as if they would overlap even the withers* What we want in this locality of the animal’s frame is substance, quan- tity. Some admire thin shoulders : not I. Such shoulders look best when you start on a long drive : they don’t look so well after you have made sixty miles, with ten more still to make. Light fore-quarters mean weak fore-quarters. A horse has to lift himself every step he takes, remember : and this is hard work when continued for hours, mile after mile ; and nothing less than a splendid muscular development about the shoulder will enable him to do it. But be sure in your • inspection that the thick, strong look of the shoulder formation is owing to the presence of muscle, and not to the fact, as is often the case, that the shoulder-blades are set loosely on to the frame, and wide apart. This is a vicious conformation for a horse, and a sure evidence of weakness in the fore-quarters, from which no diet, or care on the part of the owner, can ever deliver him. Run your fingers under the upper point of the scapula, and see if it is set close in to the spinal column and ribs : if it is, and the horse still “looks thick” through the shoulders, buy him ; if not, look farther. We will now proceed to the examination of the fore- leg ; and in this fore-leg are two bones to which I wish to call especial attention, — the fore-arm, or radius, as it is sometimes called, and the large metacarpal or canon bone, as it is popularly named. Lying between these, at HOW TO KNOW HIM. 37 • the junction of the knee, are the three carpal-bones, of which we need not speak. In reference to the forearm we observe, that it can scarcely be too long, or too heavily clothed upon with nuscles ; for all the muscles which move the leg and foot are located here. Now, please remember that the muscles are the only moving power in the animal, and that all the muscles to lift and extend the foot and leg are placed along this ■ fore-arm, and you will at once conclude that the size and fashion * of the fore-arm is a matter of the utmost importance. No strength of shoulder can make good a defective de- velopment of those muscles wrapped around the radius ; because the strength above cannot make good the lack of strength below. Mr. Youatt well says, that, “whatever other good points the animal may possess, if the arm is narrow in front and near the shoulder, flat on the side, and altogether deficient in muscular appear- ance, that horse is radically defective. He can neither raise his knee for rapid action, nor throw his leg suffi- ciently forward.” The arm should be large at the point of union with the body ; taking a strong hold, as it were, of the trunk, in order to give a sufficient basis for the attachment of muscles. On the back part of the top of the arm, where it joins the body, is a projection of bone, called the elbow. Without explaining the reason why, — be- cause it would require an examination of mechanical principles not within the province of this book, — I would say, that it is of the greatest importance that 38 THE PERFECT HORSE. this projection should be broad and strong, and reach- ing well back from the front of the arm. If you will examine closely the fore-arm of a horse, you will observe that in it are three masses of muscles, the location and use of which are as follows : One is placed on the outer edge of the fore-arm, in front ; the second lies directly behind it : and these are employed to extend and bend the limb. The third lies inside of the fore-arm, near the junction of the leg and chest. The office which this muscle fulfils is this : When the horse is in motion, it confines the arm to the side, keeps it in a straight line, and makes it impossible for the heavy pressure from above to separate the legs too widely. You see that all of these muscles are of the supremest importance ; for in them is held the power of carrying forward the whole machine safely and swiftly. Their duty is labo- rious. Nor can they shirk it: no other muscles can do their work. A weak fore-arm, therefore, is a sad and fatal defect in a horse of whom any severe work is required. Of these three muscles, the first two must be both strong and long. The stronger these muscles, the greater the endurance of the horse ; the longer they are, the greater his length of stride. This is a law, a disre- gard of which in purchasing or breeding will bring its own penalty. Of the canon-bone, or leg, this should be said : It should be short, — the shorter the better : for, if it be short, the fore-arm above it is likely to be long ; which is a great desideratum in speed. In size it should be HOW TO KNOW HQL 89 small, but of dense and compact substance, smooth and solid as ivory. I do not care how large the fore-arm is, nor how small the canon-bone is, unless it be so small as to amount to maleformation. Active, energetic, and hardy people are apt to have small wrists and ankles. The prize-fighter’s arm and leg, when in his prime con- dition and he stands stripped in the ring, are wonderful for two things, — the apparent smallness of the wrist-bone and ankle-bone near the sockets, and the great mass of swelling muscles packed on above them ; and this is re- garded as the best conformation for agility and strength. Indeed, large bones are associated with, and found most frequently in, men and women of soft, flabby, and lymphatic constitutions. Especially does this hold true in the case of speed. The Indian runner is never a large-boned man. The deer, giraffe, and greyhound are small of limb. Why do men expect Nature to make an exception to this beautiful law in the case of the horse ? On what principle that will bear inspection can this dif- ference be argued ? ” There are not many, 1 ‘ says an Irish writer, “I imagine, who would admire the human leg with the thick end of it next the ground.” But, if the canon-bone must not be of too great a size around it, it should be wide when viewed laterally, and thin when viewed from behind. A flat, compact leg- bone, devoid of flesh, with the tendons standing well out from the bone, terminating at the knee in a large flat joint, — this width at the knee-pan affords plenty of space for the attachment of the necessary ligaments, and also 40 THE PERFECT HOBSB. gives a good opportunity for the sinews to run over it I do not care so much for the size of the bone as I do for the material of the neighboring parts. The sinews f should be large, because a large sinew is always con- nected with a large muscle. Above all, it is desirable that they should be of such firm texture as to feel to the examining touch like so many distinct and closely- woven cords. If they are swathed in a soft, puffy- material, and feel to the hand as if incased in fat, instead of being cordy and wire-like, you may well beware of them. To this may be added, that the sinews should be thrown out from the leg-bone ; be- cause if they do not, but are tied down closely to it by the ligaments which bind them to their place, they will be exposed to a dangerous friction and strain. Such a leg is a bad leg to have under any horse. I would here pause to observe, lest I sheuld be mis- understood, that the reason why the leg of a cart-horse must be larger than the leg of a thorough-bred is not because the thorough-bred’s would not answer if the cart-horse had it, but because the cart-horse does not have it : by which I mean, that, when you do not have fine bone texture, you must have size ; for sufficient strength to uphold the horse must, of course, be there in the one form or the other. And, since the leg-bone of the cart- horse is porous and spongy, it must be larger in bulk, in order to supply the needed amount of strength. The last portion of the fore-leg that I shall mention in detail is the pastern. A bad pastern is a great defect HOW TO KNOW HDI. 41 It should not only be strong, but placed in the proper position, and at the right angle of inclination. In the horse of slow work the pastern should be short, and nearly upright ; but, in the horse kept for speed, it should be long and well slanted, in order that it may be sufficiently elastic to relieve the ends of the upright bones of the terrible concussion which would otherwise be given to them whenever the foot, while the horse is in rapid motion, is brought to the ground. A saddle-horse for instance, whose pasterns are short and nearly per- pendicular, will feel stiff and uncomfortable to his rider ; while the jars and the jolts to which he is exposed by every step he takes will shortly induce disease in the feet, and bones of the leg. But the pasterns must not slope at too great an angle, as those of some animals do ; for then the weight of the horse falls so far back of the foot, that th& bones do not help uphold the body, and the whole burden of support is put upon those tendons that run over the back-side of the ankle-joint. Such a formation will invariably and speedily lead to the straining and breaking-down of the back tendons. “If the pasterns are too long and too small in the hunter and steeple-chaser, they will not be able to sustain their weight in dropping from their leaps over fences ; but if they are tolerably long, very thick, and well slanted, they will have plenty of strength, combined with a suffi- cient degree of elasticity. An upright pastern, whether long or short, is highly objectionable in a horse for either saddle or harness ; and a weak one is, in all cases, un- pardonable.” 42 THE PERFECT HORSE. THE FORE-FEET. I do not propose to anticipate at this point what I shall have to say farther on in that division devoted to the construction of the feet, and the manner in which to shoe them. I will, therefore, now only speak of the outward conformation of the hoof. The foot should neither be large nor small, but of a neat appearance, and medium size. I am no friend to the large, flat foot I regard this formation as a very undesirable one. It suggests to me that the companion-bones of the skele- ton of which it is a part are likewise soft and porous. It is not the large, flat-footed man that can walk the farthest, or leap the highest; and the spry est and swift- est-footed animals of the world have small, upright, horny hoofs. The chamois, antelope, red deer, and wild horse, all have this formation of the feet. The mule has a hoof that many horsemen would call contracted ; and yet who ever saw a mule lame in the foot ? My idea is, that a medium-sized and neatly-proportioned foot is as good a sign in the horse as in the man. A foot that is either exceedingly large, or quite small, is, to my mind, suggestive of disease in the internal structure of the foot. The great hue and cry about “a wide, open heel,” is a humbug. The heels that never look that way are those of a Morgan or French horse, both of which are noted for foot-soundness. I do not remember that I have ever seen an unsound foot under a Canadian horse ; and yet the hoof of the Canadian horse is invari- HOW TO KNOW HDI. 43 ably upright, nearly circular, mule-shaped, I commend these suggestions to those who are forever crying u con- tracted feet ” against a horse, unless he has a foot large and flat as an old-fashioned frying-pan. Touching the shape of the foot, I would say, the hoof should be longer oq its ground-surface than broad ; and the breadth should be greatest directly across its centre, lessening gradually both toward the heel and toe. Avoid a very high heel, and also a very low one. Either extreme is objectionable. The outer surface of the foot should be smooth, and of fine texture ; free from rings, depressions, or protru- berances. Brittle hoofs shun ; and select the fine- grained, tough-looking hoof. The slant of the hoof on its ground-surface deserves close attention. The true and proper angle is about fifty degrees. If less than this, and the hoof is very deep at the heels, it is predisposed to contraction, and likely to become inflamed. If, on the other hand, the reverse is the case, the sole is likely to be too flat, the heels too much exposed; and internal weakness follows. A low heel in connection with a very sloping pastern is to be especially avoided. The frog should be large, elastic, and healthy in appearance. It should not be allowed to become too dry ; nor, on the other hand, to be too spongy and soft. It is probably intended by Nature as a kind of elastic cushion, and should never be tampered with. Let it grow as large as Nature permits ; knowing well, that, in 44 THE PERFECT HOBSE. her adaptation of means to an end, the good old dame is wiser than a whole college of surgeons. For further remarks upon the subject of the feet, I refer the reader to the division of this book upon shoeing. We have now examined the structure of the fore-leg in detail ; but, before we part with it, let us contemplate the matter, for a moment, as a whole. When examined from the front, the space or distance between the fore- legs should be the same from the breast to the ground. A horse so constructed will rarely be a ” speedy cutter ” or a ” brasher,” or go any other way than in a clean, handsome, straight-forward manner. . When viewed from the side, the leg should be, as nearly as possible, perpendicular. If it inclines backward very much, too much weight will be thrown in front of it ; while, if it be pointed out forward, the weight from above will fall too heavily upon the back tendons, and injuries be the result. I agree perfectly with Carson when he says,. “The leg should drop perfectly straight from its June-* tion with the shoulder to the ground ; and the point of the toe should come as near as possible to a straight line under the point of the shoulder.” The elbow, the location of which I have already de- scribed, should be examined; for it is by no means an insignificant member. The danger is, that it is likely to be pointed too far in or out. If turned in, it will chafe against the saddle-girths and belly-bands, and thus be a source of constant annoyance to the owner. It also compels a vicious knee-action, and to the turning- HOW TO KNOW HIM. 45 out of the toe when the horse is in motion, styled “paddling.” The horse with an elbow so placed will also be a “brasher;” that is, he will continually be striking the toe of one foot against the opposite ankle. When, on the other hand, the elbow is turned out, the toe is generally turned in ; which is a fault of construction far worse than the former one. Such a horse is neither speedy, nor safe to ride. I do not wish to be under- stood as saying that no horse with his toes turned in was ever speedy ; for such instances are seen every year on the road or track : but, in these cases, the turning-in of the toes was due to the peculiar way in which the hoof itself was set on, and not to the construction of the elbow. But, when the elbow is turned out, you will never find speed. In support of this opinion many high authorities could be quoted. As regards the knees, they should never be bent either forward or backward; although some defend a slight backward curve, as a sure sign that the horse can never stumble, because, as they say, u he is so well back on his knees.” For myself, if the leg must lose its exact perpendicular position, I should greatly prefer that it should incline forward rather than backward, because, by this backward inclination, the back muscles and sinews of the leg are all interfered with, and positively checked in their action ; while it is a fact of my own observation and experience, as it is of others of wider observation and larger experience than myself, that some of the very safest and fastest horses ever known have been 46 THE PERFECT HOBSE. animals rather forward on their legs at the knees. Still the exact perpendicular is the true and desirable direc- tion for the leg. I feel that I cannot do better, in this connection, than to lay before the reader the opinion of one whose judg- ment I have already quoted upon another matter. He says, — u I think any person who takes the trouble of opening his eyes may see that the safety of the horse’s knees depends chiefly on the slant of the shoulder and pastern^ together with the method in which the foot is brought into contact with the ground. On this last point I am at variance with popular opinion, which says that a horse, in order to be safe, requires to be a high-lifter. I look upon high-lifting as a very great fault. Just imagine a man walking down one of the thoroughfares of Lon- don or Dublin, and lifting his feet at every step half way to his knee! He would certainly gain a great deal of admiration at the expense of his corns, and perhaps the point of his nose. Now, where is the difference between a man and a horse, which should make such a difference in the mode of their progres- sion ? It is the laying-down of the foot which renders the animal safe. Of course, the foot should be raised sufficiently high to prevent the toe from coming into contact with the ground ; but this is very different from what is called high action. My objections are intended to apply entirely to those which are denominated high- steppers. I would avoid all such as much as the daisy- -1 HOW TO KNOW HIM. 47 cutter. The medium course is the only safe one. If the horse lifts his foot clear of the road, and lays his heel first to the ground, he cannot fall ; as stumbling is usually occasioned by sticking the toe into the road, or striking it against a stone, just as the foot is being brought down into contact with the surface. A horse seldom,- if ever, falls in the act of lifting his foot ; simply because, in that position, he has no weight depending upon it. He will fall only when he places the toe on the ground before the heel. Under these circumstances, a slight obstacle will bend the pastern forward ; and, as the weight of the body is now intended to be thrown on the limb, away he goes. Let the horse with a well-slanted shoulder and pastern throw his foot well forward, and then bring his heel first to the ground, and I will answer for his safety. He will also stand more work than the very high-stepper, whose peculiar action is certain to inflame his feet, as well as to pro- mote the development of a variety of diseases to which the fore-legs are liable. Of course, the observations I have made are applicable to shape and action alone, and have no reference to those cases where a fall is caused by the pressure of a sharp stone on a tender and diseased foot. It must be evident, a case of that sort is very different from one of ordinary tripping. The one is the result of disease ; the other, of development or form.” — Carson on the Horse. We have now examined the head, neck, chest, shoul- ders, and fore-legs of a horse, and pointed out the 48 THE PERFECT HORSE. peculiar formation and characteristics which should dis- tinguish them ; and I flatter myself that the reader who has followed me carefully is pretty well informed touch- ing these several parts of the organization. But several others still remain to be examined ; which we will now proceed to inspect. The next in order, if not in im- portance, is the BACK. The first thing to observe in judging of a horse, so far as his back is concerned, is the length of it. A long back is a weak back, the world over, and in every in- stance. By superior excellence of structure in other respects, the weakness of the back may be, in some measure, made up ; but the horse can never be the horse he would have been had his back been a shorter one. I do not care how short a horse’s back is ; for it is a sure evidence to me that he can carry or drag a heavy weight a great distance, and not tire : neither, if he be speedy, will two or three seasons of turf experience break him down, as is the case with so many of our speedy, long-backed horses. Old Morrill and Flora Temple are instances in the past ; and the famous grand- son of Old Morrill, Fearnaught, and Taggart’s Abdallah, are good illustrations among horses now living. This conformation of the back is, in my opinion, a grave objection against Young Morrill and Rysdyk’s Hamble- tonian. I yield to both the meed of great excellence. I would speak as warmly in their eulogy as any man with reason could. But, in spite of all their excellences, HOW TO KNOW HIM. 49 I still declare that both of them would have been decidedly better horses had they been coupled shorter and more strongly on the back. If Young Morrill had had the back of his sire, — one of the most marvel- lous specimens of perfect bone structure and muscular power ever bred, — he would never have gotten so many swayed-backed colts as now stand to his charge. The same is the case, in even greater measure, with Rysdyk’s Hambletonian. We know what he has done in the stud. We know, that, crossed on mares of a certain pattern and blood, especially on the daughters of Ameri- can Star, the son of the great Henry, he has given us trotters of the highest speed, and second to none in endurance. All this I admit, because it is a fact. But all this is true in spite of his back, not because of it : and, where he has gotten one colt closely and strongly coupled up in the back and loins (as every colt should be), he has sent forth five or ten without this admirable construction; nay, representatives of the other form. You may attend the fairs of the country, and eight out of every ten of the Hambletonian stallions exhibited will present to the eye this unfortunate peculiarity. In reply it will be urged that these long-backed horses have an ” enormous stride.” I grant that they do stride a great distance ; but I also notice that their feet stay under the sulky a long time. The power to “twitch their feet out from under the wagon,” as an old driver once expressed it to me, does not belong to them. You never find it in connection with a long back. I 4 50 THE PERFECT HORSE. wish to breed colts with an ” enormous stride ” as ear- nestly as any one ; but I wish that these colts blessed with an ” enormous stride ” should have the knack also of gathering quickly. A long stride and a quick recovery is what I desire to see in the colts bred on my farm. But, in respect to the length of stride, I have this to say, — that it is not in any way the result of the length of back. What we wish is a long stride apd a quick gather ; and the latter you can never find in connection with a long back, and the former you can find in connec- tion with a short one. It is not the length of the back which gives length of stride, but the position of the pasterns, the slope of the shoulders, and the position of the great bones of the hind-legs. There must be length somewhere, I admit, or else the horse cannot stride far; or, if he attempts it, he will be forever ” over-reaching,” or ” forging” as the phrase goes. But tvhere should the length be located ? That is the ques- tion to be answered ; and we say, The length should be located below, and not above. The length should be put in between the shoulder-joint and the hams of the horse. There is where it was put in Flora Temple, and which gave her such a tremendous stride for so small an animal ; and there, too, is where you find it in Dexter, Fearnaught, and Taggart’s Abdallah, whose stride on a sandy track I have measured, and found to be twenty feet! If that is not an ” enormous stride,” enough to satisfy any one, I should be pleased to know what is ; and yet Abdallah has a short, muscular, Morgan-like HOW TO KNOW HIM. 51 back, as his sire, Farmer’s Beauty, and his grandsire, Gifford Morgan, had before him. There never was a falser theory, or one calculated to beget more mis- chief among breeders, than this, — that we must breed long-backed colts in order to get length of stride. I have always noticed that the horses long in the back, and loosely coupled at the hips, are the horses that always come to the judges’ stand padded and swathed with “pads” and “shields” and ” protectors ” enough to stock a small-sized horse-clothing establishment. The reason is, because there is too little strength in the back and loins to deliver their strokes in a straight line, or to ” catch” quickly and handily when they ” break.” It is at such a time, — the supreme hour of the animal’s life, perhaps, — when fame and money hang evenly in the balance, and ten thousand eyes are watching him, and the horse is going at the top of his speed, that forma- tion, and perfection of organic structure, tell. At such an hour I desire no long-backed animal to represent me. And in this connection I would observe, that it is sur- prising that so little attention is paid by breeders and trainers to this matter of strengthening the back. I see no reason why the back of a horse may not, by judicious treatment, be strengthened, as can be done in the case of the man. Dio Lewis will take a weak-backed man, and in two years, yes, in half that time, more than double the strength of his back. He will make a man with a weak back by nature have a strong one. If the muscles in the back of a man can be thus enlarged and developed, \ 52 THE PERFECT HORSE. why cannot the same be done in the case of a horse, and by the same method; viz., the imposition of weights, gradually increased, day by day, up to the maximum of safety ? Next in importance to the shortness of the back is the width of the bone formation over the kidneys. At this point, viewed from the side, the back should be seen to rise a little, — not too much. I do not fancy a ” roach-backed ” horse, but with a gentle, easy eleva- tion. Above all, beware of a horse with any considera- ble depression at this point. The ribs should stand straight out from the backbone, and be long, giving great width over the kidneys, and a good chance for the muscles to take hold of the framework. I do not fancy any very considerable dip behind the withers. Such a formation of the spinal column and ribs is sure to cramp and interfere with the heart and lungs within the chest, which, above all, is to be avoided : for, with- out a well-deyeloped and well-located centre to his blood-system, the horse cannot have health ; and, with- out lung-room, he cannot have speed over any but short distances. It is lungs more than any thing else that decide how fast a horse can trot. (See section on lungs.) We now come to the examination of the most essen- tial portion of the horse’s frame, — the HIND-QUARTERS. Here it is that the strength and speed lie. The fore- legs aire for supports : they uphold the body, neck, and HOW TO KNOW HIM. 53 head, — that is all. They add nothing, or next to noth- ing, to the motive-power. They must be sound, and well sustained with muscles, or they cannot uphold the superincumbent weight, or move themselves with the needed quickness. But with this their function ends. They appropriate their own power. They are, as it were, altogether selfish. Not so with the hind-legs. They are the great motors of the body. They push the entire frame through the air. They set the heavy wagon behind in motion. Watch a horse as he is about to start a load. How does he do it ? Where is the power to push located ? Evidently in his hind quarters and legs. The most casual glance, as the horse lowers himself to his work, will reveal this fact. Watch a horse in the exercise-field; observe him as he rears for the leap, and see him as he goes into the air. How did he leave the ground ? What launched him up along that splendid leap ? There can be but one an- swer: The hind-legs do it all Hence the need of power at this point. There cannot be too much ; for the effort that he is called upon to make at times is prodigious. It is well authenticated that the celebrated horse Vainhope made a leap thirty-four feet in length. The English hunters will clear a strong, six-barred gate with a hundred and ninety pounds in the saddle. Such feats cannot be done unless the bone structure and muscular development of the hind-quarters are simply perfect. Let us, therefore, examine this supremely important sec- tion of the horse’s body, in order to ascertain what must 64 THE PEBFECT HOBSE. be the position and length of the bones, and the char- acteristic appearance of those muscles by the use of which a spirited animal is able to perform his mighty deeds. How does a horse look to the eye when the formation of his hind-quarters is as it should be ? Several things must be kept in mind by the student : First, that the bones must be of the proper length, of the right size, and be put together in a right position ; and, secondly, that the muscles must be of the right length and size, and have the right direction. The bones, remember, are the levers ; while the muscles are the powers by which these levers are moved. We all know that a weight is more easily lifted by a long lever than a short one ; that the lever must be large enough to have the required strength, and, above all, placed at the right angle, in order that every ounce of the applied weight may be utilized in the best possible manner. This, in brief, is the philosophy of the whole matter. When the bones are short, and badly placed, the mus- cles do not act upon them in such a way as to secure the needed power ; and the leap attempted is not made, or the wished-for stride obtained. Long bones, well placed, imply great leverage ; and long muscles mean that the contracting power by which the levers are moved is great. On these conditions, stride depends ; and therefore it is that length of bones and muscles in the hind-quarters of a horse is a thing greatly to be desired. In order to get a true and adequate knowl- edge of the hind-quarters of a horse, let us inspect the several parts in detail. HOW TO KNOW HIM, 65 THE RUMP, or haunch, should not be excessively broad: al- though it is the narrow rump that should be most avoided ; for, if the rump is narrow, there will be a de- cided lack of power. The rump-bones should be well projected on each side of the hips. Nor do I object, when looking for speed, if the projection is so great as to cause the horse to be “ragged-hipped.” Such horses, if otherwise well constructed, must, of necessity, be very powerful horses. The bones that reach from the kidneys to the projection of the hip can scarcely be too long, especially in animals kept for speed. Short- ness here means shortness of stride. The side-bones of the haunch should droop well down, and not stand out nearly level. I know that some straight or level rumped horses can trot, and trot fast too ; but still, as a rule, the horse with a moderately drooping rump is the best. Such a horse, if he is in other respects put to- gether right, is sure to go. He will swing along easily. The stifle-joint will be launched out well ahead, and his leg be thrown well forward. This far-reaching-forward motion of stifle and leg will insure length to his stride, and trueness of balance. He will be a level goer. His trotting will be done with his legs, and not with his body. Note that this droop of the rump is not incon- sistent with roundness of superficial formation : for mus- cles can be so massed at this point, that the rump shall have a full and plump appearance ; and this is the most 56 THE PERFECT HORSE. perfect of all formations. Such a bone structure, in connection with such muscular development, is perfec- tion itself. Let us now look at the THIGH. This bone extends from the hip-joint to that point where it unites with the upper section of the bone balled the tibia ; the union of the two composing the stifle-joint. As in the case of the scapula (shoulder- blade), the thigh-bone is buried in and wrapped about with an enormous mass of muscular substance. This bone is one of the most important of the entire frame. It is connected with those great muscles which alone are able to propel the entire system. This bone cannot be too long, because the length of it decides the reach of the hind-quarters. If this bone is short, and the bone below it short, the horse may be strong ; but he cannot be fast. He will be a short-step- per; and no quickness of motion can make good the absence of a long, sweeping stride. Be sure, then, before you purchase the animal, that these two bones are long, and properly placed. The muscles also, as I have aJ- ready suggested, play a most important part in connec- tion with these bones. From these alone, remember, comes the power to move them. The degree of their length gauges their contracting force, by which the bones are made to move. Be sure, then, that these mus- cles are long, large, and hard. Their size can be de- HOW TO KNOW HIM. 57 cided by the fulness of the parts they compose ; their length, by the distance which intervenes between the haunch-bone and the thigh-bone, and also by the dis- tance lying between the hip and the hock This last line cannot be too long. A hock well down towards the ground is a sight that delights the horseman’s eye. In respect to the muscles that lie along the thigh-bone, — which I overlooked when speaking of this part, — I would observe, that they should be strong, and well de- veloped inside as well as outside of the thigh. Thinness and flatness of formation here argue decided absence of strength. Indeed, when looking at the thigh from behind, the muscles should absolutely swell out, giving to the otherwise flat surface of the thigh-bone a rounded appearance. This is the very perfection of shape. Such a horse will be a sturdy goer, no matter how heavy the roads. The stifle-joint should extend well forward, and be placed well down. This formation removes the stifle to a proper distance from the pin-bone as well as from the front-side of the haunch-bone, gives greater surface- room for the attachment of muscles, increases their length, and decidedly improves their leverage. The greater the distance between these several parts, the bet- ter is the formation in every respect. Look for a large- sized stifle-joint, no matter how broad it is across the front, for here is one of the points of extreme action ; and socket-room, as well as room for the muscles, is indispensable. The wider the thigh is from the stifle to the back edge of the thigh, the better. The muscular 58 THE PERFECT HORSE. formation here should be distinct and prominent Quantity and length of bone and muscle should be the peculiar characteristic of this section of the body. Never be persuaded, by any perfection of structure as to the rest of the body, that it can make amends for imperfection and lack at this point. The perfect in nature is reached through the perfection of all the parts which go to compose the whole. No one muscle can do the work assigned by Nature to the other. The length of one bone cannot make good the loss of lever- age, and therefore of propelling power, which results from the shortness of another. You cannot be too severe in your analysis of the horse’s frame. Every part of it must be perfect ; every bone and muscle of the proper length, and properly placed ; or else the animal will fail you at the supreme test. He will be a good capable horse up to a certain point ; but beyond that, if he is faulty in any part of his organization, no art or contriv- ance of man can push him. He will always come a lit- tle short of that line which your hope had drawn, and which, upon an imperfect examination of him, the aver- age horseman would say he would certainly attain. This great fact should never be forgotten by the breeder when selecting his brood-mares and the horse that is to be the sire of his stables. Faulty parents be- get faulty children. This is Nature’s great fiat ; and it is vain for man to seek to elude it. I know that imper- fection of structure can be modified somewhat for the better by judicious crossing ; but the instances in which j HOW TO KNOW HIM, 59 it is entirely remedied, so far as my experience and ob- servation go, are exceedingly rare. There is nothing certain about it. Such breeding is, in spite of every thing one can do, unreliable, and too much the matter of luck. The only sure way, as it is the only business- like way, is to have perfection in both parents ; and then the great law, that like produces like, will tell in your favor, and insure you success. Beware of choosing for the sire of your colts an excessively long-backed horse, or one faulty in the construction of his hind-quarters. Never be led away and enticed by the gloss of his coat, the fineness of his neck and head, the splendid develop- ment of his chest and shoulders, into breeding from him, if he is poor in the muscular formation of his quar- ters. ■ It is in his haunch and thigh that strength and speed lie ; and here every thing should be long, broad, and full. If you are a breeder, you can disregard this, and because of cheapness, or facility of service, content yourself with an inferior sire ; but I wish you to dis- tinctly understand, in this case, that you are not to blame the principles of breeding for the result of your folly, but your own foolishness in discarding them. With here and there an exception, your colts will be what the parents are, — imperfect animals ; which is all you have deserved. You have just what you bred from over again ; and this is all that was possible for Nature under the circumstances to give you. The men who cry “that breeding does not pay” are men who make it impossible to pay by the substitution of ignorance in 60 THE PERFECT HORSE. the place of intelligence, and niggardliness in the place of wise liberality, in the selection of their brood-mares and the horse who sires their colts. I never knew any business to pay, especially one demanding so much of intelligence as breeding, when the sole condition of success — the knowledge how to adapt means to an end — was totally lacking. We will now pass to the consideration of THE HOCK. The principal reason, perhaps, why this is worthy of the closest attention, is because it is the seat, for the most part, of all the lameness that occurs in the hind-quarters ; and this liability to lameness doubtless springs from the fact, that the strain put upon it by the propelling muscles is so sudden and heavy, that it requires to be remark- ably well formed in order to remain sound To be well formed, the hock, in the first place, must be of large size. No matter how symmetrical it may look to the eye : if it is not large % it will never stand severe work. Never be afraid or ashamed of large, coarse-looking hocks. Such hocks are always beautiful to me. Re- member that here the great motor sinews are; and sufficient room must be given them to play freely and easily, and without the least friction. Remember, that, the larger the bones are which make up this joint, the wider will be the surface to which* the great powerful ligaments which keep these bones in their places can be attached, as likewise the greater will be the surface HOW TO KNOW HIM. 61 over which will be distributed the concussions to which this joint is inevitably exposed when the horse is in rapid action. But size alone is not enough. It should be well proportioned, each and every part of fit and adequate size, so that symmetry, also, shall be attained. The bone that forms the hindermost point of the hock can scarcely be too large ; for, the farther it is pushed up, the greater is the leverage capacity of those im- mense sinews which are inserted into it. This bone should be strong and of great size, as should also be the sinew which runs upward towards the thigh. This should stand well out from the bone, so as to be clearly perceived by the eye, and easily examined by the pressure of the finger. The lower thigh-bone should run into the hock-joint at a pretty sharp angle ; but here the angular formation should cease. From this point down to the pastern the leg-bone should be as straight as a perpendicular line ; for whatever curve there may be to it, will, as you can understand, cause the back sinews to work at a great disadvantage. Friction with every movement must result; and it is friction which begets inflammation. Such a horse is ever liable to become curbed. A word about this curb. The back sinew which runs down along the edge of the hock-joint is held safely in its place by a ligament specially de- signed for this purpose, called the annula ligament. This spaos the joint at the lower end of it like an arch from one side to the other. Of course, if the bones are so placed* as to allow the sinew to run in an exact per- 62 THE PERFECT HORSE. pendicular line, there will be less strain brought to bear upon this annula ligament, which keeps it in its place ; and it will be able to bear the strain which the horse with every stride or leap puts upon it. But if any considerable variation from this formation occurs, either by the rounding of the leg-bone at this point or the turning-in of the hocks towards each other, there will be a corresponding friction and strain brought to bear upon the annular ligament. The sinew will be liable to start out completely from its natural position, the beautiful arrangement of Nature at this point disrupted, and an unseemly tumor be the result. This tumor is the curb. Once formed, the joint is forever impaired. The sinew, you see, is actually torn out of its place ; the band that should have held it in its natural position is unduly strained or parted ; and perpetual weakness is the result. In purchasing, beware of a curb. Any protuberance, however slight, at this point, should be regarded with grave suspicion ; and the money which you were to give for the horse, keep in your pocket. In addition to the curb, another evidence of unsound- ness is to be looked for at this locality. I refer to the spavin. The bones of the hock are the natural seat of this disorder or infliction. Protection from this terrible evil lies in the size and symmetry of the hock-bones. Coarse-looking and strong joints are not likely to get out of order; but your smooth, neat, dandy-looking joints rarely, if ever, stand any consid- erable amount of work. I do not think that spavin, in HOW TO KNOW HTM. 63 as many cases as some imagine, springs so much from the imperfect formation of the hock as from scrofulous tendencies in the animal, which render him constitution- • ally exposed to joint and bone disease ; and so it happens that no size and symmetry of the hock can ever be regarded as an infallible protection from the spavin. Another cause of spavin, and perhaps the greatest, especially in America, is injudicious shoeing. If a horse, for instance, brushes, the smith will say, “Oh, I can cure him of that ! ” and so indeed he can, and without the employment of any marvellous amount of wisdom either. All that he needs to do is to cause the shoe to be thicker on one side of the heel than the other, and the horse will not brush ; but this construction of the shoe, it should be remembered, causes so much more weight to be thrown upon one part of the hock-joint than another, that disease is pretty sure to be the result. “I wish,” says an intelligent writer, “that these smiths had the one side of their boot raised an inch higher than the other in order that they might enjoy the same pleasure that they have conferred upon the horse. They would then, especially if compelled to run and jump, have an opportunity of knowing how long their ankle and knee joints would continue sound.” The last cause of spavin I shall mention, and perhaps the most frequent, is the smallness of the shank-bone at its junction with the hock. The hock has not sufficient surface to rest upon. The force of the concussion to which it is exposed is not sufficiently distributed ; and spavin is the ; > ‘ » »
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HOW TO KNOW HTM, 65
their proper positions, that they can do and endure all
things. A horse with such an appearance in the hind-
quarters, if otherwise well formed and of right tempera-
ment, will never fail you, but will remain, until old age
diminishes the natural forces of his well-constructed
organism, the pride and ornament of your stable.
I have now gone over the several parts of the horse,
upon the character of which his structure, and hence
his usefulness, depends. I have striven to avoid the
employment of such terms as would be difficult for
the average reader to understand. If I have suc-
ceeded to that extent to which I aspired, the reader
who has carefully followed me in my remarks has such
knowledge of the organs, bones, muscles, and general
shape and appearance, of the horse, as to qualify him to
select with wise discrimination the animal or animals
which he needs for either general or specific service,
or for the purposes of breeding. He cannot hereafter
be deceived by the cunning of dishonorable men, or
have any but himself to blame, if he invest his money
unwisely in his future purchases. But I ask him to ob-
serve, that all data for man’s information are worthless,
unless, when attained, they are used in connection with
his own observation and intelligence.
It is by the use of your owrf eyes and fingers, my
reader, in connection with the knowledge I have now
put in your possession, that you can become wise in
horse-craft. Suffer, at this point, two or three cautions.
The first is, Buy on your own judgment^ and not on that
66 THE PERFECT HOBSE.
of another man. I would speak with all modesty ; and
yet I would say, that it is my firm belief, that if you
have closely perused the preceding pages, and thought-
folly pondered them until the main suggestions I have
made are well fixed in your memory, you are better
prepared to go forth and purchase horses discreetly
and profitably than nine out of ten of those professional
horsemen as they are called. Exercise your own judg-
ment, then, getting greater wisdom by your mistakes ;
which, I warrant you, under the conditions supposed,
will not be many nor grave. But, if you are to thus
trust wholly to yourself (which I decidedly advise), be
deliberate and thorough in your examination of the
animal under inspection. Note every point in order as
I have followed in this work. Let eye and finger alike
contribute to your decision. Feel of the bones, muscles,
and sinews. It would be difficult to cheat you, even
were your eyes bandaged, if you would receive the
knowledge of the animal’s shape and condition which
might come to you through your hands alone.
Be sure that the horse you purchase has symmetry ;
viz., is well proportioned throughout. Never purchase
a horse because he has a splendid development of one
part of his organization, if he be lacking in any other.
Above all, keep well in mind what you are buying /or,
and buy the horse best adapted to the work you will
require of him ; and, when such an animal is yours, be
content. Never jockey. An occasional exchange may
be allowable; but this daily “swapping” of horses
HOW TO KNOW HIM. 67
advertises a man’s incompetency for any thing higher.
Another caution is this : Never purchase a horse until
you have seen him move, and under the same condi-
tions to which he will be exposed in the service you
will expect of him. If for a draught, see him draw,
back, and turn round in both directions; if for the
road, see how he handles himself, not merely on level
ground, but on going up sharp declivities, and, above
all, in descending them. In this way you will ascer-
tain the faults or excellences of bofh his temper and
structure.
In these exercises drive him yourself. The reins in
a skilful hand, aided by the whip or mouth, can be
Hiade to conceal grave defects. Let him move with a
loose rein, so that he may take his natural gait, and not
his artificial ; for, by so doing, you will detect any mis-
takes of judgment that you may have made when look-
ing him over in a state of inactivity. Many a time
unsoundness will appear in motion, which no inspection
of the eye and finger, however close, can ascertain.
When you have walked him and jogged him, if he is to
serve any other than mere draught-purposes, put him to
his speed, and keep him at it for a sufficient distance
to test his breathing capacity : then pull him up ; jump
from the wagon, and look at his flanks; inspect his
nostrils ; and put your ear close to the side of his chest,
in order to ascertain if the . action of the heart is
normal. If this exercise has caused him to perspire
freely, all the better ; for you can then see, when you
68 THE PERFECT HOBSE.
have returned to the stable, whether he “dries off
quickly,” which a horse of sound constitution does
when in perfect health. Watch him also carefully
when he is being taken from the stall, and while the
harness is being put upon him: you will in this way
ascertain his temper, and detect any thing that may
be undesirable about him.
Above all, in dealing, deal, as far as possible, only
with honorable men. Act so as to live above the hint
or suspicion of dishonesty yourself. No gentleman will
have anything to do with a mere jockey ; and the worst
reputation that a breeder can get is one for cunning
and trickery. Such a breeder will find it hard work to
sell his colts. Everybody suspects him. He may have
a fine young horse ; but his evil reputation makes men
shun him, because they fear they shall get cheated if
they buy of him. In no business does honesty pay
more surely, or larger dividends, than in the horse-
business ; and the reason is, because gentlemen who pay
liberally for young horses are very often distrustful of
their own ability to judge as to the merits of a horse,
and so, naturally, desire to purchase of men whose word
they can depend upon. No breeder or horse-dealer in
regular business can afford to cheat, even if he has no
conscience to restrain him from so doing. Raise good
colts, and keep a good character, and you will make
money by breeding.
I cannot resist the inclination to put on record in
this place and manner my strong protest against the
HOW TO KNOW HTM. 69
conduct of certain people, who, by slurs and innuendoes
and misrepresentations, seek to bring into popular
disgrace the most delightful and elevating branch of
American agriculture, — the breeding and training of
fine horses. Such behavior is both disgraceful to them-
selves, and, so far as it has any influence upon the
public, hurtful to the best interests of the country. As
a branch of business, it represents an enormous amount
of capital, as the national statistics show, — of capital,
too, contributing actively, year by year, to the commer-
cial prosperity of the land, and also largely and directly
to the health and happiness of its inhabitants. From
the settlement of the country, the horse has been
intimately and honorably associated with our social and
religious life, as he has also most potentially contributed
to the development of its trade and commerce. With-
out the assistance of the noble animal these thoughtless
people persist in associating with gamblers and jockeys,
our religious congregations could never have been as-
sembled sabbath by sabbath in the churches, nor our
political gatherings held, nor, as we all realize in view
of the revelation of the last winter, during the epizootic
season, could our business enterprises have been carried
out. Why an animal so noble by nature, and useful to
us all, should be singled out for reprobation, or to en-
gage in his propagation and training be stigmatized as a
low and vulgar pursuit, passes my comprehension. For
one, I acknowledge a debt of gratitude to those, who
by importation of blooded animals, or careful attention
70 THE PERFECT HORSE.
to the principles of breeding, have contributed to the
improvement of the American horse. The world is
happier and better conditioned to-day because Lafosse,
Rarey, Hiram Woodruff, and men of their intelligence
and character, lived. And not alone to these great
masters, who revealed to us the true method of shoe-
ing, training, and driving horses, are we indebted, but to
all of lesser note who in any sensible measure assisted
in the improvement of the animal himself, or of man’s
knowledge of his wants, and his capacity to serve
the human race. If it be a disgrace to teach men
useful knowledge; to add to the intelligence and
humane impulse of the country in respect to the
humblest of God’s creatures; to show those of small
fortunes how to increase their limited means, and hence
to improve their own condition, and swell the aggregate
prosperity of the country ; to fire with a worthy am-
bition the young agriculturist to produce better stock
than his father bred before him, — if this, I say, be a
disgrace, then I rejoice to share it with those, who, in
every State of the Union, are laboring to accomplish the
same noble end, — men whose public spirit I admire, and
the integrity of whose characters I hope to equal, but-
may never expect to excel. I love, with an attachment
which increases with the passage of years, my native
soil; and hold that its cultivation, and employment in
those pursuits connected with it, is most conducive to
the practice of those virtues which ennoble man, and
minister to his happiness. I love the earnest, honorable
HOW TO KNOW HIM. 71
industries of the field, and the stimulating companion-
ship of the spirited denizens of the stable. The strong,
healthy odor of the earth, the scented hedges, the
tremulous happiness of harvest-heads, the welcoming
neigh of glossy favorites greeting my coming steps with
the pride of their arched necks and expectant eyes, —
all this is a delight. Hail to this life of innocent and
humane sovereignty, in which care sets with the setting
of the sun, and gentle night brings gentler repose ! I
cherish the ambition, that, in some limited measure, I
may contribute something to the intelligence of those
of my generation who share this feeling with me, by
which they shall more perfectly understand the prin-
ciples that underlie success in those pursuits, which,
while they minister to the truest pleasures of life,
supply, at the same time, the needed support and profit.
Enough for me, if, when that crowded life which lives
in cities, and to which I am now a teacher, shall have
forgotten me, — as it surely will forget, — I may still
be remembered in the scattered hamlets of the country,
and be occasionally mentioned by the farmer’s fireside,
as having been a friend of the farmer, and of the
•farmer’s best friend, — the gentle, serviceable animal, —
the horse.
CHAPTER n.
THE PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. — REASONS WHY BREED-
ERS HAVE NOT BEEN FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL.
No one who is at all acquainted with the history of
breeding in New England and the country at large — at
least, so far as trotting-horses are concerned — can deny
that much money has been lost, and many failures made,
by those who have embarked their property in the
enterprise.
The fast horses of the country seem to be rather the
result of accident or good fortune than of design. In
other business, men invest one or five thousand dollars
with the reasonable certainty that they will receive
their money back again, together with a profitable rate
of interest. This is what is called doing a safe busi-
ness ; and it is this certainty of return that renders the
business legitimate. By as much as the result is uncer-
tain, accidental, the business loses in dignity, ceases to
be attractive to a well-constructed intellect, and be-
comes a species of gambling. Now, breeding of fast
horses has been a business, up to within a few years, and
72
‘ PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 78
even now, in the majority of cases, is a pursuit, notori-
ously tainted with this fatal element of uncertainty.
The history of almost every breeder is a history of ex-
travagant hopes and bitter disappointments. His whole
career has been one of struggle, delusive successes, and
total failures. If now and then he has made a ” hit ”
as the saying is, if occasionally he has produced a fast
colt, the very success served only, in the way of con-
trast, to make his failures all the more noticeable. The
great trotting-horses of the country have not been
foaled, in the proportion that one might reasonably ex-
pect, in the great stables of the country : they have
come, rather, before the public from obscure sources.
In many cases, as with Dutchman and Flora Temple
and Ripton, no one can tell up to this day any thing of
the sire or the dam. The fact that three such horses,
and scores of others of almost equal merit, have no
known parentage, reveals how rude and unsuccessful
the breeding efforts of the country have been. Who
can conceive of three winners of the Derby with no
known pedigree? Who can imagine a horse arising
in England, who should win all the principal prizes,
and remain king of the English turf for six or ten
years, and no Englishman be able to tell the stable
in which he was born, the dam that foaled him, or
the horse which was his sire ? Such a thing would be
impossible : for there the principles of breeding are
understood ; the result that shall come from the union
of two strains of blood can be predicted ; and successes
74 THE PERFECT HOESE. *
are in the line of sequence, and not of accident. But
here we have had few, if any, impartial and intelligent
students of the problem. The most intricate and deli-
cate of all endeavors to propagate great excellences by
the harmonious union of desirable qualities, possessed
in part by the sire and in part by the dam, has been,
for the most part, undertaken by men too ignorant or
prejudiced to grasp comprehensively the rudimental
principles of success. Hence it is that breeding in
America has been aja innocent kind of gambling ; that
is, a venture in which good luck, rather than an under-
standing of and attention to the business, was relied
on for success. Hence many of our fastest horses are
sent to us annually from the barn-yards of unknown,
and, so far as principles of breeding go, ignorant farm-
ers. We find them — as Dutchman was found, in a tan-
dem-team, drawing bricks ; or behind a drover’s wagon,
as Flora Temple was discovered — without name or
fame. They come unheralded by any expectation, the
result of no plan, no knowledge, no wisely-invested cap-
ital. This seems an indisputable proposition, therefore,
— that one of the causes of the financial failures which
have attended attempts at breeding is to be found in
the gross ignorance of the breeders themselves in the
principles of propagation. This is the more to be won-
dered at, because, in all kindred branches, knowledge is
universally admitted to be the great essential of success.
No one, for instance, will invest money in trout-culture
until he has examined into the principles which under-
PRINCIPLES, OP BREEDING. 75
lie their propagation. He becomes a student of trout ;
studies their structure and habits, their favorite diet,
and the treatment which is most favorable to their rapid
increase and growth. All this is preliminary to the
grand undertaking. He invests no money, he makes
not a move, until the knowledge of the business neces-
sary to the proper understanding of it is obtained. So
is it in the case of fowl, sheep, and the like. Knowl-
edge first, investment of money next, is the rule and
order. It is just this rule and order that men seem to
reverse in their attempts at breeding the horse. With
no knowledge of what is needed in the sire or the dam ;
Tfrith no power to discriminate the qualities of either ;
with no ability to say that these qualities are such as to
warrant harmonious union of all that is most desirable
in either parent, — in the foal, or the reverse, — they
breed, not along the line of certain well-ascertained
principles or clearly-discerned similitudes, but haphaz-
ardly, as chance furnishes the opportunity, trusting to
luck to produce a fast colt.
The grossness of this blunder can only be appre-
hended and realized when you consider that the breed-
ing of fast horses is not only a business, but a business
the principles of success in which are most delicate
and hidden. The man who engages in it not only
undertakes to deal with the outward and material, but
more yet with the inward and the spiritual. The
problem is the propagation of a high order of life ; and
not only its propagation, but its propagation in such a
76 THE PERFECT HOBSE.
form and spirit, that its expression shall be marked with
certain specific characteristics.
The breeder must be, in the most thorough and ele-
vated sense of the word, a student. His capital is his
power to observe and infer. From what is seen, he
reasons to what is unseen ; from that which is, to that
which shall be. His study is the study of nervous
forces, — their origin, and law of descent ; of muscular
power, — its source, how accumulated, and how sustained.
Nor is this all. He is a student of an organization of so
high and fine a quality, that its condition, and states of
temperament, are as variable as the wind. The horse is
an animal of exquisite construction. In him we behold
one of the finest results of creative skill. In nervous
structure he is exceedingly sensitive. Sensitive and
sympathetic, he suffers from those changes in condition
and treatment to which other animals are indifferent.
Even so slight causes as changes in his food and bed-
ding, interruption and difference in grooming, ay, even
the subtle changes of the atmosphere, affect him. Nor
is it alone the horse before him that he must study. To
know a man, you must know something of his ancestry.
Man is not a simple, he is a complex, being. He is the
result of many antedating causes. He is the embodi-
ment of both harmonious and antagonistic forces. Five
generations are represented in him. He is the child of
ten parents; and each parent positively or negatively
exists in him. So it is with the horse. He is the result
of antedating causes. Sire, grandsire, and a long line
WHY NOT FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL. 77
of ancestry, — with all their peculiarities of spirit and
structure, of like and unlike qualities, of elements harmo-
nious and antagonistic, — are represented in him. To
study him is to study them. To know him is to know
them. You must gauge the force that is not before
you can gauge the force that is. History must assist
observation, and reading be joined to sight.
Is it extravagant, then, for me to ask, What higher
study can there be than this, — this study into life mus-
cular and nervous, mental and emotional ? What nobler
subject than this, — the investigation of those laws^ by
which life, in all its changes and gradations, is transmit-
ted from sire to son ? What more difficult problem than
this, the solution of which should reveal to us the
forceful properties which repeat themselves in animal as
well as human life, and which may, therefore, be re-
garded as truly representative of that order of exist-
ence with which we behold them associated ? And yet
men have expected, without knowledge or study, or fa-
cilities whereby to conduct the business advantageously,
to make great fortunes out of breeding ; and people can
be found all over New England and the country who
will question the profitableness of breeding fine horses,
on the ground that many of those who have attempted
it have not been successful ; failing to see, or else pur-
posely ignoring the fact, that the reason why these gen-
tlemen have failed to achieve success in their efforts is
because their efforts were not directed by a sufficient in-
telligence in respect to the business they had undertaken.
78 THE PERFECT HOESE.
Now, the writer firmly believes that breeding of
handsome and fast trotting-horses in America is, and
will continue to be, a most profitable business. He
believes it will yield for the money invested a larger
return by twenty per cent than any other branch of
agriculture ; and he believes that this is especially true
in the New-England States. The fact is, agriculture
proper — by which I mean the tillage of the soil, and the
production of those products that grow directly out of
the soil — can no longer be relied upon to keep alive the
agricultural spirit, or sustain the agricultural wealth, of
New England. We cannot compete successfully with
the Middle States and the Great West in the raising of
cereals, or, indeed, in the breeding of those animals
whose market value can never rise beyond a certain
moderate price, and to fit which for the market the
products of their great wheat and corn fields are ser-
viceable. Hence it comes about, that in swine and
beeves, and the lower-price horses, New England can
never compete with Ohio and Illinois^ Wisconsin and
Texas. When horses of good serviceable quality for
family and team use can be shipped from Michigan to
Boston, and sold in our sale stables at a hundred and
seventy-five dollars per head, no Massachusetts breeder
can afford to raise colts of ordinary quality. So long
as the cost of transporting a horse from the West to
the seaboard is less than the difference of the cost of
supporting him from the time he is foaled to the time
he is ready for the market, New England cannot afford
WHY NOT FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL. 79
to breed low-priced animals. It is, therefore, only in
raising such animals as are of fine quality that we of
the Eastern States can find our reward. Here it is that
we see another reason why breeders have been unsuc-
cessful in their investmfents. They have bred on the
level of too low an average to make it pay. The prin-
ciple on which they acted, that low-priced stallions and
dams could produce high-priced colts, is a false one.
I wish the reader to observe, then, that, while I main-
tain that breeding can be made in New England to yield
a liberal return for the money invested, it cannot be
made to do this save when it is conducted with knowl-
edge and understanding of those principles which insure
success. In brief, it is like any other business : it can be
conducted successfully only by those who understand it.
The first thing, in order to do any thing, is to learn
how to do it
CHAPTER III.
BREEDING. — HOW TO SUCCEED.
In the preceding chapter we discussed the subject of
breeding from a philosophical standpoint. We called
the reader’s attention to the fact that the successful
breeding of any class of animals demands, on the part
of the one who attempts it, a most thorough knowledge
of the structure, temperament, and habits of those ani-
mals whose species he would propagate. We reminded
him that the horse belongs to an order of animals of
high organization, both nervous and muscular, — so high
as to be easily marked by those from which he descend-
ed ; and that, in order, to breed fine horses successfully,
he must become a student of one of the most intricate
and difficult problems in natural history.
We now propose to point out some of the more pal-
pable means of success in detail.
At the risk of reiteration, we would say to every
young man in New England who is proposing in his
own mind to raise a certain number of colts, Put your-
self in the way of learning something of the business
80
BBBBDING. — HOW TO SUCCEED. 81
upon which you are to enter. To your own observa-
tion add the observation of other men. Re-enforce
your own knowledge with the wisdom of those who
have grown gray in the business. Above all, become a
student of the horse. Obtain such books as you need to
inform your mind of the history, habits, and peculiarities
of the animal you admire. Make yourself familiar with
the history of the noted horses of your own country,
and also of other lands. Make yourself acquainted also
with their shape, size, peculiarity of going, character of
their temperament, and the ancestry from which they
sprang. Study pedigrees, that you may know by the
union of what bloods, and the intermarriage of what
families, great results have been obtained. Study the
horse, not only with the eye, but with the hand and fin-
ger. Make yourself familiar with every joint and bone
and tendon. Know the horse in his skeleton, until you
know the place of every bone, muscle, and member of
his frame. No one ever knows a horse by merely look-
ing at him : he must look through him as well. Learn
to distinguish the weak points and good points of a
horse at sight as an artist distinguishes a mere daub
from a finished picture at a glance. If you intend to
make breeding a business, it is a good plan to engage
yourself to some practical breeder, and remain with him
until you have mastered the minutice of the business, and
become familiar with the hundred and one points of
interest that can be learned only by actual service on a
brood-farm. The reader will see, that, while I demand
82 THE PERFECT HORSE.
no more than is universally admitted to be the condi-
tion of success in other branches of business, I do de-
mand this ; and I lay it down as a law, which executes
its own penalty when transgressed, that he who breeds
a horse while ignorant of the correct principles of breed-
ing will breed a failure. If he ever make a success, it
will be based on no broader and surer foundation than
mere luck.
The second point, in the way of suggestion, that I
make, is this : Whoever wishes to raise a fine colt must
be willing to put himself to a certain amount of trouble
and expense. There is an old saying, ” that the gods
never drop nuts already cracked into men’s mouths ; ”
and it is the law which runs through the world, and puts
its equal pressure upon all, that the effort put forth
shall exactly gauge the degree of success.
Now, the country is full of men who are ambitious to
raise a five-hundred-dollar colt, but who are at the same
time unwilling to be at any considerable trouble or ex-
pense to do it. They wish the five-hundred-dollar colt ;
but they wish to get it in such a way, that it shall not
cost them over fifty or seventy-five dollars: in other
words, they desire some three or four hundred per cent
return for the money invested. It is needless for me to
say that such an expectation is futile. In the very
nature of things, it can never be realized. The law of
cause and effect is against it. It is not difficult for an
intelligent breeder to raise a five-hundred-dollar colt ; it
is not extravagant for such a person to expect to raise a
BBEEDING. — HOW TO SUCCEED. 83
colt, which, at five years of age, shall command a thou-
sand dollars for every year of his age : but it costs time,
attention, and considerable money, to insure such a re-
sult. An ordinary dam will not produce such a colt.
An ordinary stallion will not beget such an animal. To
raise a handsome and fast-moving colt, you must have
handsome and fast-moving parents to bring him forth,
and favorable conditions of birth and culture such as
money and intelligence can alone provide. Like pro-
duces like ; and a fine-blooded colt must have fine-blood-
ed parentage. This is a law ; and no one can escape its
application. Stallions whose service can be obtained
for ten or twenty dollars, and mares of low blood and
negative characters, can never beget or conceive such a
foal. If you are willing to pay for a mare, and for the
service of a stallion, of the needed character, and then
are willing to bestow upon the dam, before and after the
foal is cast, the proper management, your expectation
can be realized ; otherwise not. Luck has nothing to do
with breeding. Knowledge, and a wise use of means,
can alone secure you what you desire. You can ignore
this rule, and fail ; you can comply with it, and succeed.
The election rests with yourself.
I will now proceed to suggest certain facts, and items
of information, of a character to assist the breeder in
his enterprise. I say, suggest ; for no statement which I
may make is supposed to be able to take the place of
thought on the part of the breeder. You must use your
own mind, reader, say what I or any one may. My
84 THE PERFECT HORSE.
object, then, is to help you think, to stimulate you to
thoughtfulness, to make you a student of the question
yourself, rather than impose upon you certain deduc-
tions I may have made, and insist upon your accepting
them as the ultimate truth. Indeed, there is much of
mystery hanging around this matter of procreation.
What is this power which shapes things yet to be ?
What w it that dictates structure, temperament, destiny,
causing the initial germ to be prophetic of the per-
fected result ? It is difficult to answer. I know of no
one who has answered these questions ; jior do I expect
to solve the problem : I only make my contribution to-
ward the fuller discussion of the subject. I simply
propose to lay before the reader the conclusions which
my mind, in examination of the subject, has already
reached, with the reasons therefor.
In addition to knowledge, certain means and facilities
are needed in order to make breeding a success. Some
money, and more care, must be spent in the enterprise.
The stall in which the brood-mare is kept should be dry
and roomy. A damp stall, where the mare stands and
sleeps on a manure-heap pervaded with the odor of
ammonia and decaying substances, is totally unfit, as any
sensible man can see, for an animal so sensitively organ-
ized, and in such a delicate condition. The brood-mare
should have a good-sized stall in which to stand during
her pregnancy, and be well and warmly bedded, and in
every way well treated Not only humane impulse, but
pure selfishness, prompts the owner to this. In a narrow
BREEDING. — HOW TO SUCCEED. 85
stall, ill kept, the mare is liable to get ” cast,” and, in
her struggles, so displace the foal, from its natural posi-
tion, that, when the time of foaling comes, the colt can
be delivered only with the greatest effort and pain, if
indeed it can be at all. Many brood-mares are annually
lost from this cause alone. The worst accident that
can happen to a brood-mare when in foal is this getting
” cast ” in her stall. It should be most carefully
guarded against. Especially tie with a short halter.
The man who “ties long,” as grooms say, warn once;
and, if he does not heed your warning, discharge. Have
no mercy on him : such carelessness is too gross and
fearful in its consequences, often, to be tolerated in the
management of valuable horses. I came near losing
one of my finest brood-mares, a thorough-bred from the
South, from this vicious method of tying in the stall.
The groom left the halter so long, that, when she started
to get up, she reached one of her fore-legs over the
rope ; and there she was ! In her struggles, the rope cut
into the fore-arm, tearing the hide and flesh away from
the muscles, and causing a most ugly wound. Good
treatment and a sound constitution in a state of entire
healthfulness brought her out of the peril in safety;
but that groom never ” ties long ” now !
Near the time of foaling, — say two or three weeks
previous, — the dam should be put into a “breeding-
box ” or ” foaling-stall.” This should be some twelve by
twenty feet in size, well strewn with tan-bark, saw-dust
(dry), gravel, or sand ; indeed, with any thing that will
86 THE PERFECT HORSE.
make a soft, warm bottom. Over this the straw-bedding
should be strewn a foot deep at least. If the mare is
inclined to eat her bedding, put a muzzle on her (an
ordinary wire or splint ox-basket will answer); for
it is not wise to have the mare fill her stomach with
coarse feed at this time. The floor should be level,
and ” banked up ” a little round the sides and in the
corners, lest in rolling, or perhaps in the act of foaling
itself, the mare should get over upon her back, or
doubled up in a corner in such a way as to embarrass
her. Too much care cannot be exercised by the
breeder at this juncture ; for it is the time when every
thing may be lost by inattention and neglect. And I
put it down among the necessities of a breeder’s outfit,
that he construct a good foaling-box for the mare, and
attend to the matter essentially as I have suggested.
Such a box is not necessarily expensive. I have seen
those that cost five hundred dollars, and others that did
not exceed fifteen ; and, for all practical purposes, the
one was as good as the other. The conditions I suggest
are not those essential for ornament, but for safety.
Another matter of prime importance to a breeder is
this : How far is he from a good stock-horse ? Trans-
portation costs: it is also perilous. When the writer
began to breed, he was compelled to transport his brood-
mares two hundred miles to be covered. He has seen
half his stable of choice animals go rushing along through
the darkness and fog in a miserable old freight-car, at
the rate of thirty miles an hour ; and the sensation he
BREEDING. — HOW TO SUCCEED, 87
experienced was not an agreeable one. A man dislikes
to see his property treated in that way, especially if it is
property selected with care and at large expense, and of
a character not easily to be duplicated. The expense,
also, is considerable, and eats into the profits disastrously.
I presume my first three colts cost me, when weaned,
four hundred dollars each. Even at that price, it paid ;
but it lessened the per cent of profit decidedly. Among
the conditions of success in breeding, therefore, I
place this as a prime one, — local nearness, and easy
access to a desirable stock-horse. The cost of his
service is of less account, because this is generally
settled by the reputation of himself and his get ; and
so the breeder shares in the profit of his fame with the
owner. But the distance of his stable from yours,
which includes transportation,’ with its attendant cost
and risks ; the interruption it brings to your business,
&c, — these must be carefully considered by the
breeder, or he will find that his profit is gone before the
colt is foaled. A distance that he can drive in two days
is of no great moment; but farther than this* I should
advise no breeder who is breeding on business-principles,
for financial profit, to go. To attempt to breed from a
stock-horse at a great distance from your stables, is, so
far as my experience and observation go, unwise, and
likely to result in loss.
Above all, it is folly to breed inferior stock. Nothing
is to be made from it, as mountains of testimony prove.
” The best or none ” should be the motto of the Eastern
breeder.
88 THE PERFECT HOKSE.
There are other conditions of success to be enumerated ;
but, as they relate more tc^ the knowledge derived from
the study of the horse himself than in the surroundings
and appointments of the establishment, they more natu-
rally fall into another division of this work ; to which we
now invite the reader’s attention. Let us now consider
the principles that underlie successful propagation of the
horse, and the elements needed in either parent.
CHAPTER IV.
THE SIRE.
There are certain general views touching the influ-
ence of the sire on his stock, which every one who
is intending to breed should be aware of. There are
certain cautions which it behooves every writer, who
attempts to give people instruction in the business of
breeding, to give frankly to his readers. I propose,
therefore, in this division of the work, to enter into a full
discussion of the matter, and give my ideas at length
concerning the influence of the sire on his stock. In-
deed, as I have already sketched the outlines of a per-
fect horse, and described the different points and char-
acteristics which must distinguish such an animal, I
now propose to sketch a perfect stock-horse, and there-
by supply my readers with a standard in breeding, as I
have already done in purchasing. In short, having
described a perfect horse, I will now describe the way
in which he can be propagated.
The first, and to my mind the most essential fact to be
borne in mind by a breeder is, that the propagating
89
90 THE PERFECT HORSE.
principle or capacity does not inhere in all stallions
alike. It does not follow that a stallion, however per-
fect he may be both in conformation and temperament,
will make a good stock-horse, or prove a source of
profit to those who patronize him. It is at this point
that so many blunders are made, and from which sq
many failures result. At this point two roads diverge,
one of which leads to success, the other to certain disas-
ter. How essential, then, that a warning and directing
hand should be set up at this point, seeing which no
breeder can be uncertain which path to take ! The
fact is this, that in addition to temperament and per-
fection of structure, over and above desirableness of
nervous and muscular organization, there does exist
in certain horses the power to propagate their most
perfect points and characteristics, which other horses,
equally perfect in themselves, perhaps do not have.
What this power is, or where it is, or how the horse
comes by it, no one can tell. It cannot be implied:
nothing short of an actual demonstration can prove
that it exists. It is this which makes a stallion wor-
thy to be kept as a stock-horse ; and nothing eUe
can. No matter how beautiful, nor how sound, nor
how speedy, nor how well connected in pedigree, a
colt may be: he should never be advertised to the
breeding public, until, by actual service with his own
brood-mares, his owner is made aware of his capacity
to reproduce his own excellences in his get. I main-
tain that any other course includes a fraud upon the
THE SIBB. 91
public, in that he advertises as certain what he knows,
or should know, is extremely uncertain ; for this repro-
ducing capacity is withheld by some strange freak or
unascertained reason of nature from most horses, and
bestowed only upon the few. Out of a hundred stallions
in a State, only two or three ever become justly famous.
The strangest and most unaccountable thing of the
whole matter is, that many horses for which the best
judges would surely predict success, prove, upon trial,
lamentable failures; while others less esteemed become
heads of families, and live with increasing honor with
the birth of every generation of their descendants. It
is not from the winners of the St. Leger and the Derby
that England has received her fastest stock. These
winners, in cases numberless, were out of the loins of
horses by no means noted, but which gave to their sons
and daughters that which made both parent, and chil-
dren immortal. Instances too numerous to mention
might be quoted ; but the principle is too fully admitted
to require argument and illustration. The- fact stands
admitted, that, until a stallion has been ‘actually tested
in the stud, it is useless to predict whether he will be
valuable as a stock-horse or not, and folly for the gen-
eral public to breed to him.
Among the horses which excel in this peculiarity, at
the very head of the list may perhaps be placed old
Justin Morgan. The reproducing capacity of this
horse, considering the treatment he received, was
simply marvellous. Unappreciated and abused half of
92 THE PERFECT HORSE.
his life, it was the merest accident that his value as a
stock-horse was discovered at all ; and even then he
was bred indiscriminately to mares, unassisted by the
least intelligence in the matter. Still, in spite of all
obstacles which neglect and ignorance opposed, the
reproductive faculty was so superlatively strong in him,
that he founded a family truer to the original type, and
more able to protect itself from the infringements of
foreign blood, than any family of horses, perhaps, that
the world has ever seen. Whatever men may say for
or against the Morgan horse per se, none can deny that
his blood was strong enough to dominate over every
blood with which it was brought in contact. No
matter to what mare he was bred, the offspring was
invariably a Morgan colt In outward conformation of
structure, in color, in temperament, in style of action,
and even habits of the stable, the foal grew up to look
and act like the sire. Not only was this reproductive
faculty strong in the old horse, but he transmitted it to
his sons ; which is the highest form of all excellence in
a stock-horse. Nor did this power die out in one or
two generations, but continued on like a stream having
a constant source; and might have been prolonged,
doubtless, unto this day, had not the State which had
been enriched and made famous by this animal and his
descendants committed financial suicide by allowing
the family to be scattered, and the family type itself
bought away from it Not alone Vermont, but the en-
tire country were losers when the Morgan family ceased
d
THE SIRE. 93
to have ” a local habitation,” although it could never
cease to have u a name.” In proof of the perpetuation
and continuity of this reproductive faculty in the Mor-
gan family, even in our time, might be mentioned Ethan
Allen, sired by Black Hawk ; and Taggart’s Abdallah,
whose grandsire was the famous Gifford Morgan, — per-
haps the most beautiful horse ever ridden at a military
parade. Of the speed of these two famous stallions —
the former of which has trotted a mile faster than any
horse that has ever lived,, and the latter of which is,
in our opinion, the highest type of a stock-horse in
the country — we shall speak more fully hereafter.
Enough at this point to say that they are lineal
descendants from the original Morgan, and illustrate
the assertion which we made above. As a further illus-
tration of this principle, if any were needed, running all
through the Morgan family, especially in case of the
male colts, I might mention Old Morrill, grandsire of
Draco, Mountain Maid, Hiram Woodruff, and the justly
celebrated Fearnaught. Here is another descendant
by a direct line from Justin Morgan, marked strongly
with the family type ; marking his colts with the same
type, fighting bravely, and maintaining himself against
the incoming of foreign elements, — elements too, be
it said, of the most potent character. Look at the
pedigree of Old Morrill as exhibited in Table V. of
the Supplement, and observe how the Morgan blood
has to contend for the possession of the channel against
three currents that find their source in imported Dio-
94 THE PERFECT HORSE.
med, and three other streams that come pouring in
like a torrent from imported Messenger ; and yet the
Morgan blood is royal enough to contend at odds
against royalty, and takes the six streams of imported
blood, mingles it with itself, and rolls along as calmly
and as true to itself as before. I trust I am not opin-
ionated ; but I would ask, What other horse, imported
or home-bred, has ever founded a family able to per-
petuate its characteristics, and defend itself against the
intrusion of foreign blood, as has the Morgan? Where
is the imported Messenger type invariably true to itself?
Where is imported Diomed, as discerned in his descend-
ants ? Where is imported Bashaw, out of whose trunk
the Clay branches have all sprung? Where is any
horse, or family of horses, whose type of outward con-
formation and temperament even have survived seventy
years of outcrossing and admixture ? The horse and
family do not live, I reply. The Morgan, and the
Morgan alone, is worthy to stand upon the pedestal in
answer to such an interrogation. Whatever else he
lacked, neither he nor his descendants lacked or lack
the power to reproduce themselves. It is for this
reason that I give it as my deliberate opinion, that,
other things being equal, the stallion with the largest
amount of Morgan blood in his veins will prove the
best stock-horse. It is undoubtedly to the presence
of this blood in their veins that Fearnaught, Ethan
Allen and his son Lambert, Taggart’s Abdallah and his
descendants, and the Morrills of Vermont, are able to mark
THE SIRE. 95
their offspring with their own characteristics. They
are indebted, every one of them, to their old ancestor,
Justin Morgan, for the possession of that rarest of all
faculties in horses, — the power to reproduce their own
excellences, — and which, derived from him, has won
them fame, and their owners large incomes. We all
live in debt to-day to an animal which so many horse-
men underrate, if not despise, but which, in our
opinion, gave to the country more handsome, docile,
serviceable, and fast horses, than any animal America
ever had. But, leaving this topic for subsequent dis-
cussion, — and we propose to give the reasons for our
emphatic assertion before we are done— we lay it down
as the first maxim of intelligent breeding, that a stock-
horse is to be judged by his stock rather than by himself,
and that the stallion that gets the best colts is the best one
to patronize.
But what is it that the sire gives to his descendants ?
and how far, and in what, as compared to the dam,
does he dominate over his offspring? This, perhaps,
should be the next point for us to consider. We will
proceed to do so ; premising, at the start, that the
answer will not, in all points, be full or satisfactory.
Indeed, the processes of Nature are often hidden, and
the springs of her influence concealed ; nor can man by
searching find them out. Especially is this true in this
matter of the causation and reproduction of life. The
mists and vapors which geologists tell us swathed the
infant world in the creation period swathe all infant life
‘}
96 THE PEBFECT HORSE.
to-day. It exists in unknown conditions and obscure
relations before it is seen. How much the boy owes to
the father, and how much to the mother, and how he
came to owe the same, or more, to one than to the
other, we do not know. How much nature is shaped
in the germ, independent of condition and circum-
stance, or how much, on the other hand, circumstance
and condition affect the germ, who can say ? We can
speculate; we can dogmatize: but, while the created
mind is ignorant of the processes of its own creation,
life, in its origin and pre-natal conditions, must remain
largely a mystery. Before I express my own views, I
will put before the reader the following principles of
breeding, as published in u The Horse-Owner’s Cyclopae-
dia,” page 99, and which have been highly indorsed by
no less an authority than the late Mr. Herbert (” Frank
Forester”).
The author says, under the head of
THEORY OF GENERATION,
” 1. The union of the sexes is, in all the higher ani-
mals, necessary for reproduction ; the male and female
each taking their respective share.
” 2. The office of the male is to secrete the semen
in the testes, and emit it into the uterus of the female,
in or near which organ it comes in contact with
the ovum of the female, which remains sterile with-
out it.
” 3. The female forms the ovum in the ovary; and at
.1
‘ l« . i
I
\
r, 1
: • . . i ■
• : < ( t i •»*» … 1 . . THE SIBE. 97 regular times, varying in different animals, this descends into the uterus, for the purpose of fructification, on re- ceiving the stimulus and addition of the sperm-cell of the semen. ” 4. The semen consists of two portions, — the sperma- tozoa, which have an automatic power of moving from place to place, by which quality it is believed that the semen is carried to the ovum; and the sperm-cells, which are intended to co-operate with the germ-cell of the ovum in forming the embryo. “5. The ovum consists of the germ-cell — intended to form part of the embryo — and of the yolk, which nourishes both until the vessels of the mother take upon themselves the task ; or, in oviparous animals, till hatching takes place, and external food is to be obtained. The ovum is carried down by the contractile power of the Fallopian tubes from the ovary to the uterus ; and hence it does not require automatic particles like the semen. ” 6. The embryo, or young animal, is the result of the contact of the semen with the ovum; immediately after which the sperm-cell of the former is absorbed into the germ-cell of the latter. Upon this a tendency to in- crease or l grow ‘ is established and supported at first to By the nutriment contained in the yolk of the ovum, until the embryo has attached itself to the walls of the uterus, from which it afterwards absorbs its nourishment by the intervention of the placenta. ” 7. As the male and female each furnish their 7 98 THE PERFECT HORSE. quota to the formation of the embryo, it is reasonable to expect that each shall be represented in it; which is found to be the case in nature. But, as the food of the embryo entirely depends upon the mother, it may be expected that the health of the offspring, and its constitu- tional poioers, will be more in accordance with her state than with that of the father: yet, since the sire furnishes one-half of the original germ, it is not surprising, that, in external and general character, there is retained a facsimile, to a certain extent, of him. u 8. The ovum of mammalia differs from that of birds chiefly in the greater size of the yolk of the latter, be- cause in them this body is intended to support the growth of the embryo from the time of the full forma- tion of the egg until the period of hatching. On the other hand, in mammalia the placenta conveys nourish- ment from the internal surface of the uterus to the em- bryo during the whole time which elapses between the entrance of the ovum into the uterus and its birth. This period embraces nearly the whole of the interval between conception and birth, and is called utero-gesta- tion. “9. In all the mammalia there is a periodical ‘heat,’ marked by certain discharges in the female, and sometimes by other remarkable symptoms in the male (as in the rutting of the deer). In the former it is accompanied, in all healthy subjects, by the descent of an ovum, or ova, into the uterus ; and in both there is a strong desire for sexual intercourse, which never THE SIBB. 99 takes place at other times in them (with the single exception of the genus Dimana). ” 10. The semen retains its fructifying power for some days if it is contained within the walls of the uterus or vagina, but soon ceases to be fruitful if kept in any other vesseL Hence, although the latter part of the time of heat is the best for the union of the sexes, be- cause then the ovum is ready for the contact with the semen, yet, if the semen reaches the uterus first, it will still cause a fruitful impregnation, because it remains there (or in the Fallopian tubes) uninjured until the descent of the ovum. “11. The influence of the male upon the embryo is partly dependent upon the fact that he furnishes a por- tion of its substance in the shape of the sperm-cell, but also, in great measure, upon the effect exerted upon the nervous system of the mother by him. Hence the pre- ponderance of one or other of the parents will, in great measure, depend upon the greater or less strength of nervous system in each. No general law is known by which this can be measured ; nor is any thing known of the laws which regulate the temperament, bodily or mental power, color or conformation, of the resulting offspring. 44 12. Acquired qualities are transmitted, whether they belong to the sire or dam ; and also both bodily and mental. As bad qualities are quite as easily trans- mitted as good ones, if not more so, it is necessary to take care, that, in selecting a male to improve the stock, 100 THE PERFECT HORSE. he is free from bad points, as well as furnished with good ones. It is known by experience t|jat the good or bad points of the progenitors of the sire or dam are almost as likely to appear again in the offspring as those of the immediate parents in whom they are dormant. Hence, in breeding, the rule is, that like produces like, or the likeness of some ancestor. ” 13. The purer or less mixed the breed, the more likely it is to be transmitted unaltered to the offspring. Hence, whichever parent is of the purest blood will be generally more represented in the offspring: but as the male is usually more carefully selected, and of purer blood, than the female, it generally follows that he ex- erts more influence than she does; the reverse being the case when she is of more unmixed blood than the sire. “14. Breeding i in-and-in’ is injurious to mankind, and has always been forbidden by the divine law, as well as by most human lawgivers. On the other hand, it prevails extensively in a state of nature with all gre- garious animals (such as the horse), among whom the strongest male retains his daughters and grand-daughters until deprived of his harem by younger and stronger rivals. Hence, in those of our domestic animals which are naturally gregarious, it is reasonable to conclude that breeding ‘ in-and-in ‘ ife not prejudicial, because it is in conformity with their natural instincts, if not car- ried farther by art than Nature teaches by her example. Now, in nature, we find about two consecutive crosses THE SIRE. 101 of the same blood is the usual extent to which it is car- ried, as the life of the animal is the limit ; and it is a remarkable fact, that, in practice, a conclusion has been wived at which exactly coincides with these natural laws. * Once in and once out ‘ is the rule for breeding given by Mr. Smith in his work on the breeding for the turf; but twice in will be found to be more in accord- ance with the practice of our most successful (early) breeders. u 15. The influence of the first impregnation seems to extend to the subsequent ones : this has been proved by several experiments, and is especially marked in the equine genus. In the series of examples preserved in the Museum of the College of Surgeons, the markings of the male quagga, when united with the ordinary mare, are continued clearly for three generations beyond the one in which the quagga was the actual sire ; and they are so clear as to leave the question settled without a doubt, “16. When some of the elements of which an indi- vidual sire is composed are in accordance with others making up those of the dam, they coalesce in such a kindred way as to make what is called c a hit.’ On the other hand, when they are too incongruous, an animal is the result wholly unfitted for the task he is intended to perform.” The above rules, or ” principles ” as the author names them, appear to me to be in the main correct, and of great value to the student of the question ; but they do 102 THE PERFECT HORSE. not supply that . detailed knowledge required by the breeder, nor are they sustained by such testimony of fact and illustration as one might desire. The Arabs hold that the essential portions of the body, such as the bones, tendons, nerves, and veins, pro- ceed invariably from the sire; and it is undoubtedly true that the shape of the bones, and nervous dis- eases, and weaknesses of the bone-structure, are derived principally from that source. I would sooner breed, for instance, a diseased mare to a healthy stallion, than a healthy mare to a diseased stallion. Certain it is that from the sire the colt commonly derives his nervous vigor, and those moral qualities which serve to distinguish and ennoble the well-bred horse. The Arabs have this maxim, u A horse of noble race has no vices ; ” and also this, u The foal follows the sire.” With this estimation I do not at all agree. The instances in which the foal does not follow the sire are too numerous for us to allow that the Arabian maxim is worthy of being regarded as a law. Even a casual inspection of my own stables, or the stables of any breeder, would cause a grave suspicion to arise in any thoughtful mind touching the Eastern adage. I have, for instance, in my stables, dams whose foals invariably resemble the sire in size, shape, color, style of going, and even in temperament ; and these mares are valued by me as almost beyond price, because of this peculiarity. / know beforehand what I shall get On the other hand, THE SIBB. 103 I have two other mares whose colts invariably resemble themselves, or some one of their parental ancestors. So true is this, that I can calculate before the foal appears what he will not be, although I may not easily tell what he will be. Such are the facts in my own stables ; and they harmonize perfectly with the results of observa- tion in many other breeding establishments. The law plainly suggested by inference from these facts is this, that the animal with the strongest vitality marks the foal. If the dam be most highly organized, then the foal will resemble the dam ; if the sire, then the foal will resem- ble the sire. This is the law, as we all know, in the human family : if the mother be of nervous, sanguine temperament, and the father lymphatic and sluggish, the child will take after the mother ; if the conditions be reversed, the result will be the reverse. Exceptions there may be and are ; but the law stands firm, vindi- cating its truth with each successive generation. I am bound, nevertheless, to say that this law does not hold good in cases where we should naturally expect it would. To illustrate : According to the law, when a low-blooded mare is bred to a thorough-bred horse, the foal should resemble the sire ; but, alas ! too often he does not. On the other hand, according to the law, a blooded-mare bred to a low-blooded horse should bring forth a colt like herself ; but neither is this true. What, then, becomes of the law? I confess that I do not know ; nor have I been able to find in the works of any author a satisfactory answer to the puzzle. Practically 104 THE PERFECT HORSE, although I cannot philosophically account for my pref- erence, — yet practically, I say, we know that it is far better to have a high, fine organization in the sire, and let the low organization, if it must exist in either parent, be on the side of the dam. The fact is, both parents should be highly organized ; and any thing short of this introduces uncertainty as to what the result of the ex- periment will be. The only infallible rule — the best statement ever given touching the reproduction of any form of life — was published by God himself in his inspired word, when he said, u Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind” This, never- theless, must be observed, — that the power to bring forth after his kind — if by his kind we mean personal resemblances rather than generic attributes — does not belong to the horse as a race, but to the horse as an indi- vidual ; for, as we have already pointed out in the case of Justin Morgan, this faculty of reproducing excel- lences is individual, and not general. And so we come back to the same observation previously made in regard to what constituted a valuable stock-horse, — viz., that the best horse is he, who, being good in himself, most surely and closely reproduces himself in his off- spring ; and to this formula should now be added the w.ords, when bred to the mares of the greatest variety of form and temperament Let us, then, turn our atten- tion to the consideration and enumeration of those attributes, which, being possessed, render a horse unfit for stock-purposes. The first we have already men- THE SIRE. 105 tioned, — the inability to reproduce themselves. The second point to be observed is this, — avoid A LOW-BRED STALLION. This term ” low-bred ” is not a mere technical term, a creation of a ring of horsemen, but represents some- thing solid and tangible to the understanding. A low- bred horse is faulty in his bone-structure, vicious in his temper, sluggish in action, and lacking in those higher qualities — such as courage, docility, and beauty — which distinguish a well-bred horse. The term also describes his ancestry, and links a base result with base causes. I do not wish to be understood as saying that a thorough-bred stallion is invariably worthy of the stud ; for, as I have already pointed out, only now and then one is : but while the thorough-bred may be, or may not be, a low-bred brute never is. Beware of nothing so much as a low-bred stock-horse. His services cannot be offered so cheap, that they will not, in the end, prove dear ; because the colts from such a horse, when ready for the market, will bring less than they have cost the owner to raise them. No stallion without a good sound pedigree should ever be patronized. The law in respect to this matter is, that the foals will, in most cases, resemble the father, or some precedent ancestor; in either of which cases the result will be equally unfortunate. It cannot be denied that the characteristics of ancestors do continue, ever and anon, to re-appear in their descendants : and hence, in breed- 108 THE PERFECT HORSE. ing horses, pedigree — that is, the character not only of the parents, but also of grandparents and great-grand- parents — becomes worthy of close attention ; and when the pedigree of dam and sire both is known to be good, and they themselves are good, it is evident that little fear may be felt touching the character of the foal. For if he resembles his immediate parents, or if, skip- ping these, he appears stamped with the impress of some ancestor, the result must, in either case, be the same. This it is which gives to the pedigrees their value in the eye of the breeder. It guarantees him against total failure, to say the least; and insures a greater success than the quality of the immediate parents would per- haps make possible. But, if a horse without a pedigree should never be patronized, the breeder should bear in mind that a good pedigree does not make a good horse. I have known animals, with a pedigree as long as your arm, who were not worthy of the least attention. Find the horse first ; then examine the pedigree : and if they correspond, and mutually sustain each other, then pur- chase ; for you have met an animal greatly to be desired. Remember always, that none save the highest types of a family can be expected to reproduce the valuable char- acteristics of the family. Because a stallion was sired by Rysdyk’s Hambletonian, it does not follow that he is worthy of being bought or kept for a stock-horse ; and yet, with many of our committees at agricultural fairs, the fact that a colt was sired by a Rysdyk’s Hambletonian is enough to secure for him both attention and the prize. THE SIRE. 107 VICIOUS STALLIONS. Especially I would urge all breeders to avoid vicious and irritable seed-horses. The idea that a stallion is less amiable than a gelding is both contrary to nature and observation, and, in common with many other erroneous opinions resulting from ignorance, confined to this country. An irritable temper and a vicious dis- position are hereditary — superlatively so — in horses as well as in men. I know families that have been noted for fretfulness and ugliness of spirit for generations. Viciousness seems to be the family mark : it comes down from sire to son in uninterrupted sequence. So it is with horses. A vicious sire begets a vicious colt.. Exceptions there may be ; but the law holds good in the main. I have known a seed-horse at death leave the county where he stood full of ugly brutes : they were intractable, fretful, hard to teach ; they would rear, bite, and kick. You could never make them docile and kind: they were unpleasant and dangerous. Now, I hold that no one should breed to such a horse. No perfection of muscle and frame, no high-sounding pedigree, no marvellous record on the turf, would in- fluence me to put one of my mares to such a horse. I want no vicious colts in my stalls. None but an amia- ble, docile, kindly-disposed animal should be selected for service in the stud. This rule is of special impor- tance to the breeder, as it is directly related to the successful sale of his colts. Gentlemen do not wish to 108 THE PERFECT HORSE. buy an uneasy, fretful, and fractious thing. It is uncer- tain and dangerous business to train and teach such an animal. There is too much risk about it. Nothing ad- vertises a . family of colts so badly as viciousness, or that fickleness, or irritability of temper, bordering close upon it. Seeing that this matter is clearly within one’s control, I hold that it is a high misdemeanor in a breeder to breed a vicious colt. He has no right to introduce a force into the world which man cannot easily and safely manage. But, if one has no right to breed to a vicious stallion, neither is it wise for him to breed to one when he is in an artificial state. I will explain this more fully. When life is propagated in the animal kingdom, the life produced is the product of the union of two lives, and takes its character from the character of the parental source. The foal is a representative of the sire and dam both, and of the sire and dam, not as they might have been, but as they actually were at the time of its conception. Not alone the general health of the two parents is transmitted to the offspring, but the par- ticular habit and mood of life in which they then were. The nervous and temperamental states and conditions were transmitted also. Hence it comes about, that as, in the case of human species, the babe conceived in drunk- enness is apt to be idiotic, and in other respects imbecile ; so the foal conceived when the sire and dam, or either, were in an unnatural, excited, feverish state, will come into the world sensibly affected and weakened from THE SIRE. 109 this cause. The influence of the nervous state on the offspring of the human family is well understood ; and not alone of the nervous state, but of the state of the blood, the condition of the bones and muscles: these are regarded as potential in their influence on the life destined to be born. These things* have not been con- sidered by breeders of the horse with the close atten- tion which they deserve ; but he who has observed how high the organization of the horse is will see that these influences must be duly regarded by one who seeks to breed the perfect horse. The law is, that the state of the parents is the state of the child. As the dam and sire are, so will the foal be. Fevered parents beget fevered children : this is the rule. Now, horses, when in training for the turf, or engaged in actual contests, are in a most artificial state: their nervous system, their blood and stomach, are in an unnatural condition ; they are strung up, excited, inflamed. How true this is may be seen from the fact, that, when they have passed through the grand preparation, they often get sick if the race for any reason is deferred. They, as well as their trainer, know that a great occasion is to come off in which they are to figure ; and they are uneasy and excited until the great feat has been done or attempted. Moreover, it should be remembered that training and track work take stuff out of a horse. The animal is able to do one great deed ; but this ability has been secured at the expense of a great constitutional disturbance. The normal, healthy course of nature has been inter- 110 THE PERFECT HORSE. rupted, and made subordinate to another consideration. Now, all this, continued season after season, affects the animal most injuriously. He may not actually break down ; but the reserve force has been drained away, and his stamina impaired. Now, let a stallion thus superficially in the highest possible condition, but latently and in fact in an impaired condition, become a sire, and the foal will share, not the original constitutional characteristics of the horse, but those artificial peculiarities introduced by his public career and training therefor. Hence it comes about, that few horses of either sex noted for their public performances have ever become the parents of horses good as themselves. Hence it happens that the foals of these horses not only fall short of that degree of excellence which their parents had, but are actually, and in many cases fatally, crippled in force, or made heirs of an evil inheritance. Ethan Allen, for in- stance, — a horse of superb bone-structure, and belong- ing to a family noted for constitutional vigor, — got a great many colts with feeble legs : he bred his high- fevered, artificial state into them. Many of his colts have been unpleasantly nervous and excitable ; to drive which was a task and a risk, rather than a pleasure. The fact is, no stock-horse should ever be trained for a race, or gotten into abnormal state or condition of health or mood. He should be kept in a healthy, normal state, quiet, and with all his powers and faculties in even poise. The severe training to which colts intended to be kept THE SIRE. Ill for the stud are put between the ages of two and six years is one of the greatest obstacles in the way of breeding sound and perfect horses; and the habit of stinting mares to such horses, on the part of breeders, is unmitigated folly. It is the surest way of commit- ting hari-kari in breeding that I know of. My advice, therefore, is, Avoid stallions kept, or that have been kept, for the purposes of the turf, and put your mares to stallions of good pedigree which show good trotting- action, — able to trot, say, a mile in 2.40, — of amia- ble disposition, of undoubted constitutional vigor and soundness, and in a natural state. Such a horse will — if, in addition to these other qualities, he have the power to transmit them to his offspring — prove a good, safe, reliable stock-horse. His colts will be healthy, strong, and vigorous. They will have lasting legs and lungs, stomachs able to digest food without the help of ” con- dition powders,” and tempers fine, but reliable as a Damascus blade. Breed to such a horse,, and you will have gone far, in so doing, along the road of success. Furthermore, suffer this caution : Never breed to a horse because he has a high-sounding, fashionable name, with a corresponding pedigree attached. It is as- tonishing how many Fearnaughts and Abdallahs and Morrills and Hambletoriians there are. Perhaps the last-mentioned name is abused the most. All over New England and the country, you will find Hamble- tonian this and Hambletonian that advertised to the breeding public, that are not worth, for stock-purposes, 112 THE PERFECT HORSE. the bedding they stand on. Big-headed, big-legged, but-ended things, they point the satire on human cre- dulity that could be persuaded into breeding even a third-rate mare to them. The fact is, the Hambletonian family, great and worthy of patronage as it is, is worthy of patronage only in the case of its finest repre- sentatives. If Dexter had not been castrated, he would have been about my idea of a stock-horse in every thing but his temper ; and I am inclined to think that that was naturally excellent : but Dexter is the result of that one especial cross with a star-mare which Hambletonian “hit” well with. A son of the old horse with a star- mare, or indeed any thorough-bred mare, for its dam, is, generally speaking, a good horse : but it is a notorious fact that Old Hambletonian (Rysdyk’s) does not cross well with the average run of mares ; neither do his sons. With the exercise of proper discrimination in respect to the dam, this family of horses does well ; if not, not If this is true as regards the finest types of the family, what must be the chance in reference to the coarser specimens ? I reply, No chance at all ; and I look upon it as most unfortunate for the country, and sure to result in the disgrace of the family, — whose fame, prop- erly guarded, might endure indefinitely, — that so many of the. third-rate colts of this horse’s get are now being advertised for the stud. With a great many people it is enough that a horse is a son of Hambletonian ; failing to make the distinction, that it is better to breed to the most perfect specimen of a poor family than to the THE SIBE. 113 inferior specimens of the best families. These people cannot be persuaded that a name does not make a horse. But they will find this out to their cost after a few years of silly experimenting in a direction in which experimenting has already been conducted to a demon- stration. I would here reiterate the truism, that a pedi- gree does not make a horse ; and that a string of noble names is of no account in breeding, unless a noble animal stands at the end of it. Look at the horse before you pay any attention to his pedigree. A wise man may have a fool for a son ; and a great horse improperly crossed will often get a foal in no sense worthy of him. Those who expect, that, because a stallion happens to be half-brother to Dexter, he will necessarily get colts that will grow up to rival Dexter, represent in their mental structure a most unhappy cross themselves. The rule is, that the foal will re- semble the immediate parents ; the exception is, that he will resemble the remote ancestor: and those who breed to a poor specimen of a family, expecting that the colts will be like the founder of the family, and not like the immediate sire, are breeding in the face and eyes of this prime maxim. Select a stock-horse who is great in himself and his ancestry, and not noble only in his parentage, and you will be following the rule which the law of nature and the evidence of all observation indorse as correct and imperative. The moment that this law is apprehended and obeyed by the people, a great many stallions — great only in the greatness of 8 114 THE PERFECT H0BSE. their sires — which axe now being offered as stock- horses to the public will go to the string-team or to the dogs, where they belong: and it makes no difference to which ; for they are absolutely worthless for the pur- poses of the stud. Concerning the proper age of service, authorities differ, and men disagree. Every one has a right to his own views ; but I am disposed to think, that, the ex- tremes of age and youth being avoided, no difference exists in the value of the get Many are strongly prejudiced against breeding to young stallions before they have reached full maturity, and become “”thoroughly seasoned,” as they say ; but the facts show that some of the best horses ever foaled were sired by mere colts. As a matter of interest, and as a case in point, we give below the ages at which Hambletonian got his best foals : — Alexander’s Abdallah was got when Hambletonian was two years old, Volunteer when he was four, Edward Everett when he was five, Dexter when he was eight, Bruno when he was eleven, Sentinel when he was twelve, Jay Gould when he was fourteen, Gazelle and Aberdeen when he was sixteen, and Startle when he was seventeen. Here are horses sired all the way from two years to seventeen / and certainly n6ne would say that the old horse ever got a better stallion-colt, or one that has reflected, in the main, more honor upon the sire, than Alexander’s Abdallah. Aberdeen is a noble horse, but THE SIRE. 115 no better than Volunteer : Jay Gould is remarkable ; but Edward Everett is equally noted. The dam of Ethan Allen, if my memory serves me, was twenty-four years old when she dropped him ; and yet I might mention others as famous after their kind as the little bay stal- lion, whose dams were fillies of three or four years. The prejudice, therefore, against breeding mares to young stallions, is not warranted by facts. No horse can reach maturity, perhaps, before he is eight or ten years of age ; and many horses have sired their grandest colts long before they came to that age. It is also known that many of the most talented men and women of the world were the first or last born of their parents ; and that in no respect are those born in middle age, when the physical and mental powers of the parents may be said to be in the state of high development, superior to the earlier or later born. Nor does it seem to injure in any way the colt to serve a reasonable number of mares, — in his second year, from five to ten ; in his third year, from ten to twenty ; in his fourth year, from twenty to thirty: this I hold to be well within the line of safety. A colt well put together, and fed and exercised judiciously, would not, in my opinion, be injured by such service, but rather improved. At this time of life he is manageable, and can be educated to cover the mare properly, and in gentleness of fervent but controlled desire, and not in the frenzy of wild and savage license. The proper education of a high-bred stallion-colt for the purposes of the stud is the duty, as 116 THE PERFECT HORSE. it should be the ambition, of every owner. A fractious, lawless, violent horse is a disgrace to the head groom and the stable. A horse that cannot be controlled by a word is not fit to serve a mare. The squealing, plun- ging, savage sort are unfit for public service, and should be avoided by the breeder. In addition to the fact that they endanger the health and life of the mare, they also impress her unfavorably ; and these parental impressions have, as I hold, much to do with the life and character of the foal. Every fortunate birth, over which the Fates smile propitiously, is the result of fervent but amiable intercourse, to which either parent yields with gladness, and not the result of an insane and brutal act from which the female seeks to fly in fear and terror, And I hold it to be a law written in the very nature of things, that a violent, ungovernable stallion is unfit for the purposes of the stud. When breeders refuse to stint their mares to such brutes, they will disappear, and not before. The owners of such creatures can only be reached through the pocket. Mercenary considerations they feel the force of, and none others. Let these violent stallions alone, and their owners will get better ones, and not before. Touching the state of the stallion’s health at the time of service, this should be said : It should be perfect ; and perfect health in the horse kind, allow me to remind the reader, is not shown by fatness. A horse is not a hog ; and that state which types the excellence of the one does not type it in the other. Fat stallions are THE SERE. 117 unfit stallions to breed to. A stock-horse should, by judicious exercise and dieting, be kept at just that point at which the nervous and muscular forces are at the flood. It is astonishing how much exercise a stock- horse can take, and keep improving in his nervous and muscular condition all the while. From ten to twenty- miles a day is not generally too much work during the covering season : with this amount their condition will be superb. What a coat, what eyes, what limbs, they will have ! How little like a pig, and how much like a horse, they will look when led from the stall ! A horse thus treated will also be a sure foal-getter. Half of the mares he served will not be returned upon him the next season. Indolence on the part of the sire during the covering season is the curse of American breeding. I know stallions in New England that are fat as swine, and are rarely driven a mile, but stand day after day in sluggish, vigor-sapping idleness. What colts can you expect from horses kept in such a condition ? I have already given my views as to the degree of influence derived from either parent; but I may say here, that I would never breed a mare to a stallion with the expectation of getting a trotting-colt, unless the stallion could trot The trotting-action seems to be peculiarly the gift of the sire, provided that he is not weak in those nervous and constitutional forces which enable him to repeat himself in his offspring. A horse with trotting-action, but weak in vital force, will not be apt to transmit his way of going, or any thing else of 118 THE PERFECT HOBSE. himself; but, other things being equal, you may expect that the sire will give his action to his colts. I might mention horses remarkable for this, — horses that mark their colts so decidedly with their action, that it alone is sufficient to designate their parentage. Such a horse, if his style of going is good, is invaluable to the breeder. I emphasize “style of going,” because many stallions that trot, and trot fast too, do not trot well. Consider- able speed can and does often co-exist with a faulty action ; and this should be noted. A great many stal- lions trot too wide ; that is, they have too open a gait. Such an action is faulty ; and the reason is this : It is necessary, as all admit, that, in speeding, the action of the hind-legs should be wide enough to allow the feet to pass outside of the forward-legs. This is indispensa- ble. But it should be borne in mind that every inch of lateral action requires exertion, costs effort, and ex- hausts strength; and that the horse should be gaited, therefore, so as to “open up” no wider than is abso- lutely necessary in order to get safely by his fore-legs ; for every inch of side-action beyond this is unneces- sary, and a source of exhaustion, when every ounce of strength is needed to bring him home in time. What we want is motion in a straight line, or as near a straight line as the circumstances of the case will permit ; and he is the best horse who “spreads” enough to go clear and free, and stops there. I hold, therefore, that these over- wide-gaited horses are of faulty action. They and their get show excellently on the exercise-ground, or when led THE SIRE. 119 at our fairs up and down before the judges’ stand to the halter ; for they literally make a great spread, attract the popular eye, and enable every fool to see that they have got trotting-action. But these colts that trot so wide, that they could trot with a flour-barrel between their legs, do not trot so well, I notice, at the end of the heat as they do at the beginning, and are generally found at the wrong side of the distance-posts at the conclusion in a well-contested race of the fourth or fifth heat. I have a stallion in mind, as I write, that trots a three- minute clip — so perfect is his knee-action, and quick is his gather — without “opening up ” at all, but that can ” open up ” enough to show his heels to many wider- gaited horses, when it is necessary to get his nose to the judges’ wire quicker than 30 sec. And, what he can do the first heat, he can keep on doing the fifth, sixth, or seventh heat, or all day, for that matter : and the reason is, because he does not waste any force by siiie-action, but delivers his strokes in a straight line; and every inch of movement brings him an inch nearer home. And this is the style of horse that will invariably win when the con- testants are many, the race a close one, and endurance every thing. Now, the colts of this horse resemble their sire in this their style of going. When led to the halter, they do not “open out ” at all, or very little, because the groom cannot make the pace fast enough for them to feel the need of effort ; and I doubt if many judges at the New-England fairs would ever regard them as worthy to 120 THE PERFECT HORSE. compete for prizes among colts of the wide-going, Morrill action. But when these little trappy, quick-stepping fel- lows are grown up, and happen to be called Dauntless or Ned Wallace, the backers of the Morrill and Tom Jef- ferson stock find that they have trotting-action enough to get them round to the wire about two lengths quicker than it was for their interest to have them get home. I must confess to a growing dislike to this excessive wide action of the hind-feet: it may impress the crowd, and secure purchasers from that large number of people who never reason upon any thing, but who buy a horse, as the drunken sailor bought his ladder, ” because it was so well ventilated ; ” but to me it argues weakness or faulty construction where both are fatal to the highest form of success. While, therefore, I would breed to no stallion who had not a trotting-gait, I should not be especially attracted to one noted for ” wide action ” as the phrase is ; and if this width of action is associated, as is often the case, with slowness of gather, — that is, if his hind- feet went very wide apart, and staid under the sulky a good while, — I would not breed to him anyway. This tardiness of gathering is a bad feature in a horse : a slow- gathering horse will never trot fast, no matter how open his gait, or how long his stride. I have seen horses stride a distance of seventeen feet when they were not trotting better than a 2.50 gait. These slow-gathering horses are generally long-backed horses ; and horses with long backs, unless splendidly developed over the loins, are apt to gather slowly. The power to bring their feet up THE SIRE. 121 from under the sulky with a twitch, and shoot them ahead as the arrow is shot out of a bow, is not in them. Select a stallion short in the upper line, and long in the lower line, strongly coupled over the hips, and the dis- tance between the hip-bones and spine-bone swelling with ridges and masses of muscle that you can see play and work like great pulleys when taking their exercise, and you will get colts from him that will stride far, and gather like lightning. As to the height and size, I say unhesitatingly, that the perfect horse in these respects is one that.stands fifteen hands and two inches high (sixty- two inches), and weighs ten hundred and fifty pounds. This is the standard of perfection ; an inch either way in height, or fifty pounds in weight, is allowable : but for speed and endurance, for the purposes of general driv- ing, and for the track, and, therefore, for the purposes of breeding, no stallion should weigh less than a thou- sand, or more than eleven hundred pounds; neither should he stand higher than sixty-three inches, nor lower than sixty. It used to be thought, that for the purposes of the track, and in order to be good weight- pullers, large-sized horses were indispensable ; but when men saw Flora Temple, barely tipping eight hundred pounds, pull the same weight as the great stallion George M. Patchen, and get her nose in at the wire a little quicker than he could, heat after heat, they had to go back on their favorite theory. Theory and specu- lation are excellent in their place and way ; but they are useless when put over against the logic of facts; 122 THE PERFECT HORSE. and the fact is, that the best weight-pullers of the country, since the first trotting-race was made, have been horses of medium size, and, in many cases, even under-sized. Many illustrations of this I might offer in way of proof. Now, if horses of this weight and size can do all that any of the horse-kind can do, why should they not be regarded as the model horse ; that is, the size and weight with which the Creator has associated the greatest speed and endurance? Nor, indeed, is excessive weight a proof of strength. Old Justin Morgan, when weighing less than nine hundred pounds, would pull a log heavier than any twelve-hundred-pound horse that could be found in the States of Maine and Vermont He would not only pull a log that these heavier horses could not even start, but pull it with two heavy men sitting* astride of it. In view of these facts, is not all weight above the standard suggested excessive weight ? Does it not burden a horse, endanger his limbs, imperil his feet, and detract materially from his general value? The Hambletonian and Morrill stock, because of the speed and general excellence of their get, set the fashion, and caused large-sized horses to be eagerly sought for and demanded, and the Morgan family of horses to be de- spised as undersized. But this was only an accident, and the fashion of an hour. After twenty years of breed- ing and use, we know that heavy horses cannot stand work on our paved avenues and stone-bedded roads ; and we also know that they can neither trot faster, nor THE SERE. 123 stay longer, thaii the ten-hundred or ten-hundred-and- fifty pound horse. My advice, therefore, is, to breed from a medium-sized stallion ; and, if you wish to enlarge the size of your colts, get the extra size by a cross with large-sized mares. I do not say that this is the indis- pensable way; but it is the better way, as I judge ; and I therefore recommend it. This matter of crossing naturally introduces the vexed question, “What shall we cross with? ” The matter of blood — what it symbolizes, and where it can be found — and of in-breeding come before us naturally at this point for discussion ; and we will here group together what we have to say, choosing for our general caption the word THOROUGH-BRED. All over the country, from Maine to California, in every State where horse, are bred, this word is being spoken in hot debate. It has been the cause of more verbal strife among breeders and horsemen than any other word in the dictionary ; and still the fight goes on, and with varying fortune. The advocates and oppo- nents of breeding trotting-mares to thorough-bred stal- lions, and vice versd, have their alternate successes. One will say, “Nothing but a thorough-bred mare is fit to breed to a good stallion.” Another will deny that a trotter can be got from such a cross. One will declare, “We must warm up our cold-blooded mares by breeding to thorough-bred horses, in order to give game, and power to stay a distance, to the colts.” 124 THE PERFECT HORSE. Another will point you to a dozen horses that have drifted up to the cities from the barn-yards of Maine, or been bought out of string- teams, — as Dutchman the Wonderful was, — about whose pedigree nothing was known, and of some of which nothing is”. known up to this day, that were able to trot fast, and trot all day, and say, ” If that is low blood, then low blood is good enough for me.” Then there is another class, who are neither ignorant nor prejudiced, who doubt the expediency of breeding to running-stock at all, on the ground that the running- gait is so opposite to the trotting-gait, and at the same time so strong and true to itself, that it cannot be over- come in the cross, but will remain dominant in the foal ; and that the breeder will find, that, in breeding in the running-gait, he has bred out the trotting-action. To this view I give assent ; and my opinion is based both upon actual trial in my own stables, and upon observation of many other stables. I hold that a thorough-bred mare of running-action will very rarely produce a foal of trotting-action when bred to a trotting- stallion, or vice versd. I hold that two styles of going, so unlike, cannot harmonize. Like two hostile cur- rents, they fight each other, and come to a stand-still. The colt is neither a trotter nor a runner. He is an excellent, stylish roadster and saddle-horse; and that is all. He is a good horse for many purposes, but not such a lioT8e as the breeder desired and expected. This, I say, is my opinion. I thrust it offensively upon no one ; but I hold to it. THE SIBE. 125 The question — and it is one of the utmost impor- tance — arises, therefore, “Where shall we get blood, if we cannot go to the thorough-bred running-family ? How can we breed colts of sufficient beauty, courage, and endurance to meet the demands of the purchasing public and the turf, if we cannot go to the thorough- bred for our crosses ? for it is admitted on all sides that blood tells.” In response to this interrogation I reply, That we must go to thorough-bred* to find what we need ; but we must go to the thorough-bred trotting, and not to the thorough-bred running horse. And now I would ask the reader’s closest attention to what I am to say ; because I deem it of prime impor- tance to the breeder, and likely to be attacked by many. The word “thorough-bred” has an artificial and a natural, a technical and a practical, significance. Techni- cally considered, the thorough-bred horse is one whose pedigree can be traced back through imported stock to the English stud-books, and through these to the East, whence the modern English thorough-bred horse ances- trally came. This is what I call the artificial or technical significance of the word ” thorough-bred.” It does not prove that a horse is a good animal ; for many, both in this country and in England, whose pedigree can be traced back to an Arabian source, are comparatively of little value. In England you can find hundreds of ” weedy ” colts, with neither lungs nor legs able to 126 THE PERFECT HORSE. stand the necessary work to fit them for a race, or, indeed, of any considerable value any way; and the same is true with us. To buy a horse simply because he has a long and noble pedigree is to buy as a fool buyeth. And especially does this hold true in the case of breeding ; for which purpose, none but the best speci- mens of the family you desire to cross with should be purchased. A poor horse is a poor horse the world over in all families, and in spite of pedigree. A good animal with a good pedigree is what the breeder needs ; and this rule should be closely adhered to. To vary from this principle is to risk all Beyond this technical sense, the word u thorough-bred” has another and a practical significance, which I will now explain. In the practical sense, the word stands for and symbolizes certain indispensable qualities which give value to the animal, and decide his rank and place in the grade to which he belongs. Among these may be mentioned beauty of form, toughness of bone and muscular structure, vivacity and docility of tempera- ment, intelligence, and above all, perhaps, in value, the power of endurance, and the desire to do / what horse- men express by the word “game.” All pedigrees are worthless save as they indicate and warrant that the horse with the noble ancestry is noble himself. It is a help to the judgment, as to the value of a colt, to know that its dam is a Star mare ; because a Star mare is a daughter of American Star; and American Star was sired by Henry, who ran against Eclipse in the famous THE SIRE. 127 match between the North and South. To a breeder such a pedigree is of the utmost value, because it is a guaranty that the colt out of such a mare will have, to some extent at least, the noble qualities which made his ancestors famous. Now, then, the question comes back to us, ” What makes a thorough-bred? ” And I say, that, for all practical purposes, a horse which has a certain perfection of form, a certain degree of intelligence, the power to do great deeds when called upon, together with the high courage to attempt and to actually perform them, is a thorough-bred horse. That is my answer to the question; and I think that it will recommend itself to the common sense of the reader. Observe, then, what are the facts of the case as connected with the trotting-horse. The facts are these : that, beginning with Dutchman, and coming down through Lady Suffolk, Flora Temple, George M. Patchen, Ethan Allen, Dexter, and Goldsmith’s Maid, we have had for the last fifty years in this country a race of horses of trotting-action of as fine a spirit, and as great powers of endurance, as any that were ever bred. In perfection of structure, in the symmetrical adjustment of all the parts, in intelligence, — that surest proof and crown of good breeding, — in dauntless resolution that stopped not short of death itself in the hour of supreme performance, these horses, and countless others like to them, were, I claim, second to none that ever delighted the eye and made proud the heart of man. I hold that it is unjust to these i.’:.: u;r n •: *■ T . f” •• of v. 1 .:” r (>”»■ 1 .
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THE SIRE. / 129
stud-books are sufficient for England, where the running-
horse embodies all excellence; but they are entirely
insufficient in this country, where the trotting-horse
finds his ancestry, his birthplace, and the field of his
glory. There is, therefore, in this country, a family of
horses possessing the very qualities for which the Eng-
lish running-horse has so long been noted, and in as
great actegree, as the history of its performances shows,
but which are distinguished from the English thorough-
bred by their style of going : and to this family, by
every law and rule of justice, the same honorable
nomenclature must be given ; and we now give it the
same, and ask your attention to what we have to sug-
gest touching the
THOROUGH-BRED TROTTING-HORSE.
We have alluded to the matter of out-crossing in
order to get ” blood,” — that is, those high qualities
which it symbolizes, — and we have said that it were
not wise to go to the running-family for the cross ; and
this we repeat. First, because, in doing this, you lose
the trotting-action ; and, secondly, because there is no
need to do it, since the same perfection of courage
you seek can be found in the trotting-family itself.
Those of my readers who know any thing of Ethan
Allen, Taggart’s Abdallah, Old Morrill, or his famous
grandson Fearnaught, and Lambert, and the get of
these horses, know, that for beauty, intelligence, fine-
ness of temper, and courage to ” do or die,” they are
130 THE PERFECT HOBSE,
not excelled by any stallion of the running – family
living ; and I will not except the great Leamington, or
his greater son Longfellow. I have passed from the
stall of Dexter to the stable of Harry Bassett ; I have
seen Leamington and Longfellow one week, and Fear-
naught and Taggart’s Abdallah the next ; and I solemnly
aver, that neither in the sheen of their glossy coats, the
bright, courageous look of their faces, the symmetry of
proportion, or suggestions of muscular power, did these
highest types of the one family excel these highest
types of the other.
There is no doubt but that originally we were depend-
ent entirely upon the thorough-bred running-horse to
re-enforce the common breed of the country with more
generous qualities. It is to imported Messenger and
Diomed and Bashaw especially that we are indebted for
those excellences which now distinguish our trotting-
horses. I would be the first to recognize the obligation
that the trotting-family is under to the running-family ;
and there was a time when the breeder must needs
go to the racing-stables for those crosses from which
the needed re-enforcement to the weak common blood
of the native breed might be obtained. But now,
owing to this very outcrossing with the imported thor-
ough-bred and the success which naturally attended it,
the trotting-family has become, to all intents and pur-
poses, thorough-bred itself, and able to supply within
its own membership every desirable quality and attri-
bute. In localities where this transmission of thorough
THE SIRE. 131
blood has not occurred, and only vulgar mares can be
obtained, I do not hesitate to advise the importation of
mares from running-families for dams. This plan will
improve the stock immeasurably ; and, after two or three
generations of judicious crossing, the trotting-gait will
appear in the colts, and the breeder will thus ultimately
reap his reward. But, where well-bred trotting-mares
can be found, give these the preference over mares of
runnzVi^-action alone, if your object is to breed trotters.
Some breeders, I know, are possessed with the idea that
one njust resort to the thorough-bred running-family in
order to find that symmetrical structure and beautiful
appearance which all lovers of the horse delight to see.
With this ambition to breed beautiful horses I most
heartily sympathize. No degree of speed can atone in
my eye for the lack of beauty. Beauty and speed must
co-exist, if possible, in every colt bred in my stables.
Many, I know, are indifferent to this, and care little how
a horse looks, if he can only go. This I hold to be
against the course of nature, which ever seeks to pro-
duce the perfect ; and no horse that is ugly to the eye
can be called perfect. Away, then, I say, with your
heavy-limbed, ragged-hipped, long-haired, big-eared,
bucket-headed horses ! I wouldn’t drive one a rod if
he would trot a mile in a minute. I like the exhilara-
tion of rapid movement, the excitement of the rush,
and the royal joy of passing ; but the animal that gives
all this to me must please the eye. But those who
suppose that the thorough-bred running-horse is neces-
132 THE PERFECT HORSE.
sarily beautiful to the eye are greatly mistaken. Im-
ported Messenger was a large, ungainly-looking horse ;
Mambrino, his son, was badly string-halted ; Abdallah, his
grandson, was a large, angular-looking creature, with big
head, scarcely any mane, ragged- hipped, and a rat-tail.
The Melbournes of England are lop-eared. Many of the
Clays, descendants of imported Bashaw, are large-headed,
coarse-looking horses. I have seen thirty brood-mares,
whose blood had flowed down to them through twenty
generations, absolutely untainted ; and among them all
there was neither a head, neck, coat, or form, more
beautiful than I can find in a dozen daughters of the old
Green-Mountain horse in Vermont. So far as beauty
goes, GifFord Morgan was, perhaps, the handsomest
horse ever seen on a parade-ground in America. Coat,
eye, ear, form, and style, all that man might long to see
in a horse, could be seen in him. One of his grand-
sons, Taggart’s Abdallah, is the most beautiful horse I
have ever seen, either of the trotting or racing families.
Many of the descendants of the Old Morrill horse, whose
dams were Morgan mares, and the sons and daughters
of Vermont Black Hawk, were so beautiful, as to leave
little, if any thing, to be desired. I do not think, there-
fore, that the breeder need to go outside of the trotting-
family to find the highest type of equine beauty.
In another portion of this work I have given my
views of the Morgan stock at length ; and will only say
at this point, that no better cross can be made, by a
breeder who would breed handsome horses, than this
THE SIRE. 133
half-cross with the Morgan blood. This essentially is
the cross that produced Ethan Allen, Fearnaught,
Taggart’s Abdallah, and many other stallions, whose
symmetry of proportion, beauty of color, and no-
bility of carriage, would have made them celebrated,
even if they had not been speedy. There are some
daughters of the old Green-Mountain horse in Vermont
yet, whose heads are worthy the pencil and brush of a
Bonheur. A Hambletonian stallion, if he be a good
specimen of his family, put to such a mare, would be
likely to get a colt that would look about right when
exhibited to the halter, or when flying down the home-
stretch.
I have now given my views in all frankness touching
this somewhat vexed question of “blood.” It is prob-
able that many, to whose judgment in any question
relating to what is wise or unwise in breeding grave
attention should be given, will not agree with me:
such entertain the conviction that we must still rely
on thorough-bred running-stock for assistance in our
effort to produce trotting-horses that shall have the re-
quisite stamina and courage to stand the work required
to fit them for the supreme effort, and the resolution on
the day of the race to do the deed demanded of them.
But, for one, I am persuaded that this opinion cannot be
maintained in the face of the facts in the case. The
record of every year is clearly proving that colts bred
from trotting-stock on both sides, unassisted by any
cross with the thorough-bred running-stock, are abun-
134 THE PERFECT HORSE.
dantly able to do all that horses may be expected to
do, and do it right along continually. If this be true,
the subject is beyond the need of argument, and outside
the boundary of speculation ; and breeder^ of trotting-
horses may henceforth regard it as a law in breeding,
that trotters can be safely inbred to trotters, as run-
ning-horses are inbred to running-horses. And to this
maxim my judgment gives a full, unhesitating assent
In reference to this matter of inbreeding, I am in-
clined to think that not only should it be done between
members of the trotting-family, but that it may also be
done with profit in the case of blood relations. I know
that many have strong prejudices against this, and that
physiologists claim, that, in the human family, it is at-
tended with grave and lamentable results ; but, to my
mind, the case does not seem to be made out In
the first place, it should be remembered that maj-
riage in the human family cannot be regulated as in the
case of animals. You cannot elect and discard at will.
Other than scientific principles prevail to bring about
the union. Hence it comes about that faults and weak-
nesses, both as to the mind and body, are increased,
instead of decreased ; and the child suffers in a double
measure from the infirmity of either parent, because
he represents the infirmity multiplied by two. But,
in the case of animals, the election of partners for the
union can be arbitrary, and so imperfections avoided,
and excellences greatly and quickly increased. The .
cases are so unlike, you perceive, that it is not fair to
THE sere. 135
reason from the one to the other. But, in addition to
this, certain facts exist of a character to cause one, at
least, to suspend his judgment. The world began with
a single pair * and, in the human family, inbreeding, and
that, too, of the closest kind, must have been the rule.
Who can doubt but that the perfect produced the per-
fect?
The Jews were forbidden to marry with foreign
nations; and in the earlier portions of their history,
when under the government of the patriarchs, and
comparatively few in numbers, it is fair to suppose that
intermarriage must often have been between blood
relations. But the Jews, instead of losing stamina
and constitutional vitality, have held their own in
numbers and mental character, while a thousand nations
have perished. Europe also furnishes us with further
data. There, by reason of the law of primogeniture
being enforced in order to retain their great ancestral
estates intact, marriages between first-cousins have often
been made a necessity. I might mention noble houses,
whose ancestral records run back beyond the Norman
invasion, whose children have furnished England with
her orators, statesmen, and poets, and whose female mem-
bers have been among the mosf beautiful, vivacious, and
long-lived of the land, in which, nevertheless, for state
and property considerations, marriage between cousins
has been the rule rather than the exception. I might
adduce other illustrations equally to the point ; but those
already given are enough to make the thoughtful pause
».
136 THE PERFECT HORSE.
before they pronounce judgment touching the extent
and limitation of those laws which the all-wise Creator
ordained to govern the propagation of the species.
That a limit exists somewhere is undoubtedly true ; but,
just where the point at which we should stop is located,
it is not so easy to affirm. Now, in respect to the horse,
history, so far as it goes, seems to be in favor of in-
breeding. Indeed, the evidence is unmistakable, and
all tending in one direction. To begin with this
country, and in the trotting-family : the old Abdallah
was the result of a cross between a half brother and
sister; Mambrino and Amazonia, his sire and dam,
being both gotten by imported Messenger. The old
Hambletonian was by Messenger, out of a daughter
of Messenger.
One-Eye, the dam of Rysdyk’s Hambletonian’s dam,
was again the result of a cross between a son and
daughter of Messenger. Then, again, the Charles Kent
mare, whose dam was the result of the incestuous union
between the son and daughter of Messenger, was bred
to Abdallah, the result of a like incestuous union ; and
tl\e result is Bysdyk’s Hambletonian. Observe this
order : A son and daughter of Messenger produce Ab-
dallah, — this certainly is as close inbreeding, almost, as
one can have, — and the result is the most famous horse
of his family ; and he gets a son, when bred to his
cousin, that founds a family whose fame is known the
world over. If we should go to the English stud-
books, a list of any required length might be made out,
THE SIRE. 137
all going to show that inbreeding, — even to the degree
of incestuous union, — when properly directed by the
breeder, haa been and may be the means of producing
horses of a degree of excellence otherwise unattaina-
ble. Observe the emphasized words, because the limi-
tation they mark out touching this matter is a very
significant one. The rule, as I understand the matter,
should be this: When inbreeding closely, allow the
union to take place only between perfect animals. Never
forget that the same law which enables you not only to
keep alive, but to increase, the average excellence of
their ancestors and themselves, at the same time oper-
ates to the perpetuation, in an exaggerated form, of all
vices and faults. Deficiencies as well as excellences,
base as truly as noble qualities, will have a double
chance of becoming dominant. If one parent alone is
vicious, then the offspring may be good-natured ; but,
if both parents be vicious, then will the foal be sure to
be an ugly brute anyway. This is the law which
makes all close inbreeding hazardous, and impossible for
the average breeder to follow out. I recommend it,
therefore, only in those cases where both of the intended
parents are perfect animals. Having such animals, I
should breed fearlessly in and in. Nevertheless, even
in this case, I should outcross occasionally, and after-
ward breed back again to the original stock. By this
method, as I conceive, great benefit might be derived,
and all peril shunned.
Such are my views concerning this much-debated and
138 THE PERFECT HORSE.
vexatious question, — vexatious, because no precise con*
elusion can be drawn as to it The full solution calls
for such a penetration into the secrets of life and life-
begetting functions and causes as mortal may never hope
/ to have. But this much is beyond contradiction, — that
beginning with Eclipse, who was very closely inbred,
down to Hambletonian of our own times, many of the
most noted winners, and getters of winners, have been
the product of in-and-in breeding so close as to be
incestuous ; and, while facts have due weight in men’s
estimate of what is wise and unwise in action, this will
be remembered, and will influence breeders, in spite of
theory and mere speculation, no matter by whom held
or advanced. To me it seems not only safe within
certain limits, and advisable on general principles, to
breed in and in when the stock is perfect, but the only
way in which the breeder can retain in his stables the
characteristic excellences, which, by years of selection
and experiment, perhaps, he has succeeded in producing.
CHAPTER V.
THE DAM.
I have given at length my views of what consti-
tutes a good stock-horse, and the qualities which he
should possess, and what may be his influence on the
progeny. I will now take up the subject of the dam’s
influence upon the foal, and what are the qualities
which should characterize her. Touching this subject,
I would say, to start with, that the influence of the dam
is much more considerable in the majority of cases, in
shaping the character of the future colt, than many
imagine. To me it seems natural that it should be so.
Without reiterating what I have already said in a
previous section of this work, I would ask the reader to
observe how intimately the foal is connected with the
dam, not only previous to its birth, but for a long
period afterward. From the very beginning of its life
it is fed by the mother’s blood, and affected by her
moods. Before ever it has seen the light, she has had
the time and the power to stamp it with her vices or
her virtues, impart to it her weakness or her strength.
189
140 THE PERFECT HORSE.
Not only the bone-structure, the muscular tissues, the
arterial and venous system, and the measure of bodily
growth, are decided by the mother’s constitutional
powers and condition, but the very nerve-structure and
brain-force receive_from her tone and quality. The foal
may be pictured as lying at her mercy, dominated by
the sweet tyranny of nature. When thinking of these
things, I cease to wonder that many of the most famous
horses, both of the past and present time, closely re-
semble their dams. Dexter takes his look from his
mother, the daughter of American Star, who was sired
by the thorough-bred running-horse, Henry. Neither
in body, limbs, head, nor temperament, does he bear any
likeness to his sire, Bysdyk’s Hambletonian. The same
may be said of Goldsmith’s Maid, Lady Thorne, Major
Winfield, and others of almost equal celebrity. They are
all mother 1 8 children, as we should say in respect to mem-
bers of the human family. Every breeder has observed
this peculiarity. I have a filly in my stables, sired by a
horse of high breeding and great vitality, to whom,
nevertheless, she does not bear the least resemblance, but
is a facsimile* of the dam. Color, size, shape, style of
going, expression of the countenance, even the way in
which she eats her oats, or neighs before they are given
her, — in all these things she is the dam over again.
But, where the facts are admitted, an allusion to them is
sufficient ; and he who considers the facts must wonder
that the dam’s influence on the foal has been and is still
regarded by many breeders as comparatively insignifi-
THE DAM. 141
cant. To this general law there are certain exceptions.
Now and then you find a brood-mare that seems to have
no marking power at all : they give nothing to the foal
save the food on which he grows. From the moment
he is born, he is perceived to be the sire’s own child
The dam seems only to have carried it; been, as it
were, a receptacle for it; carried it as something that
did not belong to her, but to another, and which she
was to feed and nourish and introduce. . Only this, and
nothing more ; for this literally was all she did. She
left no stamp or impress of herself upon it at all, either
as to size, color, structure, or temperament. Such
brood-mares to the breeder are simply invaluable.
With them he knows what he shall get ; and that which
defies all calculation, and baffles all intelligence, is re-
moved, — uncertainty. But this is, as I have said, the
exception : in the average order of nature it is not so ;
and hence the character and condition of the dam from
which the foal is to come, is, to the breeder, a matter of
gravest concern. Several things a brood-mare should
be sure to have, which we will now enumerate ; the
first of which is blood. The value of pedigree in this
connection can scarcely be over-rated. We take it for
granted that no respectable breeder would breed to a
horse of unknown lineage. That would be queer breed-
ing indeed ! The pedigree of the stallion, then, being
known, and the pedigree of the brood-mare being also
known, the breeder can forecast, with a reasonable de-
gree of certainty, the characteristics and qualities of the
142 THE PERFECT HORSE.
i
/
future colt ; the law being that the foal will resemble
the parents, or some one of the less remote grand-
parents. The reader perceives how practical, in this
connection, is the benefit derived from pedigrees in
breeding. Without them the uncertainty of what the
get will be is increased twenty per cent. I do not say
I would not buy a mare for brooding-purposes whose
pedigree was not ascertained; for I would: but I do
say, that, with the pedigree well verified, I should
regard her worth considerably more money for the pur-
pose for which I was buying her than without one.
But the purchaser should always remember that the
animal herself is a better assistance to his judgment than
any pedigree, and that no mare should be bought for
brooding-purposes because of her pedigree. The horse
first, and the pedigree too, is the way to have it stand
in your mind. Remember, also, that pedigrees can be
created. It is astonishing how long a pedigree can be
got up at a moment’3 notice. Only let the horse-jockey
ascertain what blood you prefer, and he will lead you
out a daughter of that family in a minute ! I do not
wish to suggest that horse-dealers are less honest than
dealers in other commodities ; for men of peculiar moral
idiosyncrasies find a playful exercise of their powers in
commercial transactions : but I do say that I have met
men — dealers in horses — who did not seem to have a
full’ realizing sense of the apostolic injunction, “Lie not
at all,” especially in this matter of pedigrees, about
which more lapses of memory probably occur than any
THE DAM. 143
other subject within the scope of human recollection.
It will do well for the tyro to bear it in mind, lest he
pay too high for both horse and pedigree.
Touching the frame of the brood-mare, I need give
no instruction beyond what is contained in the first
ninety-five pages of this work, wherein I describe the
structure of the perfect horse. Let her be in every
respect good as the best, — that is, as near perfection as
you can find, or your purse command, — and you will not
go amiss in your selection. But one thing should be
mentioned, because, concerning it, men differ, and, as I
think, some err. I refer to the size of the brood-mare.
Many say that . the breeder should select a large mare /
and perhaps, as a general thing, where you wish to
breed colts of greater size than the parents, it is better
to have the mare larger than the horse. On this plan
you escape risk in the act of foaling ; for small mares
bred to large stallions are sometimes unable to deliver
the foal without great effort, and* sometimes not at all.
To avoid this risk, it is wise to have the dam larger than
the sire when you wish to breed tip in size; but, be-
yond this, I think the size immaterial. ” A large, roomy
mare” is a favorite phrase with many breeders; but
I could never see what mere bulk had to do with
value, unless you are breeding for the cart. Quantity
does not dictate quality. The children of large-sized
parents are no more gifted than those whose father
and mother weigh less. The amount of flesh does not
decide the character of spiritual essences, and of those
144 THE PERFECT H0BSE.
subtle forces which make life virile; and, for one, I
never allow the matter of size to affect my judgment
in the least, as I hold that it cannot affect the result. I
would not breed a mare that weighed less than nine
hundred, or one that weighed more than eleven hundred
pounds. From nine hundred and fifty to a thousand and
fifty is what I regard as the best weight. Nor does the
shape affect me much, provided that it be such as makes
her good for service. The old breeders thought — and
many breeders think to-day — that a drooping rump is
the best form for a brood-mare. They argued, from such a
formation of the structure, an easy delivery of the foal ;
whereas they conceived that a mare with a flat or
straight rump formation could not deliver the foal
easily. But my experience and observation disprove
this. The mare that delivers the foal more easily than
any other in my stables is one of nine hundred and
thirty pounds’ weight, with a slim round barrel rather
“picked up,” narrow between the hips, and her back-
bone running out nearly straight to the root of the tail ;
and yet her colts are invariably strong, and she herself
so little exercised in the delivery, that her pulse is never
feverish, her appetite not in the least disturbed, nor her
digestion affected We have never even given her a
warm mash ; and she has brought three large-sized colts
into the world. Other instances by the dozen I might
give, if it were necessary. I pay no attention, therefore,
to the talk about ” large, roomy mares for breeders,”
but hold that size alone neither improves the foal, nor
THE DAM. 145
insures greater safety to the dam when bringing it
forth. It is quality, not quantity, we need in our brood-
mares. The texture of the bones, and the way in which
they are adjusted, and not the size of them ; the charac-
ter of the temperament, and not the fleshy bulk, — are
what give value to the dam, and, through her, to the
foal. •
This matter of temperament is of the utmost impor^
tance ; and I refer the reader to what was said under
that head earlier in the volume. Here I need not ex-
pand the subject, save that the lymphatic, sluggish tem-
perament is to be avoided. Never select a low, base-
spirited mare to breed from. Touching the temper, be
particular: under no consideration ever breed from a
vicious mare. You have no right to do it ; and it will
not pay to do it. It is the chief glory of the American
horse, that he is the most enduring and the most amia-
ble of his kind on the face of the earth, the Orient ex-
cepted. Next to the Arabian in docility and intelli-
gence, in love for man, and general hardihood, stands
the American. The English thorough-bred is a devil ;
the Spanish and Italian horses are brutes ; the French
racer is to be admired at a distance : but the American
horse is kind and gentle ; and, in the gloss and bloom of
grooming and virility, the American stallion can be
petted by women, and fondled by children. I confess
that I am very proud of this. It argues intelligence and
humanity among the people, and noble qualities on the
part of our horses. It should be the great ambition of
10
146 THE PERFECT H0BSE.
the breeder and groom to keep this just as it is. Now,
the dam, beyond doubt, has immeasurably more to do
with the temper of the foal than the sire. I have inva-
riably observed that a timid or vicious dam would
stamp these peculiarities upon her foal. If she leered,
and was ugly, the colt would do just as the mother did ;
and who can endure a leering, biting, kicking colt in
his stables ? Never breed from an ugly-tempered mare :
for her colts will surely be like her ; only, in seven cases
out of ten, worse. Depravity gets an earlier develop-
ment in the child than it had in the parent. Lastly,
under this head, see to it that the mare selected for the
stud be in perfect health. •
Feel that there is no exception to this; for every
trace of disease in the blood of the dam will, from
necessity, be imparted to the foal. The embryo will,
from the very beginning, be tainted with disease. ” All
impurities lurking in the parent’s system will settle in it
So true is this, that unhealthiness is often bred out of
the dam into the foal. The colt is worthless ; but the
mare is cured. The disease left the mother, and entered
into the offspring, as is the case, often, in the human spe-
cies. See to it that the mare is in perfect health when
the horse has connection with her ; and, being healthy,
then keep her so. See to it that she has dry, clean bed-
ding, and a good stall. Do not over-feed, lest she accu-
mulate fat. Idleness is bad. Give her due measure of
exercise. More brood-mares are hurt by standing still
than by over-work. My brood-mares do moderate
THE DAM. 147
work, in the team and on the road, from the time they
are stinted to the horse until within a month or six
weeks of foaling. This keeps them healthy and strong,
and prevents them from laying on fat. A mare should
be kept in an active, muscular condition during preg-
nancy. The question is asked, whether it is wise to
speed a brood-mare when in foal. I hold it is, provided
it be done with caution. An occasional spurt of fifty
rods or so does them good : it keeps their mood right ;
that is, vivacious, sprightly, and full of healthy anima-
tion. This mood they impart to the foal The mater-
nal disposition and spirit are impressed upon it ; for the
mental state of the dam does have, beyond doubt, a vast
influence upon the nervous organization of the foal. As
the time of foaling approaches, let the mare rest. Exer-
cise her only to the halter, if at all. Remove her from
the narrow stall to the ” foaling-room.” This should be
at least twelve by fifteen feet in size. The floor should
be perfectly level, — this is essential, — in which she
should have her liberty. Give her plenty of clean, dry
bedding. If she is a gross feeder, and is inclined to stuff
herself with it, put on a muzzle : an ordinary wire ox-
muzzle will answer. As the day approaches on which
the long-anticipated event is to occur, do not feed very
high : especially reduce the amount of hay she is accus-
tomed to have by one-half. Feed with dry food, lest
milk be produced too fast. If this be the case, and her
bag cakes, wash it in cold water in which a quart of
Indian meal has been soaked. This wash will reduce
148 THE PERFECT HORSE.
the fever. If necessary, milk away a considerable
amount; but do not milk her upon the ground, but
into a pan or basin. Some mares make milk too soon
and too fast, but not ordinarily. The rule is, that the
foal will be delivered within twenty-four hours from the
time when milk, or a milky secretion, first shows itself
on the teats. For a month previous to the date of
foaling, handle her bag and teats, by which she will
become familiar with your touch, and not dread the
nose of the foal, as some mares, if not thus educated, do.
When all is done that you can do, let her alone. Nature
in parental exercises loves seclusion, and enjoys silence
and secrecy. You should visit the stall from time to
time ; but be very quiet in your movements, and do not
hang round the stall as some inquisitive grooms will. .
Treated in this discreet manner, ninety-nine mares out
of a hundred will deliver their foals safely. When the
foal is born, help it to its feet, and assist it to its mother.
Be very gentle in your movements, and caress the dam.
Some mares, especially young ones, are unnatural at
first, and will not own the little thing ; but patience and
kindness on your part will soon prevail. It is well to
give the dam half a bucketful of warm gruel, made
thin ; and, soon after this, a warm bran or oatmeal mash.
If it is cold, and the foal shivers, wrap it in a warm
flannel sheet ; and, in cases of emergency, give it a table-
spoonful of wine, or brandy even ; but if brandy, be
sure and dilute it well. In a few days the dam will
have recovered from whatever organic disturbance she
THE DAM. 149
may have Undergone, and be well. Nine or fifteen
days after foaling, she should be stinted to the horse
again ; for then she is quite sure to conceive again.
This, in brief, is the order of procedure at this critical
and often anxious period in the breeder’s experience.
The foal should be presented, in the act of delivery,
head-foremost, and resting on the forward-legs as a dog
lies often when asleep. This is the natural way ; and,
when so presented, have no fears. If the head should
be doubled under, or only one leg come forth, then
man’s help is needed. Having dipped his hand in warm
water or oil, the groom should take hold of the part
that is visible, and gently and very slowly push the
foal back until room is made for Nature to correct what
is in fault. If the mare still labors in vain, and a more
serious displacement has occurred, send for a veterinary
surgeon ; or, if no such assistance is at hand, then do the
best you can. Circumstances alter cases ; and no gen-
eral written directions will avail. But if the mare is
healthy, and has been well treated, the breeder has little
to fear ; and the chances are a hundred to one that all
will go well, and the foal be safely delivered.
Now that the foal is born of known and noble par-
entage and shapely, let the breeder ” rejoice and be
exceeding glad.” The most desirable form of property,
as I conceive, has been added to his estate. To his
care and skill some man shall be indebted for a most
useful servant and noble companion. By his enter-
prise he has put the world under obligation to him, in
150 THE PERFECT HORSE.
that he has given to it an agent that it needed, and
which, without his efforts, it would not have had
He deserves the benediction of mankind; for he has
added another unit to the long column which represents
the aggregate happiness of the race. At this point, the
question of how the colt should be fed — whether, during
the sucking-period, from the dam’s milk alone ; or whe-
ther this should be re-enforced by other sustenance, such
as cow’s milk, oatmeal-gruel, cracked oats, and the like ;
in short, what is called by many “the forcing-system,” or
the reverse — comes up for our consideration. As to
this, several things, often lost sight of, must be taken into
account. In the first place, it is agreed on all sides that
the youngster should not starve : but this he often will
do, unless other food than that which comes from the dam
is given him ; because many dams are such poor milkers,
that they do not yield the foal nearly enough to supply
his evident wants. In such a case, the breeder must
feed the young thing himself. Cow’s milk is good, when
properly warmed and sweetened. Let it be prepared
half blood-warm, and as sweet as the foal will drink it.
Three weeks after birth, give some oatmeal, or cracked
oats soaked to tenderness in water, or, better yet, in
milk. Begin with a handful or two, and increase as the
need is. If the mare is a very poor milker, the colt
may need two quarts per day. The rule to govern this
matter is, — keep the foal in healthy growth. As long
as his stomach and bowels are in good condition,
and he not gaining fat unnaturally, he is doing well;
THE DAM. 151
and your rule of feeding is, by that fact, approved.
This, also, should be considered, — that nothing is so
bad as to underfeed the colt; and according to my
ideas and observation, taking the land through, ten
colts suffer from want of needed food to one that
suffers from overplus of it The fact is, nothing is
more erroneous than the opinion that prevails among
farmers and the smaller breeders; viz., that it makes
little difference what a colt has to eat the first two
years of his life, or whether he has much to eat at
all. The truth is, that the first two years of his life
decide the colt’s entire future. Then it is that the
length of his bones, the stomachic and intestinal de-
velopment, the quality of the skin and coat, and the
constitutional powers and vigor, are decided. Feed
your colt well the first two years of his life, and, com-
paratively speaking, you cannot spoil him afterwards:
starve him during these years, and you cannot, on the
other hand, ever make the lack thereby caused good
New England is, to-day, full of horses that have been
ruined in this way. The moment you put your eyes
upon them, you know that they were starved in youth.
They are under-sized or ill-proportioned, bigger at one
end than at the other, ungainly and weak. These are
the animals that were compelled to “pick up their
living ” in the barn-yard with the cows and sheep, and
came out each spring lousy and hide-bound. I know
that a great hue and cry has been raised about u the
forcing-system,” and much said against giving oats and
152 THE PERFECT HORSE.
corn to colts. This is said to result in faulty bone-
texture, and premature breaking-down of the constitu-
tional powers. This is all humbug. I would not feed
corn to a colt, because it is too heating and rank, and
unfit, in the main, to give to any horse that is not used
for heavy and slow work : but oats are the natural food,
as one ijiight say, of the horse ; and no colt will ever bq
hurt by being fed liberally on them. Colts, like grown
horses, differ. One requires more food than another, and
so no exact rule in feeding can be laid down as regards
quantity ; but the quantity can be regulated by the con-
dition of the colt, as in the case of older horses. Feed
liberally the first two years, and you will never regret it
For the first month of the foal’s life, great caution
should be exercised to protect him from accidents, espe-
cially in taking his exercise. A foal in good health, after
he is a week old, is very playful, and even violent, in
taking his exercise ; but his eyes are not as yet strong,
nor accurate of sight Especially is he unable to meas-
ure distances correctly. I have seen a foal, two weeks
old, run m tat &L th.side of . to ■. broad da,-
light. The foal should be led, therefore, to a field level
and smooth ; and, while the dam is held by the groom
near the middle of the field, he should be allowed to
exercise to his heart’s content. In a few weeks he
will have got experience, and he can run loose with the
dam in the yard or pasture. The matter of his educa-
tion must now be considered.
CHAPTER VL
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT.
■
u With a glancing eye and curving mane,
He neighs and champs on the bridle-rein :
One spring, and his saddled back I press ;
.And ours is a common happiness.
Tis the rapture of motion ; a hurrying cloud
When the loosened winds are breathing loud ;
A shaft from the painted Indian’s bow ;
A bird, — in the pride of speed we go.”
Upon the proper education of the colt his entire use-
fulness depends. Whether the young life shall prove a
source of blessing or of trouble to man will be decided
by the manner in which he is trained. The education
of horses is a question, therefore, of supreme importance
to the public, in the discussion of which every one is
interested. We approach it with the profound desire
to give such, and only such, suggestions as shall quicken
profitable thought, and result in giving to young horses
a better preparation for man’s service than they now,
on the average, receive.
Prom the time the colt is born, he should be taught to
153
154 THE PERFECT HORSE.
regard man, wh6m he is afterwards to serve, as his pro-
tector and friend. A human hand should first lift him
gently* to his feet, and direct his little mouth to the
source of maternal nourishment. With the human
touch he should thus early be made to associate caresses
and a supply for all his wants. Instead of yells and
oaths and kicks and rude blows, he should hear only
gentle, loving tones from the attendant’s mouth, and pet-
tings from his kindly palm. He should be taught to
expect and watch for man’s entrance to the stall or
paddock where he is kept, as a dog waits for the coming
of the master, as the season of joy and happiness. His
little deer-like limbs should be handled, and he be taught
to yield them promptly and without fear to the master’s
touch. In short, every thing that loving ingenuity can
devise should be done to impress upon his mind thus
early in life that man is his natural protector and friend,
between whom and him an intimate companionship has
been ordained by beneficent Nature, which insures that
he shall be protected and cherished while he serves.
Ah, me ! if colts could have such treatment, how few
vicious horses we should see ! and how much greater, in
the aggregate, would be the happiness which life would
bring to them and man! I say, happiness; for He who
made all things hath given unto each creature, according
to the class and order of its life, powers, and capacity
for impressions, sufficient to make existence sweet, and
fill the days of its life to overflowing with satisfactions.
Especially is this true in respect to those animals
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 155
bo endowed with high organizations ahd subtle forces,
that they are able to apprehend and communicate pleas-
ure ; and to no class does this fact apply with greater
force than to that one, the members of which are evi-
dently designed by the Creator to be both servant and
companion to man. Kindness to animals is, as I under-
stand it, therefore, a duty, an obligation, resting on
eveiy one with the force of a moral injunction. Indeed,
God so ranks it in his Holy Word, and gave it honora-
ble place in his ancient legislation. The horse has a
Jieart-clzim upon us. The young colt is, in some sense,
a member of the family, one of the owner’s household,
second in rank and dignity only to the children. So
the Arab regards him. The beautiful young thing,
with its shining coat and gazelle eyes and sprightly
antics, so full of bounding but docile life, is literally his
children’s .playmate. He shares their food, and often
their sleeping-mat ; and a blow dealt him is as promptly
resented as if it had been dealt the oldest son, for
whose service in peace, and safety in the hour of battle,
the young thing is being raised.
When the colt is three weeks old, or thereabouts, he
should be broken to the halter. And this should be
done properly ; for this is the first act which brings his
will and strength in opposition to «rt, and Inld
be so done as to convey clearly and decidedly man’s
superiority, and his inability to contend with him.
Early impressions in the case of animals, as truly as in
the case of children, are lasting ; and here and now, in
156 THE PERFECT HORSE.
this the first step in educating the colt, the impression
should be indelibly stamped upon his mind that man is
his master. And this can and should be done without
violence or cruel force. I will explain my method of
treatment, and the reason therefor. Inquire, then, what
the groom or educator of the colt proposes to do. This
evidently: He proposes, in the first place, to teach the
colt to follow after or by the side ; that is, keep close
to the one who is leading him by the halter. In the
second place, he proposes to show the colt that he can-
not successfully resist him ; that he is not so strong as a
man. This lesson once taught the colt, this impression
once fairly embedded in his mind, he wili never after,
in all his life, forget it. He will live and die with the
idea in his head that man is stronger than he. And
this is a most valuable lesson for a colt to learn, and
to learn early : . it saves much after-labor and many risks.
Well, then, to the method : I put a head-halter on, made
of soft material, so that it will not cut into his tender
skin, and so made that the cheek-pieces will not draw
into his eyes when he pulls back or struggles ; and when
this is done quietly and gently, with pleasant words and
kind caresses, I step out in front of him, and planting
myself squarely, so that he shall not with all his efforts
move me from my tracks, pull steadily on the halter,
saying all the time, while the pressure on him is being
increased, ” Come, sir ; come ! ” Sometimes the colt will
come, yielding readily to the pressure ; in which case
pat him kindly, so as to make him feel that he has done
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT, 157
the right thing ; and then step forward, and repeat the
slight pressure and the kind command In many cases
I have found this enough; and the colt was “halter-
broke ” before you knew it, as one might say. But more
often, as soon as the little fellow felt the pressure of the
pull upon the halter, alarmed, and vexed too, perhaps,
at this (as he regards it) rude, interference with his
liberty, he would ” set back ” upon the halter, resisting
the pressure with all his strength. When this is the
case, stand firm : simply hold your own. Don’t twitch
him, or “yank” him about, or drag him forward vio-
lently. Let him pull. Every moment is exhausting his
strength, and increasing the pain he feels by reason of
the halter-bands being drawn into him ; and, after a few
seconds of resistance, discouraged, and unable to endure
the pain his own effort is causing him, he will give
one great wrench, rear up, and plitnge toward you.
The pressure and the pain are remitted; and standing by
your side, your arm over his moistened neck, and hand
kindly patting him, he learns this sweet lesson, — that
nearness to the one that is leading him means absence of
pain. This once understood by the colt, he is thoroughly
halter-broke. With this he has also got another idea, —
that you are stronger than he. Had you tied him to
a post, and let him. ‘ ( pull it out ” as the phrase is, he
would have got no such idea: the post or tree, not
man, would have been his master. Or, had you waited
until he was a year or even six months old, he would
have been stronger than you ; and he would have found
158 THE PERFECT HORSE.
it out too. In his first match against man, man would
have been beaten. He, not yon, would be the master
at the halter-exercise at least ; and, while he might have
followed you after a time, still you would have lost the
opportunity of impressing him with his powerlessness
when arrayed against man, which a wise educator will
always seek to give to every colt he takes in hand.
How unwise, viewed in this light, is that neglect to
break colts to the halter even until they are three or
four or even five years of age ! “Children,” says a
thoughtful writer, ” are made obedient before they are
old enough to talk ; ” and colts, it might be added, are
made obedient to man, if properly educated, long before
they are old enough to use in harness. Now and then,
the colt, if he be of high spirit and lusty, will struggle
long, and make a real “fight over it;” and, to avoid
accidents in case that he should reel and fall, select
for the school-ground a spot of soft greensward, free
from stones, in order that his falls may be harmless to
him. Be sure also, in case of falling, that you keep his
head from striking the ground heavily ; which you can
always do, because your hand is on the halter, by which
it caln be supported. This, in brief, is the manner in
which I give my colts their first lesson in that course
of education, which, when completed, has brought them
to that degree of intelligence and docility at which they
can be ridden without bridle or halter ; driven without
reins, hold-backs, or breeching-band ; and find their joy
in serving me, as I find mine in watching and caring
for them.
HOW TO TEAIN A OOLT. 159
When the foal is fifteen months old, I begin again to
educate him. My object now is to get him thoroughly
acquainted with the harness, and to teach him to stand
quietly to be harnessed. To this end I direct my
efforts. If the colt is high-mettled or timid, great
care must be exercised, and patience also. Most colts,
remember, are timid : they are born so. Animals that
are not armed with claws and teeth, with which to pro-
tect themselves when attacked, are created by the all-
wise Creator with the power to fly and the timid heart
The horse is constitutionally timid, then. It is natural
for him to shrink from strange, new sights, and jump
at sudden movements and loud noises. Remember this
when you come to harness your colt, and have patience.
This is the order of procedure in my stable : The first
day, I simply put the saddle without the back-strap on,
buckling up the belly-band loosely. This is done many
times, increasing the pressure of the band until I have it
quite as tight as is the custom. Then I take the neck-col-
lar, and put that over his head, first permitting him to
smell of it, and touch it with his nose, until he is entirely
convinced that it is not calculated to hurt him. In like
manner I continue adding part to part until the colt is
fully harnessed. He is then allowed to stand with the
harness on him until he has time to reflect upon the
whole matter, and become accustomed to the unusual
sensations by the pressure of the several parts of the
harness against his sensitive skin; for we must re-
member that all this performance seems very queer
1
160 THE PEEFEOT HORSE.
to him, and startling. When he has fully composed
his mind, and settled down into the conviction that
every thing is all right and as it should be with him,
he is then walked about, the harness still being on,
and brought back every few minutes to the spot where
he is to be unharnessed and gentled, and taught to stand
as loijg a time as it would naturally take to remove the
harness from him. Straps are loosened, buckle-tongues
started, saddle and collar eased; in short, every thing
done that would be done in unharnessing, save actually
removing the harness. After doing this several times,
this standing still while being unharnessed has come to
be, in his mind, a part of the programme, and he under-
stands it, and assents to it as such. Once learned, in the
case of an intelligent horse, always learned ; for the horse
is highly organized as to his memory, and in all his after-
life he never will forget what you have so kindly taught
him. This same process should be gone through with
several times; indeed, in the case of a high-spirited,
valuable colt, once or twice each day, for a week at
least, because it is a most important part of his edu-
cation. And you should remember that he is learning
many lessons in one, including that greatest of all
lessons a colt can learn; viz., to have confidence in,
and yield his will to, man. Have great patience at
this point of his education, even as a teacher must
have when teaching an inattentive, and perhaps a
dull child, the alphabet. Do not count the days you
spend now : judge your success by the result, and pro-
“*
-*!•»-
*s
-*
n
**■*
.
**/
« -n
»;.
« ■
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 161
ceed step by step, advancing no faster than your
pupil’s success justifies. Hurry here and now, and
you will u make a nest of it,” as the phrase is. During
these harness-exercises, as they might be called, accus-
tom the colt to pressure against the breast and shoulder
by tying long cord3 into either side of the collar ; and,
by pulling gently, cause him to brace himself, as he will
naturally do, against you. This gives him the. idea of
drawing weight somewhere behind him; and, by permit-
ting him to pull you along, he will soon grow to feel
that he can pull any thing. By this you will, as it
were, teach him to draw a wagon promptly from the
start, before you, have ever hitched him ahead of one.
A colt so educated will never “balk,” or refuse to
” go ” at the word, if the weight behind him is not
beyond his strength; because the signal to go, and
the habit of pulling, have been already taught him.
At this point, also, he should be taught to back And
here let me urge the trainer not to pull him backward
bodily by main force, as I have seen trainers and gentle-
men do. ” Backing ” is to a horse walking backward, —
an unnatural and awkward way for him to move. He
was not made to go that way, and does not understand
it ; and hence, very naturally, resists it. In order to un-
derstand how awkward and incomprehensible it is to
him, put a stick into your child’s mouth that is some
eighteen months old, say, and pull the little thing back-
ward for a few steps. I pray you not to take offence at
this illustration : I seek only to impress upon you the
11
164 THE PERFECT HOBSE.
philosophy of bitting horses, upon which these “bit-
ting-machines ” are founded, is a fraud and folly. There
is no more need for them in a trainer’s yard than there
is in a nursery. I make no limitation or modification of
this statement at all. Their true name is “fool’s ma-
chine,” and not ” bitting-machine : ” or more properly,
if you wish to designate their use and result of it, call
them “machines to spoil horses’ mouths; ” for this appel-
lation precisely describes them. A man using one ought
to be indicted before the common law of the country,
which should at least be able to prevent such cruelty to
animals. If any owner of a colt who reads this owns
or uses one of these ” bit ting-machines,” I urge him to
burn it or bury it, as the most mischievous and hurtful
thing that he can have about his stables. If I wished
to make my colts ” hogged-mouthed ” and desperate
pullers, I would use one of these ” infernal machines,”
as I have no doubt the colts themselves call them, and
as they deserve to be called by colts and men. I will
show you how this plan of using these ” machines ”
works.
To begin with, a colt’s mouth is almost as tender as
a babe’s when teething. The tongue, gums, lips, and
bars of the mouth, are as sensitive as the reader’s. By
this very sensibility to pain, Nature has guaranteed man
against any trouble in reining him or controlling him.
He yields readily and easily to the slightest pressure.
Indeed, nothing is more noticeable than this provision
of Nature, by which the animal best adapted to be
HOW TO TBAIN A COLT. 165
»
man’s servant is easily made subservient to his will.
Now, such a mouth — so tender and sensitive — must
not be rudely dealt with. It is easily cut and lacer-
ated ; or, if not this, so indurated and hardened under
pressure, that it loses its fine qualities, and grows com-
paratively insensible. It is very easy to so lacerate the
gums, tongue, and lips of a colt’s mouth, as to destroy
or deaden the nerves that interpret pressure to the
brain; and, indeed, to remove the sense of feeling
entirely, or next thing to it. When this sensibility,
wisely provided by Nature, is lost, the horse becomes
almost unmanageable ; because, the sense of feeling
being removed, he does not know, nor has he any means
of knowing, — seeing that the knowledge must reach him
through the mouth, — what the driver wishes him to do.
Perhaps onelside only of the mouth becomes hardened,
while the other remains sensitive ; in which case the
horse feels the pressure of the bit only on one side of
the mouth, and is of all horses the most vexatious
to drive, from no fault of his own, remember, but from
his who u bitted” him. True it is, that it is necessarv
to harden the mouth of a colt somewhat, lest he should
have what is called a ” baby mouth ; ” that is, one too
sensitive to the bit, so that he will not work up bravely
against it as he should do when called upon to go at
speed. But this hardening should be done slowly ; or,
rather, it should not be done at all by the trainer; but the
colt should do it himself, as he will gradually do day by
day in driving. He will learn to take the bit himself, and
166 THE PERFECT H0B8E.
do it according as he is able to do it, lie himself being
the judge. Now let us begin to bit a colt according to
the machine method. The colt, never having been even
broke to the halter, perhaps, is let out into a yard, the
44 machine ” strapped on to his back, the bit of iron or
steel jammed into his mouth, the check-rein adjusted,
and the colt’s head drawn suddenly up into the air,
and the trainer stands one side. The colt, of course,
struggles and rears and plunges. * He becomes enraged,
and ” fights the bit : ” foam drops from his lips ; pretty
soon it is stained with streakings of blood. The iron
bit, you see, as he “fought it,” has grated over the
young teeth, cut into the tender tongue, and lacerated
the gums and lips. I have seen all this done (it is no
fancy sketch), — seen blood come in less than two
minutes after the ” bitting-machine ” was adjusted.
Now, what has been done ? Several things, I reply.
First, unnecessary pain has been caused an innocent and
harmless creature : that alone is enough to condemn
any “machine” ever invented. Secondly, the colt’s
mouth has been spoiled until the lacerated gums and
lips and tongue can heal Thirdly, the colt’s temper
has been soured, and no useful knowledge imparted.
These truths are self-evident. But this is not all. The
“machine,” instead of being removed, is left on; the
trainer goes to his work in the field, or to drive ; and
the colt is left to “fight it out.’* Now, examine the
matter a little. What is the true position of things?
This, I respond : The colt is in pain. His head is
HOW TO TBAIN A COLT. 167
drawn tip to an unnatural height ; his neck, pulled into
an angle both awkward and painful, aches with exquisite
suffering. To appreciate the agony the young thing en-
dures, let some one take hold of your own head, and
draw it up and backward as high and as far as the
bone-structure and muscles will permit, and compel you
to stand with it in that position even for five minutes.
In this way you will get some idea of “bitting-ma-
chines,” and the actual torture which colts experience
while being ” bitted ” by them.
But the evil of this system is not yet fully stated.
The colt, with his head drawn up and back, is left in the
yard, as I have said, while the trainer goes to his work
or to drive. Perhaps he stands an hour ; perhaps five
hours ; very likely all day. For the first few minutes he
strives to keep his head up, and the bit loose in his
mouth, because it pains him; but pretty soon the
muscles of his neck begin to ache. They were never
made to hold up the head in that style, and are actually
unable to do it for any considerable length of time.
Soon the head sags : the pain in the overtasked muscles
of the neck is greater even than that caused by the
pressure of the bit It is, you see, with the colt, a
choice between two pains. Little by little, the head
droops; heavier and heavier the weight of it is laid
upon the bit ; and, in the course of an hour or two, the
colt stands weary and stolid, the weight of his head and
neck laid solidly down upon the bit The colt is
being taught, you see, to ” take the bit ” with a ven-
168 THE PERFECT HORSE.
geance. He is actually being educated to ” hog on the
bit,” and be a puller. No method of bitting can be
more vicious and villanous than this, inflicting, as it
does, torture on the innocent victim, and, in not a few
cases, actually putting the animal beyond the reach of
future betterment
The true way to bit a colt is, not to bit him at all ;
that is, let him bit himself. When my colts are one
year old, I begin to teach them to hold a bit in their
mouth. The bit is of pine, some half-inch in diameter,
and five inches in length. This piece of soft wood is
held in the mouth by a cord tied to either end, and
passing over the head, back of the ears. The colt loves
to have this in his mouth, because it enables him to
bring forward the teething-process. He will bite it,
and work it over in his mouth, and enjoy it hugely.
He will welcome it, and will actually reach out and
open his mouth for it as a trained horse will for the bit.
After a few days you can tie strings, making miniature
reins to this bit, and teach the colt the proper use of it
When this is done, he is ready for the regular steel
bit Put your bridle on with a leather bit, large and
pliant; throw your check-line, if your bridle has one
attached, into the pig-sty; get into your wagon, and
drive off This is all the ” bitting” a colt needs. Treat-
ed in this way, he will have a lively, yielding, sensa-
tional mouth. He will take the bit bravely when work-
ing up to his speed, but yield readily to the driver’s
will. A horse bitted in this sensible way can be driven
HOW TO TBAIN A COLT. 169
a forty-clip with the lines held in one hand, or be lifted
over a five-barred gate with the strength of a single
wrist. If you don’t believe it, try it, and see. Many
people prefer to put the colt beside an older horse, and
let him take the first dozen drives on the road in double
harness : and to this method I see no serious objection ;
although, for myself, I do not favor it. My colts are all
taught to go single first, and thoroughly taught at that ;
and I hold that this is the better way. But, if you pre-
fer the other method, be sure that the horse beside
which the colt is hitched is in every respect reliable and
well instructed ; because the colt will catch at, and be
sure to imitate, any vice or fault in the older horse. Do
not select a lazy, slow-moving horse for the service,
but rather a quick-moving animal, lively, but amiable.
A colt naturally starts quickly, and moves sprightly ; and
a slow-starting, slow-moving brute by his side will irritate
him. The older horse should be quick enough to start
the load himself, and keep it moving, so that the colt shall
not be unduly fretted and chafed : if not, the younger
horse has to start and draw the whole weight ; and in
that case his temper will get up, and you will have a
firacas. I know that some breakers love to get into a
fight with a colt, and ” take the starch out of him ; ”
but this is villanous conduct, and has neither necessity
nor reason to justify it. The true way is to avoid these
” fights ” with the animal you are teaching ; and, by
the exercise of patience and kindness, give him time to
understand what is wanted of him, and make him love
170 THE PERFECT HORSE.
to do it. Remember that some colts are slow-witted,
and easily confused ; and a single blow or yell, on the
part of the trainer, may throw him into a state of
temporary fear or exasperation, which totally unfits him
to understand even the simplest command. And here
let me urge upon the reader who has a colt, or colts, to
teach, that, if he has the habit of speaking sharply and
loudly, he correct himself of it at once. Colts are
•
timid, high-spirited things, if they are worth any thing ;
and he who manages them should be of quiet habits,
and have a low, pleasant-toned voice. The trainer that
yells stands in the same category as the driver in a
public race who screams and whoops like a Comanche
Indian when coming down the home-stretch : the one
should be banished the track, and the other turned out
of the gentleman’s stables. But to return. My method
of educating a colt to the harness and wagon is to edu-
cate him singly, by himself; and this education should
begin very early. When the colt is twelve or four-
teen months old, begin to put the harness on him. In
a few weeks he is accustomed to it, and ready for the
shafts. But, in doing this, do not be in a hurry Give
the youngster time to get thoroughly acquainted with
every strap and buckle, as it were. Let him see every
thing, and smell every thing. The sense of sight, smell,
and touch, is the great avenue of knowledge to the
horse, especially the last two. The ear and eye give
the alarm. These two organs stand, as it were, on
picket for the animal’s safety. But, if your horse is
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 171
frightened at any thing, let him smell and touch it, and
he will fear no longer.
If your colt is afraid of your harness as it comes
rustling out of the harness-room, let him touch it with
his nose, and smell of it a few times, and he will
soon understand that it will not hurt him. If he is
inclined to kick or jump if the breeching-band or any
strap hits his hams or legs, by gently rubbing them
against the sensitive places he will soon become indif-
ferent to them. By the time the colt is two years
of age, or even less, he should be educated to go
between the shafts, either forward or backward, and be
thoroughly familiar with the harness and vehicle and
ordinary road-service. Instructed at this early age, he
will never forget the lessons of obedience and sub-
mission taught, but be ready at any future time to be
put to work, without any considerable trouble to the
owner or purchaser.
In case your colt is a vicious one, I have no advice
to give, unless it be to kill him. There is no need
that a vicious colt should ever be raised; and I hold
that it is a sin against the beneficent order of nature
for a man to raise an animal whose very existence
imperils other existences. The public would regard
a man insane who spent time and money in stock-
ing his garden-plot with a superior kind of thorns:
they would say that it was an abuse of nature, and a
sinful waste of opportunity. What shall we say, then,
to the man who goes to work, year after year, and
172 THE PERFECT HORSE*
deliberately fills his stalls with vicious colts ? Logically,
the same answer would be returned; and this is the
way that every right-minded breeder regards it. Neither
beauty nor speed in a horse can make amends for a
vicious temper; because a vicious temper in a horse
imperils human life, and whatever does this is by that
fact condemned. And so I say, that no vicious colt is
worth the breaking. He is unfit for the purposes of
civilization. He should be treated as any other ferocious
and dangerous animal should be treated, — killed at
sight. But some colts, while they are not actually
vicious, axe not truly amiable. They represent an inter-
mediate class, lying between the really docile and the
ungovernable ; and are, hence, objects of interest to all
owners and trainers. It is doubtful if any general rule
or rules can be made to apply to this class of animals,
because their faults and vices are not the same, but indi-
vidual, differing in different cases. Still I will glance at
some of the more prominent failings or vices of this
class o£ animals, and suggest, so far as one can without
a personal knowledge of each subject, the proper method
of treatment.
First of all, we must observe this principle, — that pun-
ishment alone can never eradicate viciousness, especially
if the subject of it has a high-spirited organization.
Whipping alone never reformed a bad child. The lash
never makes a vicious colt amiable. It may change the
mode or the time of its manifestation ; but the inherent
ugliness will, seizing some favorable moment, break
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 178
forth. This principle being borne in mind by the
trainer, if he be a man of judgment, will supply him
with a good guide in his educational efforts. If the
whip is ever used, — and I think it can be with profit at
times, — let the blow be sudden and sharp, and rarely
repeated. Beating and pummelling a colt never does
good, and rarely, if ever, fails to work lasting mischief.
One of the meanest tricks that a colt can fall into is that
of running backwards, which the English call “jibbing.”
Your colt is harnessed, and safely led out of the car-
riage-house or yard. You mount the seat, and tell him
to go ahead. This he refuses to do. He looks round at
you with deliberate wilfulness in his eye, as much as to
say, u I rather think I shall do about as I’m a mind to in
this business.” You lift the whip from the socket, tap
him gently over the rump, and tell him to go ahead.
Instead of this, he begins to go backward. I have seen
a man work two hours in a vain endeavor to make his
colt go forward. The colt was by no means vicious;
and this habit of running backward, or jibbing, was the
only bad one that he had. But this threatened to mar,
if not utterly thwart, the trainer’s endeavor. Day after
day, the colt was tried. He was pulled forward by
main strength ; the whip was used judiciously ; he was
coaxed ; he was threatened : but it was literally no go.
At last the trainer harnessed him into a common road-
sulky, and led him out into a large field free from all
obstruction ; and placing himself behind the sulky, with
the reins held tightly in his hands, he gave the signal
174 THE PERFECT HORSE.
for the colt to move. Move he did, but backward, not
forward. When the colt began to run backward, the
trainer, instead of seeking to check him, allowed him
the fullest freedom of action, simply keeping one line a
little tauter than the other, so that the colt should run
backward, not in a straight line, but in a curve. When
the circle was nearly complete, the colt was ready to
stop, his eyes filled with the look of intense and wilful
satisfaction. But his trainer did not propose to let him
stop. He put a strong and steady pressure upon the bit,
compelling the colt, against his will, to keep the back-
ward movement. This had the desired effect By the
time the colt had been spun rapidly twice around that
circle, he had had enough of it. He was literally giddy ;
so much so, that he could barely stand. This cured
him : he had been caught in his own trap. The trainer
mounted the seat, patted him on the haunches, and
called on him pleasantly to go ahead. From that day
he gave no trouble : he was completely cured. I have
known this tried in many cases; and each time the
result was satisfactory.
Another mean habit is that of lying down in the har-
ness. Some colts will lie down almost as soon as you
have them harnessed. Sometimes a blow from the whip,
delivered low down along the side, quick and sharp, will
bring them up with a spring. If one or two blows do
not answer, the whip is of no use : you will only torture
and scar your colt needlessly. The better way is to
“beat him at his own trade,” as the saying is. When
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 175
he lies down, get upon his head and neck, and make him
stay there. After five or ten minutes, he will begin to
grow uneasy. He won’t know quite what to make of it
Soon he will feel the uncomfortableness of his position.
He will make an effort to rise. Now is your time : keep
him down. Down with his head flat to the ground, and
hold it there. It is no boy’s play ; but you can do it if
you are determined, and reasonably strong. Only don’t
let the job out to a small boy ; for the job is a big one at
times, and needs a quick eye, a stout hand, and a strong
back. Watch the colt, and don’t let him up as long as
he is rebellious, if you hold him there all day, and the
following night at that ! Let him sweat and struggle :
he is learning two valuable lessons, — the first of which
is, that it does not pay to lie down in the harness;
and the second is, that man is stronger than he. This
latter point includes almost every thing in relation to
the training of a certain class of horses. Until they
are taught this idea, they are utterly unmanageable:
you can make no progress in their education. But let
them once learn that they are not the masters, but are
as nothing in the hand of the trainer, and the battle is
won: all that is needed follows naturally and easily.
Now, there is no position which gives man such absolute
command and mastery over a colt as when he has his
knees on his neck, and his hands gripped into the bridle-
piecea Thus situated, man is absolutely u master of the
situation ; ” and I have often thought that it was a very
good idea to have a colt of rather vicious temper lie
176 THE PERFECT HORSE.
down once, in order that he might learn how powerless he
is in the hands of man. When a colt gives up, the man
at his head will easily perceive it. The hot blaze and
mad glitter will leave the eye ; the muscles will relax
their tension ; the neck will become limp ; and the whole
body, losing its rigidity, will lie along the earth as if it
had no thought of rising, and would never rise. This
is the stage of exhaustion and submission. The colt’s
rampant spirit is cowed, and his pride humbled. His
conceit is taken out of him. He has been beaten* by
his own weapons, and knows it He will never trouble
you again in that way. As to the time it takes to
bring a colt to this conviction, there is no precise limit.
Some colts will “give it up” in twenty minutes ; some
in sixty; and I have known colts hold out for three
hours. But, whether it takes longer or shorter, carry
the thing through. Believe me, you cannot spend your
time better.
Another fault, or rather habit, — for it is often only the
result of habit, and no result or proof of viciousness, — is
kicking. We should remember that a colt kicks natu-
rally ; that is, he does it in self-defence, and also in the
way of play. It is, as it were, his birthright, by which he
expresses his physical spirits, and defends himself. The
fact is, no colt should ever be put between the shaft
without a kicktng-strap ; that is, a strap buckled to either
shaft, and passed over the haunches in such a way as to
make it impossible for him to get his heels over the
cross-tree. This is the only safe way to pursue. Gen-
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 177
erally speaking, a slight twitch on the reins, just as he
is on the point of “lifting,” will check the effort: but
it needs a quick eye and hand to catch the colt soon
enough to keep his heels out of the dashboard ; and not
over two in ten men would be sure to do it. But, by
using the kicking-strap, all danger and risk are averted ;
and therefore I invariably insist on it in educating my
colts. After two or three attempts to ” lift” the
youngster finds he cannot ; and is thereby, as the Irish-
man said, “cured of the disease before he had it.” In
the case of colts, as of men, an ” ounce of prevention is
worth a pound of cure.”
As to the matter of ” balking,” no general direction
can be given, or rule established. If the education of
the colt has been conducted in accordance with the
principles I have in previous pages laid down, he will
not balk. Balking on the part of colts is, for the most
part, the result of the trainer’s ignorance or passion.
Yelling and whipping on the part of the trainer or
driver, over-loading, sore shoulders, or ill-fitting collars, —
these are the causes that make horses balk. But if you
have a horse or colt that balks, while I cannot, without
a personal knowledge of the subject, tell you what to
do, I can tell you what not to do, — never whip. If he
won’t go, let him stand still and think it over. He
will very often think better of it, and after a few mo-
ments’ reflection, and a few tosses of his head, go on of
his own accord. Or, if this does not answer, get out
of the wagon and pat him, and talk to him kindly. A
12
178 s THE PEBPBCT HORSE.
horse is very susceptible to kindness ; and I have known
more than one quite vicious horse gentled into good
behavior by a few pats from a lady’s gloved hand on
the moist neck and veined muzzle. Sometimes it is
well to loosen a strap or start a buckle. I have known
the mere act of unchecking and rechecking the animal
answer the purpose. It took his attention off in another
direction, you see, changed the current of his thought,
and broke up his purpose and determination to resist.
For this same reason, an apple, or a bunch of grass
from the roadside, or a handful of oats, or a few ker-
nels of corn, will often accomplish what an hour of
beating could never effect. The truth is, a man must
govern himself before he can hope to govern lower
animals. A man flushed with passion, his brain charged
with heated blood, and eyes blazing with rage, is not
in a condition to think clearly ; and it is just this think-
ing clearly that is, above all else, needed in directing and
controlling horses. Hence it is, that contact with horses,
and an actual experience in teaching them, is one of
the finest disciplines a man can have. He grows to
love the colt he is teaching ; and no nature is utterly
depraved in which is going on the exercise of affection,
no matter how humble the object of it may be. His
employment makes it necessary for him to think; and
this keeps intellect, which might otherwise have no
development, alive. The language of the stable is not,
as many pious and ignorant people imagine, all slang.
Care and anxiety are felt in the groom’s room, and con-
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 179
saltations held upon the issue of which the health and
safety of valuable property depend. Plans are formed,
and methods of procedure adopted, upon which fame,
and vast sums of money, come and go. Faults of na-
ture, and errors of education and practice, are corrected ;
and the trainer discovers, that, in schooling God’s crea-
tures, he is being schooled himself. Thus, as in all
other branches of honorable industry, the horseman
discovers that he is the point from which one current
goes forth, and another enters in. He bestows, and he
receives; he educates, and is educated; and the life
which so many thoughtless people despise, closes, as in
the case of Hiram Woodruff, — the upright in heart
and act, — with honor, and a fame which can fail only
when kindness toward animals, and integrity among
men, are regarded as of no account
It is, as I have said, impossible for a writer to lay
down rules adequate for the trainer’s guidance and
direction in the management of vicious or irritable colts ;
for very likely no two cases require the same treat-
ment. These points may, however, be made : Keep your
temper. No matter how provoked : put a severe curb
upon the rising of passioa A cool head, and calm and
steady nerves, with a quick eye, will go far towards
success in conflicts with even the most irritating animals.
Moreover, never forget that the law of kindness is
stronger in its influence on the animal creation than the
law of force. Remember this also: Do not make much
noise when having a contest with a colt Say little to
180 THE PERFECT HOBSE.
him, and nothing to any one else. Do not be shouting,
” Get up ! ” ” Whoa ! ” ” Look out there ! ” and the like.
Silence is a great virtue in a horse-trainer. A low-
voiced groom is worth his weight in gold about the
stables. A horse cannot understand sounds like a hu-
man being ; and the less said to him, for the most part,
the better. A few sounds, of course, are necessary ; the
word “whoa” being one of these. This word should
mean stop : it should never mean any thing else in the
colt’s ears. It should be pronounced in a quick, sharp,
imperative tone. It should never be drawled out or
prolonged, as if there were a dozen a’s, instead of one,
after the 0, as is often the case. Whoa means *fop, as I
have said. When a colt hears it, he should stop, and stop
in his tracks too. It is not a word to be frequently used,
therefore, but to be saved for emergencies; as when
some strap or bolt gives way, a bit parts in the mouth, or
an upset occurs. At such a time you can say ” WAoa/”
and if it has always meant stop to your horse, if he
was broken to so understand it when young, he will so
understand it then, and stop ; thereby saving, perhaps,
your limbs, or even life. The common fault is to use the
word to steady the horse when speeding, or to slotr him
up. For this purpose take some other word or words ;
as, “Steady, boy; steady!” but let the word “whoa”
mean but one thing to your horse ; viz., to stop, and stop
instantly. The horse of ordinary intelligence can be
made to understand this with very little trouble, and
in less than a dozen lessons. I have seen horses trained
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 181
in less than a week’s time, so that, when streaming round
the exercise-lot at a swinging gait, they would stop at
the word sent forth from the mouth of the trainer, so
quickly as to actually throw themselves upon their
haunches. The method is simple. Put your bridle on
to your colt, buckle in a pair of long lines, and, taking
position in the rear, start him along. After he has taken
a few steps, say ” Whoa ! ” and at the same time give him
a slight twitch on the bit sufficient to cause him to stop.
Do not be rude or harsh, but gentle and firm. Start
him now again, and repeat the sound and the move-
ment of the hand. The colt will soon catch the idea,
and learn what the sound means. Then you can go on,
and teach him that it not only means stop, but that it
means to stop instantly. A few days of this simple
treatment will suffice to teach him thoroughly the
lesson, which, when well learned, he never forgets, and
the real value of which can scarcely be overestimated.
If the colt is worth five hundred dollars when broken
in the ordinary way, he is certainly worth six hundred
when instructed fully in the manner I have set forth.
Any sensible man, in purchasing a horse for family ser-
vice or for fast driving on the road, will gladly pay a
hundred dollars extra if the breeder can show to him
that the colt will stop short in his tracks at the word ;
for he sees, that, amid even the average risks and hazards
of driving, such a power over the animal may prove of
supreme importance.
Next to this understanding, on the part of the colt,
182 THE PERFECT H0BSE.
of the significance of the word ” whoa,” is indifference
to pressure upon the hams and legs from behind. So
important is this, that I hold that the education of no
colt is really completed until he can be driven on or-
dinary roads without breeching or hold-backs. He
should be taught to be utterly fearless and indifferent
to the wagon coming suddenly upon him from behind.
So far as the human mind may predict, my own life has
been certainly saved once, because the horses I was
driving, when the pole snapped half way down a moun-
tain-side, had been taught these two supreme virtues,
— to stop at the word ” whoa,” and to hold the wagon
back with their haunches. It is astonishing to me that
two habits of obedience so essential as these, and so
easily inculcated, should not be regarded as actually in-
dispensable. I have pointed out the process of teaching
a colt to stop at the word. I will now suggest my
method of teaching horses not to fear when the wagon
comes suddenly against them. I take the horse, and,
backing him between the shafts, continue to back him
slowly and easily until his hams come in contact with
the whiffietree. He may start at first; but, after a
few trials, he becomes absolutely indifferent to it.
Then, calling the groom to the head of the horse, I
station myself behind the wagon or carriage, and,
speaking kindly and soothingly to the horse, push it
slowly forward until it comes against him. All this
is done quietly, remember, and so gently as neither
to hurt nor alarm the animal. After a few trials, the
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 183
horse becomes accustomed to it, and will actually brace
himself against your pressure. This is what you have
been after. He has caught the idea, and will hence-
forth enter heartily into your plan. Ill a few days
he will even bear pain in resisting your efforts, and
not flinch, and adjust himself in such a way as to re-
ceive the pressure at the best angle of resistance. You
can now hitch him into your wagon, and leave the
breeching and hold-backs at home. After two months
of training, I have driven a colt, which was not at all
amiable by nature, for miles on a country-road, where
the hills, while they were not long, were steep, with
nothing whatever to assist him in holding back the
wagon. While I would not advise any to pursue this
course, I still declare my belief that the majority of
colts could be easily trained to stand this test; and I
urge all trainers to so educate the animals in their
charge, that the breaking of a single strap, the snapping
of a bolt, or even the falling-off of a nut, shall not en-
danger the lives of those who are riding trustingly
behind.
I have now gone over the matter of horse-educa-
tion so far as is necessary to fit him for the average
public use. We began with him when he stood at his
mother’s side, and, by gradual processes of instruction,
brought him up through the several grades of knowl-
edge of and familiarity with men and things, until he has
become serviceable to man. He who brings a colt up
in this way is a public benefactor. It may be, that, so
184 THE PERFECT HORSE,
far as he is concerned, selfishness supplied the actual
motive at every stage of the proceeding ; but, never-
theless, selfishness cannot appropriate the result The
motive was not generous ; but the result is noble. He
has ministered to the enjoyment of many ; he has added
to the possibilities of social intercourse and domestic
happiness. He will be paid for his labor in dollars;
but the profit which he has brought to the world can-
not be estimated in currency. Commerce will add
another sail to her squadron, the rail-car have a heavier
freight, the social room a fuller company, and the house
of God a larger audience, because of the animal that he
has so successfully raised and trained for human use.
We will now pass on to consider the higher educa-
tion of the horse : by which I mean those processes and
methods of proceeding by which the more characteris-
tic traits of his nature, chiefest among which is speed,
are brought forward, under wise management, to per-
fection. Let us, therefore, inquire hoW a colt should be
treated in order to develop in him the highest degree
of speed. We will take an animal at two years of age,
let us say, and inquire into the best method of cultivat-
ing the faculty and power of rapid motion.
The first thing to attend to, be it observed by all, is
the lungs. Lung-power is the best kind of power a
horse can possibly have, because it alone can make
other kinds of power of avail. Muscular power is very
desirable ; but muscles can never bring a horse to the
wire in time, unless his lungs are good. Nervous force
Ejr-T-i
, J
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 185
is excellent ; but no amount of vital energy will hold a
horse up through the wear and tear of a four-mile race.
A perfect bone-structure is admirable; but what are
bones, if the breathing-apparatus is inadequate? The
first point, therefore, I say, that a breeder or owner of a
likely colt should consider, is this matter of lung-devel-
opment. The great question with him should be, “How
can I expand and enlarge his lungs ? ” Still, although
every reader will see at a glance the vital significance
of this point, it is, I presume, a branch of horse-culture
to which less attention is paid than any other. You
can get books by the score on the ” Foot,” on the ” Bone-
Structure,” on “Muscular Development,” on almost
every possible subject, relating to the horse, about
which a book could be made, or a discussion started ;
but when you go to the bookseller’s to inquire for books
telling you how to build up the lung-power of a horse,
you can find no such book for sale! Our limits do
not allow us to treat of this most important subject at
length ; and we can only hope to call attention to it, and
make, in a plain, simple way, a few suggestions which
may prove of value to the breeder and trainer.
To begin with, then, let it be remarked that colts
need a great deal of exercise. By nature they were
made for rapid movement Like young birds, they
develop in motion. The number of miles a colt of high
breeding, and in good condition, will go when at pas-
ture each day, is something surprising. I will not
mention my estimate, because no one would believe it
186 . THE PBBPBOT HORSE.
to be correct : and I only ask you to watch a colt
twenty-four hours, and make your own estimate; and,
if you are not astonished, I shall be. Now, no sensible
man will turn a colt of fine promise loose in the pasture
after the second year ; and I do not after the first A
valuable colt is too valuable to risk in that foolish man-
ner, especially if he is a horse-colt He should be
kept in a large, roomy stall, where he can be attended
to and trained day by day. But do not forget his
need of daily exercise. Do not think that a box-stall
will suffice. You might as well teach an eaglet to fly
in a large cage as to give the needed discipline to a
colt’s legs, heart, and lungs in a box-stall. Many
most promising youngsters are fatally checked in
the development of their powers by lack of needed
exercise in their second and third years. I hold that
a colt ndeds a great deal of exercise; not to the
halter, which is good for nothing but to sweat out a
lazy groom, but sharp, quick exercise, in the taking
of which every muscle is brought into play, every joint
tested, and every vein, however small, swelled taut with
rapid blood, as is the case when allowed the liberty
of hill and plain, and to follow the promptings of
nature. Ah, me! how full of bounding life the
youngsters are, when in a drove of twenty, heads up-
lifted and tails erect, their long hair streaming straight
out behind, they charge in thundering column across
the shaking field ! See how they tear along with hoofe
that spurn the plain, with changeful gait, and action free
HOW TO TRATH A COLT. 187
and swift as a swallow’s ! See that sorrel trot ! Look
at his stride ! How he opens out ! Ha ! did you see the
chestnut catch his step? Good heavens 1 how that
brown one runs ! Ho! here, boys; here! Now look and
see them come strung out in line, heads towards us, ears
pricked, and eyes on fire ! Hi, there I hi, there ! Now
see them swoop to the left, and go tearing away like
mad, muzzles straight out, and ears laid back, until they
pass the ridge, and the valley catches them from our
sight! Circus! — there never was such a circus as that!
It’s enough to stir the blood in the veins of a deacon !
It is the exercise-lot, and the exercise-lot alone, that
can take the place and make good the absence of na-
ture’s liberty. In it the colt can run and jump and
race, and double this way and that, and check himself,
as only a colt can when in full career, to his heart’s
content. Every owner of a colt should have an exer-
cise-lot. It costs little to make one, and will pay for
itself fifty times over in two years. Let it be from ten
to fifteen rods long, and from eight to ten rods wide.
The ground should be level, ploughed, and raked free
of cobbles. It should be fenced with boards not wider
than two inches apart, and at least seven feet in height.
The posts should be on the outer side, so that the in-
side may be flush, with no projection against which the
colt can strike. Take a shovel, and heave up a slight
bank around the inner side, like to what the ring-master
of the circus does, that his horses may get a foot-support
as they circle round. Now build you a raised platform
188 THE PERFECT HORSE.
at one end of the ground, outside the fence, for your
visitors to occupy during the exhibition, and your job
is done. When you have such an exercise-ground
on your place, you have added a most valuable posses-
sion to your property. If you have colts to sell, such
an exercise-ground is indispensable. It will enable you
to get at least twenty per cent more for your stock, and
sell them several years sooner, because purchasers in
search of likely young horses can see, the first time a
colt goes around the yard, about what he is. His
action, which could in no other way be shown so well,
is seen ; and a bid is at once made on him. With good
stock, and a good exercise-lot in which to exhibit them,
a breeder’s stable will never be choked up with unsold
stuff ; nor will his purse ever be empty.
But the exercise-ground has a higher use than this.
In every stable are several colts too good to sell as year- 1
lings. Their pedigree and promise give them a specu-
lative and prospective value so great, that the breeder
or owner cannot afford to sell them until they are more
developed ; because the prospect is, that, when devel-
oped, they will reach a much more remunerative figure.
Now, these are the colts ‘for which the exercise-lot is
peculiarly adapted : indeed, it is indispensable to their
welfare. They are too valuable to turn out with the,
drove ; they are too valuable to sell : wisdom says,
u Keep them a while longer, and develop them.” But
this development can only come by exercise, and that
kind and class of exercise which can be had nowhere
HOW TO TBAIN A COLT. 189
save in the exercise-lot. The reason is, that in no other
place can they get that rapidity and variety of movement
absolutely indispensable to their growth, health, and
vigor. The first thing, as I have said, to which to pay
attention, is the development of the lungs. The
lungs must, in the first place, be built up in size.
The larger the bellows, the stronger the blast Large
lungs — as large as nature can be made to grow — is
what every horse kept for speed wants. Secondly,
the lungs must be of fine texture. The lung-awJ-
stance must be of excellent quality, — elastic and tough ;
able to bear the strain of inflation and the shock
of collapse without pain or injury when the horse, on
a hot, muggy day, comes struggling to the judges’
stand with the driver’s voice in his ear, and the driver’s
whiplaida. e^stridccrchisramp. BM*.**
win on such a day and race. Bone-structure won’t do
it ; muscles won’t do it ; nervous energy won’t do it :
lungs, and lungs alone, win in such contests. If you
would realize the force of this, try a short race yourself.
Start off and run forty or sixty rods even at your
sharpest jump : very likely, before you have gone half
that distance, you will begin to discover where your
lungs lie, and the value of wind. Now, what was it that
gave out, and made you stop so suddenly? u Pain
in my side, shortness of breath,” you reply. Exactly.
Your leg-bones were all right ; your feet didn’t pain
you; your muscles could have carried you forward
a mile ; your determination was strong enough : but
190 THE PERFECT HORSE.
your wind gave out You see now the relation of
lungs to speed. Now, reader, I put the question to you,
If you have a fine colt, what are you striving to do with
him? Ten to one your anxiety is to build up his bone-
substance, develop his muscles, restrain his nervousness,
educate him to go squarely, keep his blood in a good
condition. All these points you have paid the closest
attention to; but the lungs — the most essential of all
organs, able to contribute most to your success in the
hour of trial — you have left to take care of themselves.
” What can I do? ” you inquire. This, in the first place,
I reply : See that your horse or colt has plenty of pure,
fresh, unbreathed air. A well-ventilated stable, where
the horse has plenty of air that no other animal’s breath
has tainted, is the first essential. Foul air means foul
blood ; and foul blood means diseased lung-substance.
If your colt’s blood is diseased, his lungs are being built
up with diseased substance, like as when a wall is built
of rotten bricks. If, now, your colt is in good health,
and has a stall well ventilated, and is exercised to the
halter every day, you think all is being done that need
be or can be; but you are greatly mistaken. Such
treatment will keep him in good health, and an average
lung-growth: but for speed you must have more than
this ; you need extraordinary lung-development. And
how, pray, can we obtain this extraordinary lung-
development ? In this way, and in this way alone : By
putting the colt at least two or three times each week to
the top of his speed in the exercise-lot Not until his
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 191
blood is heated somewhat, and lungs and heart have
begun to work under pressure, is either the blood or
wind sent fast and forcefully enough into and through
the venous system of the lungs to fairly expand them.
The lung-substance, as you know, is full of veins, —
minute blood-ducts ; and the action of the heart, when
the colt is merely jogged about, is not strong and rapid
enough to send the blood through these in the way in
which it must be sent in order to strengthen and build
them up. Moreover, in order to enlarge and develop
the lungs, they must be distended, — • distended thor-
oughly, to the extremity of every little air-passage : and,
to do this, the inhalation on the part of the colt must be
sudden and strong ; which, of course, cannot be unless
the colt is put through a course of sharp exercise.
You will observe that my plan is only Nature’s plan, the
location of the exercise being changed. Nature exer-
cises her colts in the field: she sends them tearing
through bushes, and jumping brooks and bowlders, and
racing over hillocks ; nor will she let them halt until
their necks are moist, their nostrils distended to their
utmost capacity, and their flanks all a-quiver. I accept
the hint ; and standing in the centre of the exercise-lot,
whip in hand, my groom sends my favorite colt around
time and again, time and again, — now at a trot, now at
his keenest jump, — until his nostrils show their red, his
neck moistens, and his ribs stand out to sight as lifted
by every inflation of the lung. This, remember, is done
day by day, month in and out, the year round. It is
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192 THE PERFECT HORSE.
this steady, persisted-in exercise touching any organ that
gives to it, in the end, its highest possible development
Those who think that they can develop a horse’s wind
in two or three months are greatly mistaken. Lungs,
like ships, are not built in a day : they cannot be put
into a horse a month before the expected race. They
must be grown up in the horse, beginning at the day
he is able to trot by the dam’s side; and they can
only be grown in the manner I have pointed out
In conjunction with the exercise-lot, and alternating
with it, if convenient, comes jogging on the road or
around the track. Some people say, ” Never drive nor
harness a colt before he is five years old.” This is sheer
nonsense. The natural state is not the best state, neces-
sarily, to an animal so highly organized as the horse.
Dio Lewis will take a boy and train him, so that, at
twelve years of age, he will lift twice as much as any
Indian lad of that age who ever lived. For the pur-
poses of nature, Nature is perfect in her educational
processes ; but, for the purposes of man, man is the
better disciplinarian. A colt, if he be well formed and
of average size, should be driven from five to ten miles
to a light hitch-up twice a week at least, and be allowed
to u strip out ” once or twice every drive for a quar-
ter of a mile, too, at that. Colts are made to go ; and
going does not hurt them, as any one can see who
watches them in the pasture. It does not hurt a colt to
“puff” and “sweat;” but, on the other hand, this swift
and hot lung-and-heart action is just what his system
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HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 193
needs for its development. I would not say a word to
encourage any to overdrive colts ; for I hold that such
conduct is criminal : but I believe, that, where one colt
is crippled by over-exercise, fifty in the country are
being crippled by constrained idleness. Give your
colt, friend, plenty of oats and hay and pure water,
and fresh air in his stall, and plenty of exercise in the
exercise-lot and on the road, and you will have an ani-
mal, when he is matured, able to go fast and go far, and
pull weight, without giving out, either: and if you
should ever enter him in competition with another
horse of equal speed by nature, but educated in the
old approved style of being babied in a box-stall until
he was put into actual training, you will see your horse
trotting under the wire with ears pricked, and unlabored
action; while your rival’s nag is straining and blow-
ing, in vain but frantic effort, half way down the stretch
toward the distance-post Whatever else you neglect
in the education and training of your colt, reader, do
not neglect the development of his lungs. No matter
what theory of development you adopt : have a theory ;
for this implies thought on your part touching the mat-
ter ; and the trouble now is, very likely, that you have
never given any thought to it at all.
Next to the development of lung-power, stands, as I
judge, in importance, the development of muscular
power ; and to this we will now turn our attention.
The muscles which need especial development are
those of the haunches, or thighs, and bach The former.
18
194 THE PERFECT HORSE.
do not suffer from lack of treatment ; but the latter do.
It is not leg-power so much as back-power a horse
needs in order to pull weight and project himself rapid-
ly through the air. The muscles that are located over
the loins, and run forward like great pulleys along
either side of the spinal column, as you can see if you
will watch a horse in action, are the ones relied on by
nature to do much of the work required. Hence a
long-backed horse must be exceedingly strong in the
muscular formation at these points, or he is sure to give
out when the tug cornea How to strengthen the mus-
cles of the back and loins is, therefore, a question worthy
of the breeder’s and trainer’s closest attention. In the
human system this is done by lifting weights, and climb-
ing hills, and carrying burdens. Every one knows what
enormous burdens the porters of the East will walk off
under with ease, — burdens which an American could
barely lift, much less shoulder. Well, how do they get
this power ? The answer is found in their habit of life
and labor. From boyhood they are porters, weight-
carriers. Every day adds a pound to their weight-
carrying capacity ; and thus nature is developed to an
extent which seems marvellous to us, unused to such
exercise and labor. Well, muscles and bones are the
same everywhere, — the same in the horse as in the man ;
and if man, by certain practice, and exercise at weight-
carrying, can develop the muscles of his back and loins
so that his natural capacity can be more than doubled,
why can we’ not develop the back and loin power of
HOW TO TEAIN A COLT. 195
our colts in like manner, and to the same extent? I
hold, therefore, that the muscles of a colt’s back and
loins can be easily and greatly developed by the impo-
sition of weight ; beginning, say, when he is two years
of age, and continuing the practice until maturity.
Many horses naturally somewhat weak at these points
could be brought, in a few years, to be above the
average capacity by a judicious treatment of weighting.
So far as I have experimented in this direction, the re-
sult has been eminently successful, — precisely what one
would expect, from the circumstances of the case, it
would be. This I know, that, even in a few months,
the muscles of the back and loins can be enlarged and
brought out, so that the improvement in the steadi-
ness of the animal’s gait, and his power to stride, are
perceptible even to the driver’s eye.
Many horses ” tangle up,” and go to pieces, because
the muscles of the back are too weak to put the . neces-
sary control upon the framework and the legs. Every
horse “breaks” in the back before he “breaks” in the
leg; that is, the unsteadiness of motion — which, when
it has passed a certain limit, is communicated to his legs,
causing him to change his gait from a trot into a run, in
order to save his balance — begins in the back. As long
as a horse can keep his back-bone in a straight line, he
is all right. His loss of control over himself springs
from a muscular weakness at that point. One reason
why a horse should never be pulled so that he is
doubled up, is because, when so doubled up, he cannot
196 THE PERFECT HORSE.
keep the spinal column — which is to the framework
of the horse what the keel is to the framework of a
ship — straight Some .say, indeed most say, when
driving a race, watch your horse’s head for the first
signs of unsteadiness. Hiram Woodruff said, that, in the
action of the head, the driver could see the first pre-
monitions of a break. Against such authority I would
not set any opinion of my own, save in the way of sug-
gestion. But while Woodruff may be right, and un-
doubtedly is right, in many, perhaps the majority of
cases, I am, on the other hand, confident, that, in some
horses, the signs of the coming break can be quickest
perceived in the action of the spinal column. My habit
is to watch the horse’s back : so long as that is straight,
well-steadied, the action of the back-muscles regular
and in a straight line, I keep sending the horse along.
Only when a slight quiver or twist, a kind of kinking-up
or swaying motion, is seen in the back, do I take him
more firmly in hand, and steady him until he has time
to straighten himself out again. The advantage of
watching the line of the back, instead of the head, of
a horse, to perceive the signs of the coming break, is
found, as it seems to me, in this : The head sign is not
the same in all horses ; nor is it so unmistakable to the
eye, — unless you have driven the horse enough to become
acquainted with his peculiar habit of going, — and there-
fore not so much to be depended upon, nor so easily
discerned, as the vibratory movement of the spinal
column, which, while it invariably precedes the ” tan-
HOW TO TBAIN A COLT. 197
•
gling up,” can be easily perceived by the merest novice.
But we were speaking as to how to strengthen the back,
rather than how to watch it give forth the signs of
unsteadiness ; and to this point let us now return.
We have discussed the influence of weights in de-
veloping the muscles of the loin and back. We would
now allude, briefly, to what might be called the in-
fluence of up-hill exercise ; by which I mean the trot-
ting and running of colts or the horse, under training,
up sharp declivities. This is Nature’s method of
development. Running through all her educational
processes, you find the element of opposition. She
makes her birds to fly against currents of air as often as
with them. Her fishes must contend with tides and the
swift opposition of rapids; while the noblest of the
species must practise their powers, often for days at a
time, in vain, in the spirited attempt to jump the oppos-
ing waterfall. Surely we can discern the wisdom of
this arrangement ; for we can see that only by such a
process can the highest structural development be
attained. Turning now from theory and analogy to
observation of data, this we know, — that horses raised
in mountainous districts and hilly sections have better
lung-development, and are stronger in the loins and
back, than those raised in the flat meadows of the low-
lands. The character of the atmosphere may, in part,
account for the improvement in the lung-structure ; but
nothing save the fact, that horses raised in such
localities are compelled, by the necessities of their
198 THE PERFECT HORSE.
situation, to jump streams, and climb hills, can ex-
plain the increased power of their loin and back
The Morgan horse is a wonderful illustration of this.
Such a weight-puller, when you consider his size, cer-
tainly was never seen in America, and, so far as we
know, never seen in the world. And to-day a colt
raised in Vermont, or the mountainous sections of New
Hampshire and New York, is almost invariably coupled,
at the junction of the spinal column with the hip-bones,
like a giant. Analogy and observation alike suggest
to the breeder and trainer that every young horse
should be put through a certain amount of up-hill exer-
cise. Do not trot your colts alone on the level stretch ;
above all, avoid the descending grade. Practise him in
the other direction ; and especially, when you come to
a hill, let him take it at the jump. For one, I am free
to say I prefer that my colts should be driven, while
being developed, along a road with a great many hills
in it. How often you see horses, when trotting a race
on a track that is not perfectly level, falter in their gait
when taking the rising stretch, lose the strength and
steadiness of their stroke, and drop behind! They
could trot, you see, down a descending grade; they
could move fast, even on level ground : but they were
too weak in the back and loins to force themselves up
the ascent Had they been properly trained, and es-
pecial care been exercised to develop them at the
desired point, they would have kept their length of
stride and powerful stroke from bottom to top, and
HOW TO TEAIN A COLT. 199
come in the winner, instead of being disgracefully
beaten. And yet the fault was more with the trainer
than with the horse ; because the horse could not reason,
while the trainer’s business is to think, and think for
the horse, not only during the few moments of the
race, but during all the months, and years even, that
precede it. And here I wish to call the reader’s atten-
tention to the influence of slow exercise in connection
with weight-pulling. Good steady team-work, such as
a horse finds in ordinary farm-labor, is, in my estimation,
one of the best methods that can be adopted to de-
velop many horses in muscular strength. Horses that
are narrow in the chest, and weak in the back, are es-
pecially benefited in this way. Many colts that cannot
command their legs, that hit their knees, “grab over,”
” hitch,” and the like, if put to team-service for a year
or two, will come out of the discipline in splendid
health and condition, and able to go fast without hitting
a hair. This I know from actual experience. A great
many colts are being trained on race-courses to-day,
at great expense to their owners, and risks to them-
selves, in reference to which it may be said, that it
would be vastly better for all concerned if they were
taken from the track, and given to some old farmer to
use on his farm for two or three years. In that time
their frames would spread, their chests expand, their
bones harden, their muscles enlarge, and they would
escape the fate which now awaits them, — a premature
break-down and an early death. I hold that slow
200 THE PERFECT HOESE.
work for some colts is the only work which they can
stand with safety, and therefore the only work to which
they should be put. It is the best way, only because
it is the only way. It is to correct faults of formation,
rather than to develop perfect formation. This distinc-
tion being understood, I give it my hearty indorse-
ment.
We have now progressed so far in our discussion
touching the best way to develop the natural capacity
of the colt, in order that he may go fast and far, that
the matter of driving must be noticed; and we will
proceed to consider it I do not write with the pro-
fessional’s knowledge or practical experience in racing,
nor, indeed, from the professional’s stand-point. The
object of this book, so far as I am connected with it, is
not to attempt to teach professionals in their especial
branch of business, of which I know nothing, but to
make certain suggestions, based in part on the opinions
of other men, and in part upon my own study and ob-
servation of the horse when in action, as driven by
gentlemen on the road, or at our annual fairs. In many
respects it is more difficult to drive a young and un-
trained horse well upon the road — requiring greater
quickness of the eye and hand, and finer control over
one’s self — than to drive trained animals on a smooth
level track in the public race. Especially does it
require intelligence and a goodly degree of skill to
drive a colt in such a way as to prevent him from
acquiring vicious habits of going, and to confirm him in
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 201
the practice of good ones. And it is with the driving
of colts that we will begin.
We will suppose that your colt is so far familiar with
the harness and wagon, that it is safe to drive him on
the public highway. In the first place, avoid driving a
colt in a two-wheeled sulky. No matter how well it is
balanced, the pressure on his back will be variable ; and
before you are aware, by the spring of the shafts up and
down, unsteadiness of gait will be the result. A four-
wheeled wagon, light as circumstances will permit, is
far preferable. In such a vehicle his stride will be
steadier, and his confidence in himself far greater.
Another great advantage is found in the fact, that, in a
four-wheeled vehicle, you are seated so far back, that
you can watch the movements of his limbs, and observe
whatever is wrong in their action. This is a source of
great satisfaction to a driver. The first lesson to incul-
cate in your colt is, that he is to start off* slowly. For
the first quarter of a mile, let him walk. It is well to
have him start into a trot of his own accord. This a
sprightly colt will naturally do; and his gait will soon
become, without his being urged, fast enough for the
road. If he is two years of age, you can jog him from
four to ten miles three times a week for the first month,
with decided benefit to him. This distance is sufficient
to take the friskiness out of him, and make him under-
stand that it means business. Some advocate only two
or three miles every day ; but I think that a longer dis-
tance, with a day of rest between the exercises, is far
202 THE PERFECT HORSE.
preferable. After the first month, you can begin to
let him out a little. Very likely, before this, he has
begun to get an inkling of his powers, and showed a
disposition to avail himself of the smooth stretches in
the road. For such manifestations you have been
anxiously looking ; and their coming is a delight to your
soul. It is the sure evidence that your colt has ” got it
in him ; ” and that, with proper education, he is bound to
be a trotter. Now select your nicest bit of ground,
straight and level as may be, not more than fifty rods
in length, at least two miles from your stable, so that,
by the time he reaches it, the effervescence of his spirits
has worked itself out ; and when you have come to it,
and he begins to lift his head, and feel of the bit with
his tongue, — which he is pretty sure to do, — do not
restrain him, but let him go it. Don’t say any thing to
him. It is his affair, remember; and let him enjoy it
undisturbed. Simply steady him slightly with the lines ;
and after he has gone what you regard as a sufficient dis-
tance, and while he is in full blast, and eager as a young
hound on the scent, take him gently in hand, and slow
him up. Now is your time to praise him. Call him pet
names ; flatter him ; reach over and pat him with your
hand. Make him feel that he has done something
worthy, and that you are proud of him. Do not smile
incredulously as you read this, and say a colt can’t
understand you. A colt can understand you. Among
all animals, the dog only is more susceptible to praise.
If you have the right stuff in you, you cannot drive a
HOW TO TBAIN A COLT. 203
colt a month without a kind of half-human intelligence
springing up between you and him. He will recognize
you when you enter his stall. He will grow to expect
your caress when you mount the seat and take the lines.
He will keep an ear turned as you jog, to catch your
lightest word. I have known horses neigh back an
answer when their driver spoke to them. It is a great
thing, believe me, to establish this understanding be-
tween you and your colt. With this spurt be content.
Try no more that day. Jog him through his journey,
and bring him home to his stable with only that one
memory in his mind.
Let him rest a day, then try him again. Before you
get within fifty rods of that stretch of road, you will find
your colt anticipating it. I have no doubt but that he
has thought it all over in his stall, and made up his
mind how he would strip out when he reached that
spot again; for no sooner has he come to it, than,
without a word from you, or the movement of a line,
he will begin to stir the bits in his mouth, lift his nose
into the air, elevate his tail a little, and go at it. This
is the way that a colt should be taught to trot. It
should be of his own free accord ; the mere overflow-
ing of a vitality so vigorous and buoyant, that it can-
not be restrained. An old horse can be urged with
voice and whip, if need be ; but let your colt alone.
Don’t urge him: make haste slowly at this point. It
is not great speed that you want now, so much as a
desire to go, and a correct movement of the limbs.
204 THE PERFECT HORSE.
Educate him in the desire, and confirm him in regu-
larity of stroke, and the speed is sure to follow in due
time. If you find that he is getting a little sluggish
in his movements, let him rest: hold up for a week.
It is evident that he is being overdone ; and to overdo
at this point of his education, will, in the majority of
cases, prove fatal .to the colt’s promise and the owner’s
hopes. Another sure sign that you are exacting too
much of him is seen when he begins to hitch in his
gait. This hitching comes from driving too fast and
too far ; at times from over-weighting the colt. I quote
the following from that most admirable work by Hiram
«
Woodruff, ” The Trotting-Horse of America.” Speaking
of this matter of over-working, he says, —
“The work must be according to his constitution, to
the rate of his growth, and to his heartiness of feeding.
This jogging will probably be about five or six miles a
day, and the spurts not above a quarter of a mile. He
must be carefully watched to ascertain whether he im-
proves or not If not, he is to be let up a bit : for his
improvement at this age ought to go on all the time ;
and will, if he is all right. Rapid improvement, how-
ever, must not be expected : ever so little will do ; but
it ought not to stop altogether. At this time, you will
often see him break his gait ; and this is an indication
that he has had too much work for his age, and has got
sore on it. But it may not arise altogether from over-
work: therefore put the rollers on, and work him
gently, changing them from leg to leg as required.
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 205
The colt now finds something on his legs, besides the
boots, which was not there before ; and it will alter his
way of going. He must be nicely handled now. You
must use all your observatiop and best judgment, with
a light but firm hold of the reins. In all probability,
he will trot square again with the rollers on ; and, as
soon as he does so, let him up for a little while. When
the broken gait shows, he must not on any account be
kept on without a change ; for, if he is, it may become
confirmed. On the other hand, I never like to let them
up until I have got them to trot square again ; for, if they
are so let up, they may not trot square again when their
work is resumed.”
There is another point of prime importance in driving
any horse, but especially a young one : it is the way you
handle the reins. Most drivers overdrive. They at-
tempt too much ; and, in so doing, distract or hamper
the horse. Now and then you find a horse with such a
vicious gait, that his speed fa got from hta by the most
artificial processes ; but such horses are fortunately rare,
and hence the style of management required cannot
become general. The tajie way is to let the horse drive
himself, the driver doing little but directing him, and giv-
ing him that confidence which a horse alone gets in him-
self when he feels that a guide and friend is back of him.
The most vicious and inexcusable style of driving is
that which so many drivers adopt; viz., wrapping the
lines around either hand, and pulling the horse backward
with all their might and main, so that the horse, in point
206 THE PERFECT HORSE,
of fact, pulls the weight back of him with his mouth,
and not with his breast and shoulders. This they do
under the impression that such a dead pull is needed in
order to ” steady ” the horse. This method of driving
I regard as radically and superlatively wrong. It
would tax the ingenuity of a hundred fools to invent a
worse one. The fact is, with rare exceptions there
should never be any pull put upon the horse at all. A
steady pressure is allowable, probably advisable ; but
any thing beyond this has no justification in nature or
reason ; for nature suggests the utmost possible freedom
of action of head, body, and limbs, in order that the
animal may attain the highest rate of speed ; and reason
certainly forbids the supposition, that by the bits, and
not the breast-collar, the horse is to draw the weight
attached to it. In speeding my horses, I very seldom
grasp the lines with both hands when the road is
straight, and free from obstructions. The lines are
rarely steadily taut, but held in easy pliancy, and
used chiefly to shift the bit in the animal’s mouth, and
by this motion communicate courage and confidence
to him. I find, that, by this method, my horses break
less, and go much faster, than when driven by men who
put the old-fashioned steady pull upon them. I know
of no writer who expresses my ideas, in the main, so
accurately as the writer whom I have just quoted : —
” In all his work, the colt is to be taught to go along
without being pulled hard. His mouth may be easily
spoiled for life by teaching him to tug at the bit now ;
HOW TO TEAIN A COLT. 207
and he is not at all likely to make a fast trotter, if to
trot he must always have his weight upon the driver’s
arms. There have been some fast trotters and stayers
that were hard pullers ; but they would have been
better horses but for that fact Still it is to be remem-
bered, that, when going fast, the colt or horse will often
want to get his head down, and feel the bit sensibly.
He will not, in nine cases out of ten (or can not, which
comes to the same thing), do his best without it. The
object of the driver should then be to gupport him with
as little pull as possible, but still to support him. The
horse with a good mouth will always feel the driver’s
hand ; and, when the latter is as skilful as he ought to
be for the handling of the first-rate fast trotter, he may
play upon the rein with a touch like that of a harper
upon the strings, and the horse will answer every touch
with the music of the feet and wheels.
” On the other hand, if, when the colt takes hold of
the bit, the driver does nothing but hold on like grim
death to a dead darky, it soon becomes a pulling-
match between them : and before the colt is of age to
trot fast, and stay a distance, his pulling has become
a vice of the most troublesome and mischievous de-
scription ; his mouth has become so callous, that he
pulls a wagon and driver along by the reins instead of
the traces ; and, by the dead drag between him and the
man behind him, he loses a great deal of the power
that will be wanted to sustain him when the pinch
comes.”
208 THE PERFECT HOBSE.
This point is put plainly and eloquently, and, coming
from the greatest master of driving the trotting-horse
America has ever had, is to be accepted, and will be by
sensible people, as a law not to be violated. This pull-
ing style of driving not only mars a horse’s action, but
converts a pleasure into a toil. To draw a wagon by
the reins is hard work for the horse, and equally hard
work for the driver. It kills the very object of driving
among gentlemen, which is recreation and rest and
stimulating excitement ; and makes what when properly
managed is easy and delightful a most laborious and in-
deed hazardous proceeding. This light, easy, touch-and-
go style of holding the lines and guiding the horse is
supposed by some to be insufficient to prevent a horse
from breaking his gait ; but, far from this being true, the
fact is, it is the pulled horse that is most likely to “kink ”
up and get “twisted” in going. Nature has so ad-
justed the head and tail of a horse, that they assist him,
when stretched in rapid motion, to keep his balance, and
direct himself. All speedy animals run with streaming
tails and straightened necks, and noses pointed ahead ;
and it stands to reason that a horse with his head curbed
under, so that his nose is nearly pulled against his breast,
cannot move at his fastest rate of going. His driver’s
insane conduct keeps him out of balance, and compels
him to go in an unnatural way. For the same reasons,
check-lines should be avoided, especially on colts.
Now and then it may be necessary to put on some
such contrivance ; but it argues that the colt or horse
HOW TO TKAE* A COLT. 209
has false action by nature, and detracts materially from
his value. I am not talking about track-horses, but
about gentlemen’s driving-horses; and I advise all pur-
chasers to ” bid low ” on a colt that cannot trot all that
he can trot without any of this top-hamper whatever.
Buy no colts that have to be screwed up or screwed
down by patented inventions about the head ; but select
one that moves off with an untrammelled neck, and nose
held naturally at just the right angle for beauty, and
which is held by Tiimself in the right position to accom-
modate his movements, whatever be his gait. Beware,
also, how you buy colts that have to be “booted” and
“padded,” and gauntleted with “rollers.” If you
wish to buy a horse-farnishing establishment, buy one ;
but don’t buy it with a sample of all your .stock tied
round the legs of your horse. Buy no colt, young man,
that don’t go clear in every respect. If he brushes a
hair in going, leave him in the breeder’s yard for some
fool to purchase : never make one of yourself by buy-
ing him. His owner will find purchasers enough, no
doubt !
But to return to the matter of “breaking.” Ordi-
narily speaking, do not allow your colt to break at all.
Remember that your business is to educate him to trot,
not to teach him to run. But if he does ever break,
then let him break with a vengeance. Let there be
no half-way work about it; no halting and hobbling,
and coming bask in the breeching, but a regular
plunge forward, and a rocket-like movement through
u
210 THE PERFECT HORSE.
the air. If he breaks, make him gain by the break.
Make him understand that his business is to go ahead,
hit or miss, in one style as long as possible ; but to go
it, style or no style. If you have a green horse, that *
comes back in the breeching when he breaks, or even
when his backbone begins to twist up before the break
has actually begun, then give him the whip : give it to
him sharp and quick Get all that nonsense out of him
at once : keep him sailing. Do not yank him now, and
grab at him with the lines, as if your life depended on
pulling your wagon over his back ; but let him take four
or five jumps until his back-bone is straightened out,
and he has got levelled down to it, and is gathering his
legs up under him like a racer ; then move the bits in
his mouth, and ” pick him up.” Don’t saw and sway
him, and double him up until his nose is down between
his fore-legs, and his haunches up over his shoulders.
Remember that his back must be kept straight at all
events, or he will not catch his trot square, 6r be able to
keep it when he has caught it. With a sharp, firm
turn of your wrist, and a lift on the bit, pick his nose
. upward, and slightly to one side : this will throw him
from his balance just enough to make him “grab for his
gait,” and not enough to twist him into unsteadiness or to
slack him up. You may not succeed the first or second
time ; but persevere until you have educated your wrist
and eye to act in conjunction, and you will then have
mastered one of the most difficult feats of finest horse-
manship. Sometimes a horse has to be broken up to
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 211
the whip in order to learn his own speed. When a
horse is picked down to his trot, after you have got him
at his best jump, he is forced to trot fast as lightning for
four or five strides, or go on to the ground. Such a
gait, even for a few steps, to a green horse, is a revelation
to himself. It gives him a hint that he never forgets, or
fails to’ improve upon. It is to him what the first dozen
strokes in the water are to a young swimmer, — a revela-
tion and an ecstasy. He can do it! , The feat is ac-
complished! Hurrah! It is just so with a young
horse. After his first successful burst of speed, he is a
new creature. A knowledge of his own powers, of
which he had not dreamed, has come to him. He is
lifted on the wings of a new pride. Henceforth he is
ambitious to excel. His career has begun.
The most difficult point in settling a horse from a
run to a trot is, not in picking him up, but in easing
him away. In nineteen cases out of twenty, the horse
is quicker than the man. We hold our horses too long :
we do not let them catch their trot when they are
ready to do it. Bear this in mind, reader, the next
time your horse breaks; and, when the moment has
come, let go of him. Let every thing go by the run, as
sailors say. Still this should be observed, — that it is
well to steady or restrain the horse slightly for an
instant after the break, in order that he may have an
opportunity to collect his thoughts, and confirm his
stroke : but still the law is, to keep him going ; that is,
if your object is to make speed.
212 THE PERFECT HORSE.
There is one peculiarity about the horse in trotting
which I have never seen mentioned in print ; and yet I
have often observed it, and know it to be important
I refer to the way in which a horse breathes when mov-
ing at the top of his speed. It is an erroneous idea
to suppose that horses breathe as regularly in action as
when standing still or jogging. Indeed, they do not
breathe at all for strides at a time when making their
spurts. They act precisely as a man does when making
a jump. When a man is about to make a great jump,
what does he do ? This : He takes in a long breath,
filling his lungs to the full, and then goes it ! Not until
the leap is made are the lungs inflated again. It is pre-
cisely so with a horse when trotting, and about to make
a spurt. Suppose you have been trailing, and have come
to the last-quarter post three lengths behind the leading
horse, which you feel is doing about all he is able to. It
is now or never with you. You know it ; and your horse
Jcnows it too. You move the bits in his mouth, and call
on him. He answers your call with a rush that carries
•
him like a bullet to your rival’s wheel. Hold him there.
Let him get his breath. If you urge him now, he will
break sure. If he can stay where he is, you are all
right. He knows what you are at ; and, when you are
within fifty yards of the wire, call on him again, and he
will jump himself to the front as sure as fate, unless he
is positively overmatched, and his opponent is handled
in the same way. This is the secret of the grand
rushes some horses are accustomed to make near the
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 213
close of the heat, and which make the race, even when
they are evidently overmatched, uncertain until the
heat is actually finished. How many times Flora Tem-
ple, under the skilful management of Hiram Woodruff,
would wrench victory from the grasp of defeat by this
peculiarity of movement and power! I know a stallion
— not on the course, and thus unknown — that possesses
this power to a wonderful extent. No matter how fast
he is moving: there is always another link in him that
he can let out if necessary. I have seen him gather
himself for one of these rushes, and, when called on,
send himself through the air like a bullet from a gun.
I wish, at this point and in this connection, to make
several quotations from Hiram Woodruffs “Trotting-
Horse of America,” — a book filled with much interest-
ing knowledge and advice, and which, reader, if you do
not own, you should purchase at once ; and I do this
because his views are in close accordance with mine, and
because they are expressed with great simplicity and
accuracy. Speaking of the management of the colt, he
says,—
” When you come to drive him, it should be with a
light, firm hand. The reins should be handled nicely
and gently. The driver can manage the colt without
any jerking or pulling and hauling, if he keeps cool,
thinks of what he is about, and uses proper care and
patience. The mouth is now fine and sensitive ; and it
ought to be kept so, because this is the great organ of
communication between a good driver and the trotter,
214 THE PERFECT HORSE.
when he is cultivated and improved into a fast horse
What you want the trotter to do when he is at speed is
to be got into him through his mouth. You may
encourage him by speaking to him, or sting him into
a greater effort with the whip ; but neither of these is
half as good as the play upon the reins, with which
you let him know what you want through his lively,
sensitive mouth. You are then to keep in constant
mind the necessity of not impairing the colt’s mouth
by rough handling of the reins. If you pull and lug at
the bit, the colt, in his efforts to resist what hurts
him, will very soon pull too ; for he will find out that
this numbs and deadens the jaws : but this is at the
expense of ruination to the mouth. It will become
hard and insensible ; and the first and largest part of
the mischief which goes towards the making of a hard
puller is done.
u When you begin to drive the colt, you must find out
what sort of bit suits him best. This is matter of ex-
perimental trial. Use both bars and snaffles, all easy ;
and by feel of hand, and observation of the way in
which the colt carries his head, you will soon be able to
ascertain which bit suits him best. The nicety of your
touch as driver should correspond to the lively sensi-
bility of the colt’s mouth. A bad-tempered, hasty man
will very soon spoil a good-tempered young horse.
The use of the whip ought, as a general rule, to be
avoided. In some cases, it must be used ; but it should
never be brought into play when the horse does not
HOW TO TBAIN A COLT. 215
know what it is for. A slap with the whip, which al-
most makes the colt jump out of the harness, is often
immediately followed by a powerful snatch on the reins
to pull him back again. Both of these are as bad as
bad can be. Sore mouths, bad tempers, and broken
gaits, are the almost inevitable results of such handling.
On the other hand, if the colt has been well broken,
and has a good lively mouth, and the driver handles the
reins skilfully and thoughtfully, the colt will soon learn
to understand every move of the hand, and to answer
it From this it follows that you ought to make no
move with the bit without a definite object. When
you feel an impulse to do something with the reins
without knowing what you are to do it /or, don’t do it
at all. Such moves only fool the horse. Everybody
admits that a very hard-pulling horse is a nuisance;
and everybody knows that some horses will pull if they
are to trot, and will not extend themselves without a
strong pull : but, even in regard to these, it is not well
to keep up a steady, rigid pull all the time. I say,
Rather pull for a space, and then ease off, not suddenly,
but gradually ; and by this means they will not pull
quite so hard, and will trot faster. It is not natural for
horses to pull hard. Some there are, of uncommon
ardor and determination, that will pull in company ; but
more are made hard pullers by faulty handling when
young, which has deadened their mouths.
” In order that a fast horse should be under circum-
stances to do his best, he should be as much at his ease
216 THE PERFECT H0B8E.
in his harness and general rig as possible. If he is not,
he is placed at almost as much disadvantage as if sore
or stiff, or suffering from some bodily ailment You
may see horses brought out of the stable to trot with a
very tight check to keep their heads up, and a tight
martingale to keep it down. Such a horse is in irons ;
and when to this is added a dead drag at the reins, and
no movement of the bit from end to end, I cannot see
how he should do his best People talk about a steady,
bracing pull ; but, in my opinion, that is not the right
way to drive a trotter. There is a great difference
between letting go of your horse’s head, and keeping
up one dull, deadening pull all the time. The race-
horse riders practise what is called a bracing pull ; and
a great many times I have seen their horses tire under
it without ever running their best The steady pull
choked them. The pull should be sufficient to feel the
mouth, and give some support and assistance, so as to
give the horse confidence to get up to his stride. More
than that is mischievous. To keep the mouth alive, the
bit must be shifted a little occasionally. But this is not
to be done by a pull of the hand on the rein. A mere
half-turn of the wrist, or less than half a turn, by which
the thumb is elevated, and the little finger lowered, is
sufficient to shift the bit, keep the mouth sensitive, and
rouse the horse.
” The reins are to be steadily held with both hands
while this play with the wrist is made ; and it is, of
course, only to be done with one wrist at a time. The
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 217
hands should be well down ; and the driver ought not
to sit all of a heap, with his head forward. Neither
should he lean back, with his bodily weight on the
reins ; which, in that case, are made a sort of stay for
hiny He should be upright ; and what pulling he must
do should be done by the muscular force of the arms.
The head and the arms are what a good driver uses ;
but some have their arms straight out, and pull by
means of putting the dead weight of their bodies on
the reins. If instead of lying back, and putting their
bodily weight on the reins, with which latter they take
a turn round their hands, drivers would depend upon
their muscular strength, they could let up on the pull,
graduate it, and so ease the horse from time to time in-
stantaneously. The driver who depends upon the arms
has command of the horse : he who substitutes bodily
weight, with the reins wrapped round his hands, has not
half command of the horse, or of himself either ; and, if
the horse is a puller, he will soon take command of the
driver. The reason of it is, that there is no intermis-
sion of the exertion, no let-up, either for man or horse.
Besides, in that way of driving, it is impossible to give
those movements to the bit which seem to refresh and
stimulate the horse so much. When a horse has been
taught the significance of this movement of the bit, the
shift by the turn of the wrist, he will never fail to
answer it, even though he should seem to be at the top
of his speed. The moment he feels this little move of
the bit in his sensitive mouth, he will collect himself,
218 THE PERFECT H0E8E.
and make another spurt : and the value of this way of
driving is, that the horse is not likely to break when
thus called upon ; while a high-strung, generous horse,
if called upon for a final effort with a whip, is as likely
to break the moment it falls on him as not I have won
many a very close heat by practising this movement ;
and therefore I have no hesitation in recommending it
It is not difficult to acquire ; and the horse soon comes
to know what it means.
u Let us come now to the way of taking hold of the
reins. A wrap around the hand, such as running-horse
riders take, is clumsy and bad. I do not know whether
many people take hold of the reins as I do, or not
Perhaps not Sim. Hoagland is the only one who takes
hold precisely as I do, so far as I have observed. When
.we have been jogging horses together at early morn-
ing, we have often talked over these matters ; and,
whether our way was the best way or not, we could
never see any other that suited us half as well.
” I will try to explain how I hold the reins. I could
show it in two seconds. Take, first, the right-hand rein.
This, coming from the bit, passes betwen the little fin-
ger and the third finger, over the little finger, then
under the other three fingers, and up over the thumb.
The left-hand rein is held in the left hand exactly in the
same way ; but the bight of the slack of the reins is
also held between the thumb and forefinger of the left
hand. This gives more substance in -that hand ; but,
if it is found inconvenient to have it there by those
HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 219
who have small hands, it may be dropped altogether.
A firm grasp on each rein, with the backs of the hands
up, and without any wrap, is thus obtained. It is a
great point in driving to be able to shift the reach, —
that is, the length of the hold you take, — without, for
an instant, letting go of the horse’s head. With this
way of holding the reins, it is easily done: If I want to
shorten the hold on the left-hand rein (the near rein), I
take hold of that rein just behind the left hand with the
thumb and forefinger of the right hand, and steady it.
This is very easily done ; and it does not interfere at all
with the command of the off rein with the right hand.
The near rein being thus steadied behind the left hand,
I slide that hand forward on the rein, which is kept
over the little finger, under the other three fingers, and
over the thumb all the time, and then shut the grasp
again on the new reach. A shift with the right hand
is made just in the same way, — by taking hold and
steadying the rein behind that hand with the thumb
and forefinger of the left hand.
” I have often observed, that, with other methods of
holding the reins, there was great difficulty in shifting
the reach. The driver tries to do it ; but, for an instant,
he has let go of the horse’s head on one side altogether,
and broken his stride. When this is found to be the
case, the dead pull all the time is adopted ; and this
spoils the freedom and elasticity of the horse’s stride,
and chokes his wind. I do not intend this to be taken
as instruction for professional drivers. Every driver
220 THE PERFECT HORSE.
has a way of his own ; and some of them have very
good ways ; for, as I have taken occasion to state before,
they drive well But what I have set down above may
be of service to gentlemen who drive their own horses,
and to those young men, who, having as yet no settled
method of their own, may think it well enough to try
that which I have found to answer. Another word
about bits. I am opposed to the use of severe bits,
and complicated things of that sort. Some of the in-
ventors of such things say that I am prejudiced ; but I
don’t think I am. If a man has a horse that cannot be
driven with a bar-bit or a snaffle, he may as well sell
him, except it is a very exceptional case. Where are
these kinds of severe complicated bits most in use?
Why, in England. Five hundred or a thousand of them
are used there to one that is used here. And where do
the horses trot the best ? These bits are mostly invent-
ed by men who have had no practical experience what-
ever as to what sort of driving a fast trotter requires to
keep his gait square and bold, and induce him to do
his best when it is called for. When a horse has a good
mouth, — and a bad one is almost always the fault of
bad breaking and driving, — the easier the bit you use,
the better he will act for you, and the more speed he
will show you.”
This, also, touching the matter of punishing horses
when they break : —
” In nine cases out of ten, a horse punished without his
knowing what for is punished for his driver’s fault, not
HOW TO TBAIN A COLT. 221
for his own. Confidence cannot grow in such circum-
stances. If you observe two good trotters who have
been accustomed to work together in double harness,
you will see what speed and steadiness follow from con-
fidence in each other. Each knows that he or she can
depend upon the mate to keep up the stroke, and main-
tain the even pull and level action. It is of just as
much importance that the single-harness horse should
understand and have confidence in his driver, as it is
for a double-harness horse to know the power and ways
of his mate. Unless this sort of mutual understanding
can be established between the driver and the horse,
the latter can never be relied upon to do his best. The
readiest way to produce it is to use him gently but
firmly, and to accustom him to the system of telegraph-
ing to him by means of the reins in your hand and the
bit in his mouth. The whip is to be kept very much in
the background while you are cultivating confidence in
your horse. It is more likely to prove an obstacle than
an aid.
” I now come to the last critical point in this matter,
— when the horse is tired, and inclined to break. In
a long brush, you will often have reason to look for an
attempt to break ; and it will generally be in circum-
stances when the horse must not be suffered to do it.
There are times, as I have shown, when, with a tired
horse, a break may be brought on with advantage ; but
there are others when all will be lost if a break occur.
To prevent it, give the shift with the bit when you per-
222 THE PERFECT HORSE.
ceive that he begins to tire, and soon renew it: this
will revive and rouse him, and take his mind off the
break which he has felt he was about to make. The
signs of a coming break will be discovered by watching
the head and ears of the horse. The attention of the
driver ought always to be fixed upon the head of his
horse. Many a heat is lost by neglect of this matter.
A driver is seen coming up the stretch a length or a
length and a half ahead. Both the horses are tired ;
but the leading one could win. The driver, however,
when he gets where the carriages are, turns his head to
look at the ladies, or to see whether they are looking at
him. Just then the horse gives a twitch with his ears.
The driver don’t see it. Up flies the trotter; and the
ugly man behind keeps his horse square, and wins by a
neck.”
I have now touched upon the essential points in
reference to the training and driving of colts and horses.
I wish the reader to bear in mind that I have written
in the way of suggestion, and not of dictation ; my ob-
ject being to awaken thought, rather than to lay down
inflexible rules. Concerning the preparation which it
is necessary to give a horse in order to make him fit
for a public race, it does not seem to me that I am
called upon to speak. The object of this book does
not call for such a discussion. The men who will, for
the most part, I presume, purchase and read it, are
men in no ways interested save as spectators in public
racing. If any reader has a horse that he wishes to
HOW TO TEAIN A COLT. 223
bring out, and which must, therefore, receive the grand
preparation, his true course is to commit him to the
charge of some experienced trainer and driver, to
whose opinion and advice every thing relating to the
animal should be referred. I have written rather in
the interest of the breeder, and of that large, and, I am
glad to say, rapidly -increasing class of gentlemen who
own, and love to drive, the trotting-horse. Among
these I am happy to be numbered as a companion. I
hold that no healthier recreation or innocent amuse-
ment is open to the business and professional men of
America than this of driving speedy horses. It gives
relaxation to the mind, breaks pleasantly and impera-
tively in upon the prolonged strain and tension of
anxious thought, begets and nourishes a spirited but
harmless rivalry, and compels a delightful and profit-
able companionship with Nature. I know, that, in the
minds of some, prejudices exist against men of pro-
fessed piety indulging in such an amusement. To own
a fast horse opens up before their prophetic vision
truly awful contingencies. It is needless to say that I
do not, to any considerable extent, share in this anxiety.
I have never discovered any law in nature, or injunc-
tion in revelation, which makes it a duty for a good
man to own and use a poor specimen of any species of
animals. I see no reason why such a person should
have none but homely birds in his cages, black sheep in
his flocks, lean kine in his fields, and lazy horses in his
stables. The fact is, a good man has a right to the
224 THE PERFECT HOBSE.
best. The perfect type is the only fit type. Any
thing less than this is unworthy, — a lapse and falling-off
from the original standard as erected in the creation.
A horse was made for speed as truly as a bird was
made to fly ; and flight and speed become, therefore,
standards of appreciation and value. If a man objects
to speed, then why drive a horse at all ? Why not
take a donkey or a cow, and have done with it ? If
piety is compatible only with slowness of motion, then
a horse is no animal for a Christian to own anyway;
for the nearer a horse approaches, as I conceive, to the
original type, and also the divine intention as embod-
ied in it, the more’ speedy he becomes. Beauty and
speed are therefore, as I conceive, legitimate objects
of desire and admiration ; and, since the horse embodies
these two characteristics in a greater degree than any
other domestic animal, it is a proof that the man is of
sound judgment, and lacketh not wisdom, who desires
to own a beautiful and fast horse. Indeed, a man that
does not love and desire such a creature seems to me
to be lacking in some essential elements of human
nature. Something was omitted in his construction,
which, being possessed, would have made him larger and
better. I do not object, therefore, either to fast horses,
as the phrase is, or to driving them fast within proper
restrictions, such as common sense and humane impulse
will naturally suggest; nor do I see any reason why
gentlemen owners and breeders alike of fine horses
should not exhibit their paces and their rate of speed
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* ^ t < . X v . « V ■ • • • v \’ k \ . V. ^ HOW TO TRAIN A COLT. 225 at our annual fairs, when the people come together to inspect and compare, to buy and sell, the vegetable and animal products of the country. If it is right to offer and receive a prize for fatness of swine, and stoutness of oxen, and fleece-bearing capacity of sheep, and even fancy kinds of hens and pigeons, then I do not see why prizes should not be offered and contended for in respect to the comparative speed of rival horses. No one has a right to condemn an honorable rivalry among honorable men in honorable things. 16 CHAPTER VII. THE HORSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. We now come to the consideration of the most diffi- cult and interesting subject a horseman can consider, — the matter of shoeing. Hundreds of volumes have been written upon this topic, and. hundreds more, I presume, will be published ; and yet no ground of common agree- ment has, as yet, been found, and may not be for years to come. It is not, therefore, with the expectation that men will agree with me, or that I shall be able to har- monize antagonistic opinions, that I now address myself to the discussion ; for such a hope would be vain, and the result of the effort useless. I do not doubt that what I have to say will stir the wrath of some, and excite the active hostility of others ; but to this I am indiffer- ent, if peradventure I may be able to make a matter hith- erto veiled in darkness, and shrouded in mystery, to the popular eye, more plainly understood by those who are more directly interested in it than all the veterinary colleges in the world: I mean the actual owners of horses. I do not write in the interest of any clique of THE HOBSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 227 men or pet theory. I have no hobby, and am a mem- ber of no clique. I have no “patent shoe” to adver- tise, nor wealthy patron to flatter or fool. Nor have I any reputation to risk, or u new principles” to bring forward. My only ambition is to write in a sensible way what I have learned by reading and observation touching the horse’s feet, and the treatment they should receive in shoeing. Touching the literature of the sub- ject, I yield to no one as a student The leisure of years has been devoted to its perusal I believe that my reading, from the oldest Italian treatise to the “last book out,” has been as “wide and thorough as any per- son’s to-day living. Nor have I read with prejudice, or to discover some principle which I might put in metallic form, patent, and send out to the world heralded as “the great combination-shoe.” I have read simply that I might know what other men had thought, and, if possible, discover the source of those atrocious errors in modern farriery which are a disgrace to our veteri- nary service, and a source of torture to the horse. I do not mention this in vanity, — although it might be so construed by those who cannot understand frankness, nor appreciate the candor of honesty, — but to the end that those who peruse these pages — : the average farmer and farmer’s boy — may feel that they are reading the opin- ions of a man who has gone faithfully and patiently to the bottom of the subject, so far, at least, as mastering its literature goes, and is teaching them with a knowledge of all the facts in the case in his mind. This, also, should 228 THE PERFECT HORSE. be said in this connection : I do not propose to dictate. My object is suggestion, not dictation. If I advance opinions, I shall give the reasons which support them. If I declare a thing wrong, I shall show why and wherein it is wrong. The reader can think as he wishes; but I propose to have every one know what I think, and why I think it. The trouble with many books on this general sub- ject is, that common uneducated readers cannot under- stand them. To a vocabulary essentially technical and scientific, and therefore unfitted to be the vehicle of imparting ideas to the masses,* is attached a habit of using Latin and French terms, which not one reader in five hundred can translate. Indeed, it would seem that certain authors suppose that the use of a Latin nomenclature increases the value of description, and en- hances the reputation of the writer ; for they use it as often as possible, in season and out of season. If they speak of the last bone in the foot, instead of saying the pedal bone, they say the 08 pedis; if of the caronal bone, it is the 08 caronce; and so on. The Result is, that none but college-educated men among the masses can follow their diagnosis, or understand their descrip- tions; and a book which might have been a delight and profit to the purchaser, and which was bought in the expectation that it would be, is, after repeated attempts to understand it, thrown aside in disgust, and rightfully pronounced a humbug. Now, I wish all to be assured at the start that there THE HOBSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 229 is nothing mysterious or incomprehensible touching this matter of the horse’s foot. It is as easy to under- ‘ stand the several parts of the foot, and their use, as it is to understand the shoulder or head. Many authors begin their books in a style of expression calculated to give the reader the idea that the foot of the horse is the most difficult portion of his organism for people to com- prehend, and that they must not expect to comprehend it like a veterinary surgeon (!), and must not be surprised if they do not understand it very well when they have got through with reading their work. The latter sug- gestion was, beyond doubt, most accurate ! Indeed, it would have been a matter of great surprise to me if they had understood any thing by the time they had finished the book. But the incomprehensibility existed not in the difficulties of the subject so much, as in the ignorance of those who professed to be able to teach people concerning it. The plea of “mysteriousness,” and the “inherent and ineradicable difficulties of the subject,” are excellent subterfuges whereby inattention and stupidity can veil their own lack of understanding : but it is put forward at a terrible risk of exposure in reference to the horse’s foot ; for there is no part nor element of the foot, there is no bone or fibre, there is no duct or secretion, that a boy of twelve might not readily comprehend, and that, too, easily. Indeed, every part of the foot is peculiarly distinct and individual, and in its own structure and location suggests, as plainly as Nature can suggest any thing, its office and use. In fact, 230 THE PERFECT HORSE. I know not any other organ in the whole frame of a horse so easily and quickly understood as the foot It is comparatively simple in its formation, and the mutual adjustment of its. several parts is quickly mastered. It is, therefore, not to a mysterious subject, but to one easily understood, that I now invite your attention. The subject is the horse’s foot, and how to shoe it One of the greatest obstacles in the way of reforma- tion — for nearly all admit that our system of caring for and shoeing the horse’s foot is simply atrocious — is to be found in the ignorance of the average smith. I would not speak disrespectfully of any man, or class of men, who earn their living by the sweat of their brow; for their industry commends them to courteous mention: but it is a fact, that the average horse-shoer of the country is distinguished chiefly by what he does not know, rather than by what he does understand, of the principles and uses of his craft. The only excuse that can be urged in his favor — and, to any candid and thoughtful person, it will, I doubt not, seem ample — is this : No one has ever taught him any thing. There has been literally no avenue of knowledge open to him. In ancient times, veterinary surgeons were the smiths ; and by them gentlemen were taught how to shoe their own horses. It was the duty of the veterinary to do this. The edu- cation of no knight was regarded adequate for a mar- tial career until he was thoroughly instructed in the principles and practice of farriery. It was not beneath THE HOESB’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 231 the pride of a noble to desire to excel in protecting the feet of his gallant steed ; and no one, either noble or base-born, could presume to touch a foot to fit a shoe to it, unless he had been regularly and folly instructed in the art of farriery, any more than a physician could now be admitted to practise, or a lawyer to plead, unless they had gone through the necessary medical or legal study. By this method the smiths were made intelli- gent, and worthy of popular support; and, to every young man wishing to acquire the art of farriery, means were not lacking. But to-day, and especially in this country, our young men are not taught at all, and can- not be taught, save as to the merest mechanical part of the trade ; because the person under whom they are is as ignorant as they are touching the anatomy of the horse’s foot, and the literature of the subject, which is rich in suggestion and fact ; and, indeed, differs from the apprentice in nothing save as to his years. In such a state of things, no advance in proficiency can be made. Each generation has the same knowledge, and lack of knowledge, as the preceding ; and the poor horse con- tinues to suffer. In addition to this, we must add another consideration, in order that the statement of our position may be ac- curate ; viz., that, if the smiths are ignorant, the owners of horses, for the most part, are even more so. Inquire among your acquaintances, and you will find that not one man in a hundred has any idea of the subject at all. He reads an advertisement in praise of some patent shoe, * 232 THE PERFECT HOBSB. and blindly adopts it ; or else, with equal blindness and indifference, leaves every thing to the almost equally ignorant smith. Between the two, one can imagine how the poor horse must fare. It is astonishing to me that men can be so careless as to property so ex- posed to hazard as are horses, especially when, at a trifling expense of time and money, they might become tolerably well informed in respect to the matter. Now, I submit that the first thing ‘that a man who owns a horse should obtain is knowledge of the foot, and the best method of protecting it ; because it is the foot, and the condition of it, on which depends the value of the- animal, whether he be kept for pleasure or profit. The owner of a horse should first study the foot in its anat- omy and use, until every bone and particle are well known to him in their location, character, and use. The way that Nature feeds and nourishes its several parts ; the points that heed artificial defence, and how pro- tected ; the diseases to which it is liable ; the curative applications and contrivances needed when the organ becomes injured or diseased, — these points, and other like ones, should receive close and prolonged attention until they become perfectly familiar. This is the prin- ciple universally adopted and put in practice touching any other class of property. The reason why this £3 not the practice of horsemen is not certainly found in any difficulty about understanding the subject to be studied. As I have said before, there is no mystery About the matter, save such as ignorance and passion, THE HORSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 233 on the part of those treating of it, have thrown around it The foot of the horse, unlike the human foot, is very simple in its construction. The human foot is complex, filled with a multitude of bones tied together by manifold attachments, threaded in all directions with blood-vessels, and braced and held together by bunches and layers of muscle and cartilage, which, in conjunction with the other parts, make it simply bewildering to any eye save the trained organ of the surgeon or the anato- mist. But, with the horse’s foot, the case is precisely the reverse. It has but few bones ; its venous system is not elaborate ; its parts few ; and its construction exceed- ingly simple, and so perfect, that the use. of each is plainly advertised. Nature’s design, in the wall, sole, bars, and frog, is not left to conjecture : it is clearly re- vealed. Nor is it difficult to ascertain the location of the bones of the foot, or any other essential part of the organ. Nor is it necessary for one to enter into an elaborate scientific description of the internal structure of the foot : such description is not called for in a work designed for suggestion and popular instruction, rather than for professional service. Touching the value of the foot, nothing need be said ; since it is universally acknowl- edged to be superlative. A horse without sound feet is no horse at all; that is, the uses and services for which Nature designed him he can never per- form. The preservation of the foot in its natural state, which generally is the perfect state, is of prime neces- sity. The main divisions of the foot are these : 1. The 234 THE PERFECT HORSE. wall ; 2. The sole ; 3. The frog ; 4. The bars. The use of the wall is evidently to defend the internal parts of the foot, and furnish a support for the body. The sole has a twofold division, composed of the outer or non- sensitive sole, — the design of which is to protect the ground-surface of the foot from contusion, and assist the wall in sustaining the superincumbent weight, — and the sensitive sole, the use of which is to assist the horse, by the sense of touch, in placing his foot to the ground in such a way as to favor it, and to feed the outer sole with the material of which it is made. The sense of touch to which I have alluded is a most essential power to the horse ; for it enables him, in the very act and instant of placing his foot to the ground, to do just what all boys do when running with bare feet, — viz., favor that side or section of the foot upon which, by reason of inequality of the ground, undue pressure is brought. It is not by his eyes that a boy saves his feet from contusion : there is a power located in his foot, a power of interpreting danger before it has become dangerous, by which, although his foot has actually struck the ground, he is nevertheless able to throw the weight off from that section of the foot which is being unduly exposed. A horse, in one sense, does literally feel his way along. The weight of his body is thrown upon this side of his foot or that, this end or that, just as he feels the necessity of it ; and this lightning-like adjust- ment of his weight, according to the feeling of his foot, is caused by the action of a sense so quick, that it is done THE HOESB’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 235 after the foot has actually come in contact with the ground. It is also by means of this inner or sensitive sole that the secretions which feed the outer sole are deposited On the other hand, the outer sole has for its use the work of protecting the inner sole both from coAtact with the ground and also with the atmosphere. This atmospheric contact results in absorbing the natural moisture until it becomes desiccated, or parched, so that great cracks and rents appear in it, as the farmer in August, on a clay bottom, finds great rents and cracks in the soil. In short, the outer sole is Nature’s shield and Nature’s stuffing for the inner sole, to ward off, on the one hand, the blows that might otherwise smite it ; and, on the other hand, to keep its juices, by the means of which the sole of the foot is being supplied with needed nutrition, from being dried up. At this point we may properly inquire, If this is the use and office of the outer sole, if it holds such an important rank in the order of natural provision for the sound condition and healthy growth of the foot, why is it ever pared away? This is my answer: The reason is, because people „ ignorant a»d blind* Mow . stupid aod barbarous custom, instead of pausing to reflect upon what they are doing. Ask any smith why he pares out the sole of a foot, and he can give you no reason save that he has been taught to do so. And who, pray, taught him? Some one as ignorant as he, I reply. And so, generation after generation, a 236 THE PERFECT HORSE. barbarous and indefensible act has been committed, to the premature breaking-down of many valuable horses, the actual maiming of not a few, and the painful torturing of some. No form of flesh is more sensitive to pain than the inner substance of the horse’s foot. Its power of sen- sitiveness is like that which lies sleeping under a human finger-nail. To protect this from hurt and undue press- ure, Nature has put this hard, horny shield, — viz., the outer sole ; and yet I have often sat and seen an igno- rant smith hack and hew and pare away this natural protection until he could actually indent it with his fin- gers, and little drops of blood oozed forth from within. Imagine the feelings of the horse after having been put into the shafts ! He was driven forth into the dust and gravel of the streets, or sent pounding along a stone pavement, with nothing but the thinnest possible fila- ment of horn-substance left between the exquisite inner organization of the foot, and the dirt, gravel, and stones on which he was travelling: And yet this method of procedure is not only tolerated by gentlemen of wealth and character, but vindicated and held up as the model (!) method of preparing the foot for the emer- gencies of actual service. “The horn,” says a recent writer, “is secreted from the living surface; and myriads of beautiful vascular and sensitive tufts dependent from this surface enter the horn-fibres to a certain depth, and play an important part in the formation of the sole. The newly-formed THE HOBSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 237 horn is soft and spongy, and incapable of resisting ex- posure to the air ; but, as it is pushed farther away from this surface by successive deposits of fresh material, it becomes old horn, loses its moisture, and, in doing so, acquires hardness and rigidity sufficient to withstand external influences: then it is subjected to wear; and, if this be insufficient to reduce it sufficiently, it falls off in scales. But the process of exfoliation is not a rapid one : the flakes remain attached to the solid horn be- neath, more or less firmly, until it, in turn, commences to loosen on the surface, and yield new flakes ; when the old ones separate. This natural diminution in the ex- cess of horn of the sole is a most beneficial process for the hoof. Horn is a slow conductor of heat and cold, and, when thick, retains moisture for a long period. These flakes, then, act as a natural ‘ stopping ‘ to the hoof by accumulating and retaining moisture beneath; and this not only keeps the foot cool as it slowly evapo- rates, but insures for the solid and growing horn its toughness, elasticity, and proper development In ad- dition to this, every flake acts more or less as a spring in warding off bruL or other injuries to the .* f 2 thus the floor of the horny box is protected from in- jury externally and internally. “What occurs when the farrier — following out the routine of his craft, or obeying the injunctions of those as ignorant as himself, or so prejudiced as not to be able to reason — pares the sole until it springs to the press- ure of his thumb ? Why, the lower surface of the foot 238 THE PERFECT HORSE. — that which is destined to come into contact with the ground, and to encounter its inequalities, and which, more than any other part, requires to be efficiently shielded — is at once ruthlessly denuded of its protec- tion, and exposed to the most serious injury. The im- mature horn, suddenly stripped of its outer covering, immediately begins to experience the evil effects of ex- ternal influences. It loses its moisture, dries, hardens, and shrivels up. It also occupies a smaller space ; and, in doing so, the sole becomes more concave, drawing after it the wall, — for it must be remembered that the sole is a strong stay against contraction of the lower margin of the hoof, — and the consequence is, that the foot gradually decreases in size, and the quarters and heels narrow. The animal goes * tender,’ even on smooth ground ; but, if he chance to put his mutilated sole on a stone, what pain must he experience ! This tenderness on even ground or smoothly-paved roads arises from the fact, that not only is the entire sensitive surface compressed, irritated, or inflamed, by the hard, contracting envelope, and the unnatural exposure to sudden changes of heat and cold, but the little sensitive processes contained at the upper end of each of the horn- fibres are painfully crushed in their greatly-diminished tubes ; and, instead of being organs of secretion and the most delicate touch, they are now scarcely more than instruments of torture to the unfortunate animal. Not only is pain or uneasiness experienced during progres- sion, but, even in the stable, the horse whose soles have THE HOESB’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 239 been so barbarously treated exhibits tenderness in his feet by resting them ; and, if felt, a • great increase of temperature will be perceived, ” Owing to the secreting apparatus of the sole being deranged through this senseless paring, the formation of new horn takes place slowly ; and it is not until a certain quantity has been provided to compensate in some degree for that removed that the horse begins to stand easier and travel better. Scarcely, however, has the restorative process advanced to this stage, before it is time for him to be reshod ; when this part must again submit to be robbed of its horn. u The sole having been pared too thin and concave leaves the circumference of the hoof standing much higher than if it had been left intact, and apparently too long: so the wall must be still more reduced. This is done ; and we now have the whole ground-face of the hoof so wasted and mutilated, that, should the horse chance to lose a shoe soon after being shod, the impoverished foot cannot bear the rude contact of the ground for more than a few yards, and the poor creature is lame and useless. ” The tenderness and lameness arising from this mal- * treatment are usually ascribed to every thing but the right cause ; and the most popular is concussion. To avert this, and protect the defenceless sole, a most absurd shoe is required; and, still more absurd, the natural covering is attempted to be replaced by a plate of leather interposed between the ground and the sole, 240 THE PERFECT HOBSE. and which is made to retain bundles of tow steeped in tar or some pernicious substance. It is scarcely neces- sary to say that this artificial covering is but a poor substitute for that which has been so foolishly, and with so much careful labor, cut away: indeed, in several respects, the leather sole, even when only placed be- tween the wall and the shoe, and not over the entire surface, is very objectionable. ” Seeing, therefore, the natural provision existing in the sole of the hoof for its diminution in thickness when necessary, and knowing that the intact sole is the best safeguard against injury and deterioration to this region, it must be laid down as a rule in farriery, — and from which there must be no departure, — that this part is not to be interfered with, on any pretence, so long as the foot is in health: not even the flakes are to be disturbed. “Paring the Frog. — This part of the hoof is that which, in the opinion of the grooms and coachmen, most requires cutting, 4 to prevent its coming on the ground, and laming the horse ; ‘ and this reason, together with its softer texture, causes it to be made the sport of the farrier’s relentless knife. It is artistically and thorough- ly trimmed, the fine elastic horn being sliced away, sometimes even to the quick ; and, in its sadly-reduced form, it undergoes the same changes as have been ob- served in the pared sole. No wonder, then, that it can- not bear touching the ground any more than the sola Strip the skin off the sole of a man’s foot, and cause THE HOBSB’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 241 him to travel over stony or pebbly roads: would he walk comfortably and soundly?” Concerning the use of the frog, there exists much disagreement of opinion among those who are supposed to know all that is worth knowing about the equine structure. Fleming, in his ” Practical Horse-Shoeing,” — a book of value to the student of this subject, — thus describes the frog : — ” The horny frog is an exact reduplication of that within the hoof, described as the sensitive or fatty frog. It is triangular, or rather pyramidal, in shape ; and is situated at the back part of the hoof, within the bars, with its point, or apex, extending forward to the centre of the sole, and its base, or thickest portion, filling up the wide space left between the inflections of the walL In the middle of the posterior part is a cleft, which, in the healthy state, should not be deep, but rather shallow, and sound on its surface. ” In structure, this body is also fibrous, the fibres pass- ing in the same direction as those of the other portions, of the hoof; but instead of being quite rectilinear, like them, they are wavy or flexuous in their course, and present some microscopical peculiarities, which, though interesting to the comparative anatomist, need not be alluded to here. The fibres are finer than those of the sole and wall, and are composed of cells arranged in the- same manner as elsewhere in the hoof: they are formed by the villi which thickly stud the face of the membrane covering the sensitive frog. 16 242 THE PERFECT HORSE. “The substance of the homy frog is eminently elastic, and corresponds in the closest manner to the dense, elas- tic, epidemic pads on the soles of the feet of such ani- mals as the camel, elephant, lion, bear, dog, cat, &c, and which are evidently designed for contact with the ground, the support and protection of the tendons that flex the foot, to facilitate the springy movements of these creatures, and for the prevention of jar and injury to the limbs. ” In the horse’s foot, the presence of this thick, com- pressible, and supple mass of horn at the back of the hoof, its being in a healthy, unmutilated condition, and permitted to reach the ground while the animal is stand- ing or moving, are absolutely essential to the well-being of that organ, more especially should speed, in addition to weight-carrying, be exacted.” The frog serves several uses, and is a most impor- tant organ. Lafosse, in 1754, wrote, — ” The frog is composed of soft and compact horn, , spongy and elastic in its nature, and serves as a cushion to the tendon Achilles. It ought to bear fully on the ground, as much for the facility as for the safety of the horse when in movement. It is,” he adds, “the natural point cTapput of the flexor tendon.” Some have supposed that another use of the frog was to expand the heels of the foot. They have an idea that it acts like a wedge driven in between the bars of the foot, and that, at every shock it receives when brought in contact with the ground, it is driven home, THE HOESE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT, 243 as it were, causing the bars and wall of the hoof to expand laterally. This u lateral-expansion ” theory is at variance with my opinion. Practically there can be no lateral expansion of the horny substances of the foot. Much less likely is it that a soft, yielding, elastic substance like the frog could overcome the resistance of dense, solid, inelastic substance such as composes the walls, bars, and sole of a horse’s foot. I do not say that by artificial processes, such as sawing and cutting and boring, the walls of the hoof cannot be laterally expanded, without the employ- ment of any great degree of skill, either ; for it requires no great effort for a strong, able-bodied man to saw the leg off at the knee-joint, or where it makes its junction with the body, for that matter. A knife and saw in the hand of a hobbyist can do most any thing. I think that fifty dollars is a high price for sawing open a horse’s foot ; although some differ from me, and hold it to be astonishingly cheap. In this way, lateral expansion can indeed be gotten ; but in no other way. It is this ” lateral-expansion ” theory which has been a source of torture to the horse. In order to accommo- date its claim, soles have been pared away until the blood trickled ; bars dug out until not the least trace of them remained ; Nature’s cushion — the frog — been shaved down until only a little line and fragment of it was left; heels wedged open with forcible pressures, and even lacerated with the teeth of a saw : and the edge of the satire is felt only when we remember 244 THE PERFECT HORSE. that the theory is a humbug ; that lateral expansion is a thing that does not exist in the hoof of a horse, and could not exist without imperilling its entire service. The inference from what we have said is this (and it would be well if every reader would accept it as a law in shoeing) : Never allow the knife to touch the sole of your horse’s foot, nor the least bit of it be pared away ; because Nature needs the full bulk of it, and has amply provided for its removal at the proper time, without assistance from you. And, secondly, never allow a knife to be put to the frog; because Nature never provides too much of it to answer the purpose for which the Creator designed it; and the larger it is, the more swiftly, easily, and safely will your horse go. The bars of the foot are but the prolongation of the outer wall of the hoof. Their object is to protect the frog, and strengthen the foot itself. Their value in this direction can scarcely be over-estimated To cut them away is like removing the beams that keep the walls of a house from falling outward or crushing inward. If a healthy foot is placed upon a glass stand, it will be seen that the ground-surface of the wall, bars, and frog, all bear the relative proportion of weight. These might be called the three great pillars on which the body of the horse, like some dome upheld by three columns, standa To shorten or remove two of these three columns is, of course, fatal. The dome is of such weight as to crush the sole THE HOBSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 245 remaining support. This is precisely the condition of things under the common vicious system of shoeing. The bars are cut away so that they cannot touch the earth; the frog is pared down the same way; the sole, also, is gouged out: and the result is, that nothing is left but the wall of the hoof to support the vast bulk and weight above. When you remember that the wall is very thin, — scarcely half an inch in thickness where it touches the ground, — you will share with me the surprise, not that so many horses “pound their feet up ” and break down, or “give out in their feet” as the saying is, but that any horses survive at all. The true way is to let every thing grow, and grow to the fullest extent that Nature designs it to reach: and, in shoeing, seek only to protect from too rapid destruc- tion what Nature has put together ; least of all cut away that which Nature has provided so abundantly, and more efficiently than the art and skill of man can ever hope to effect. And this brings me to the preparation of the foot for the shoe. The only preparation that the frog, bars, and sole require in a healthy, natural foot, as we have shown, is to be let alone. The only portion of the foot that need be or should \>e touched is the ground-surface of the
wall. This should be levelled with knife or rasp (better
with the rasp than with the knife, as we think) until
the proper angle which the hoof should make with the
ground has been reached ; and this is all. This angle
of the ground-surface is apt to be unattended to. The
246 THE PERFECT HORSE.
angle which is generally given is that of 45° : but this’
is evidently wrong; and our wonder is that any one
should have suggested or indorsed it In speaking of
this angle, Fleming says, —
” It will be obvious that this inclination also varies with
the breeding of the animal and the conformation of the
limbs, so that no definite degree can be assigned. But
it must be pointed out, that giving the angle of 45°, as
is done in almost every treatise on shoeing and the
anatomy of the foot, is a grave error. Looked at in
profile, a hoof with this degree of obliquity would at
once be pronounced a deformity. The slope is too
great (Fig. 1) ; and, if the farrier were to attempt to
bring every foot he shod to this standard, he would in-
flict serious injury, not only
on the foot itself, but also on
the back-tendons and the
joints of the limbs. Careful
measurement will prove that
Fig. i. the obliquity of the front of
the hoof is rarely, if ever, in a well-shaped leg and foot,
above 50° ; and that it is, in the great majority of cases,
nearer 56°. The sides, or 4 quarters,’ of the wall, are
less inclined, though the outer is generally more so
than the inner ; while the heels are still more vertical,
and the inner may even incline slightly inward. Viewed
in profile, the posterior face of the hoof will be ob-
served to have the same degree of slope as the front
face. In height, the heels are usually a little more
THE HOUSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 247
than one-half that of the toe. Both heels are equal in
height 1 ‘
Generally speaking, the toes are left too long. It
should be remembered that it is the front portion of the
foot that would be most worn, were it not protected by
the shoe ; and, owing to this fact, feet with projecting
toes would never occur in nature. The length of the
human foot could not be materially increased without
greatly incommoding us when walking or running ; and
so, when the front of the horse’s hoof is allowed to pro-
trude as we often see it, he labors under great incon-
venience, and possibly pain, when in motion. The sug-
gestion of Nature is, that the toe should be kept duly
shortened, the front edge of the shoe drawn a little back
from the rim of the wall, and rounded, so that the metal
will take the shape which the hoof would have if the
wall were undefended with metallic covering, and ex-
posed to the friction at every spring.
I propose, at this point, to quote at length from a
treatise, on the same subject of which we are treating,
by Lafosse, a French veterinarian and author, who wrote
in the first half of the eighteenth century, and from
whose works more ideas have been taken, without any
acknowledgment, by the writers of the last fifty years on
the horse’s foot, than from any other author in any branch
of literature that I can recall. Lafosse, according to
my judgment, is the wisest man who ever wrote upon
the subject. Indeed, no considerable improvement has
been made, as I think, in what he wrote in regard to the
248 THE PERFECT HORSE.
horse’s foot, and how to treat it. Men have stolen from
him right and left. His works have been the great
thesaurus from which literary thieves have filched their
boasted opinions. Even his errors they have adopted,
and given him no credit for them ! Principles which
he discovered, believed in, published, and afterwards
disproved and threw overboard, they have taken, put
into a metallic shape, patented, and advertised them to
the world as new discoveries. At the feet of this wise
teacher I sit gladly as a pupil ; and I feel that I can do
no greater service to the horsemen of America than
to introduce into these pages certain portions of his
works. At one point, he is speaking of the errors em-
bodied in the then system of shoeing; and his words
are applicable unto us of this day. I cannot do better
than to transcribe numerically some of the points he
makes. He says, —
” 1. Long shoes, thick at the heels, never remain
firmly attached to the feet in consequence of their
weight, and break the clinches of the nails.
“2. They require proportionately large nails to re-
tain them ; and these split the horn ; or, frequently, their
thick stalks press against the sensitive laminae and sole,
and cause the horse to go lame.
“3. Horses are liable to pull off these long shoes
when the hind-foot treads upon the heel of the fore-
shoe, either in walking, while standing, by putting the
one foot upon the other, betwee.n two paving-stones in
the pavement, between the bars of gates, in the draw-
bridges of fortifications, or in heavy ground.
THE HOUSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 249
“4. They move heavily, as the weight of their shoes
fatigues them.
u 5. Long shoes with massive heels raise the frogs
from the ground, and prevent the horse walking on
those parts. Then, if the horse has a humor in the
frog, it becomes a ficthrush, or crapaud (canker), be-
cause the humor lodges there. In shoeing with short
shoes, the horse goes on his frog ; the humor is dissi-
pated more easily, particularly in the fore-feet, as the
animal places more weight upon them than the hind
ones.
” 6. Long shoes, thick at the heels, when put upon
feet which have low heels, bruise, and bend them in-
wards, and lame the horse, although the heel be sprung ;
and, when the foot is raised, we can see daylight between
the shoe and the hoof. When it is on the ground, the
heel descends to the shoes, because the hoof is flexible.
” 7. Shoes long and strong at the heels, when the
foot is pared, — the frog being removed a long distance
from the ground, — cause many accidents ; such as the
rupture or straining of the flexor tendon, and compres-
sion of the vascular sole, — a circumstance not known
until I pointed it out.
” 8. Long shoes cause horses to slip and fall, because
they act like a patten on the slippery pavement, as well
in summer as in winter.
” 9. Long shoes are also injurious when horses lie
like a cow, in consequence of the heels wounding the
elbows.
250 THB PERFBOT HORSE.
” 10. Calkins should not be used on paved roads:
they are only useful on ice or slippery ground, — terre
grasse.
” 11. The calkins on the inside heels are liable to
wound the coronets when the horse happens to cross
his feet.
“12. A horse shod with them is soon fatigued, and
never goes easy.
” 13. The horse which has only a calkin on the out-
side does not stand fair ; and the calkin confines the
movement of the coronary articulation, the foot being
twisted to one side.
” 14. If a horse has his feet pared, and loses a shoe,
he cannot travel without breaking and bruising the
wall, and damaging the horny sole, because the horn is
too thin to protect it.
” 15. If the shoes are long, and the heels of the hoof
pared out hollow, stones and pebbles lodge between the
shoe and the sole, and make the horse lame.
” 16. Flat feet become convex by hollowing the
shoes to relieve the heels and the frog, because, the
more the shoes are arched from the sole, the more
the wall of the hoofs is squeezed and rolled inwards,
particularly towards the inner quarter, which is the
weakest. The sole of the foot becomes convex, and
the horse is nearly always Unfit for service.
” 17. If the wall ‘of the hoof is thin, and the shoes
are arched, the quarters are so pressed upon, that the
horse is lame.
THE HOBSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 261
44 18. Pared hoofs are exposed to considerable injury
from wounds by nails, stones, glass, &c.
” 19. The pared sole readily picks up earth or sand,
which forms a kind of cement between it and the shoe,
and produces lameness.
” 20. The reason why it is dangerous to pare the feet
of horses, is because, when the sole is pared, and the
horse stands in a dry place, the horn becomes desiccated
by the air which enters it, and removes its moisture and
its suppleness, and often causes the animal to be lame.
“21. A habit to be abolished is that in which the far-
rier, to save trouble, burns the sole with a hot iron, so
as to pare it more easily. The result, often, is to heat
the sensitive sole, and cripple the horse.
” 22. It often happens, that, to make the foot pleasant
to look at, the horn of the sole is removed to the quick ;
and the flesh springs out from it This granulation is
called a 4 cherry ; ‘ and sometimes it makes the horse
unserviceable for a considerable period.
” 23. It is the pared foot which is most affected with
what is termed contracted or weak inside quarter, and
which also lames the horse.
” 24. It also happens that one or both quarters con-
tract, and sometimes even the whole hoof : then, in con-
sequence of its smallness, all the internal parts are
confined in their movements. This lames the horse, and
is due to paring.
44 25. There also occurs another accident. When the
quarter becomes contracted, the hoof splits in its lateral
252 THE PERFECT HORSE.
aspect. This accident is termed ‘a sand-crack,’ —seime,
— and the horse is lame.
” 26. The fashion of paring the hoofs, and especially
the heels, within which are the bars, causes contraction ;
and this renders the horse lame.
“27. It is an abuse to rasp the hoofs of horses : this
alters the hoof, and forms sand-cracks.
11 28. If a horse which has pared hoofs happens to lose
his shoes, and walks without them, the horn is quickly
used, and the feet damaged.
“29. Another defect is in the manner of making large
nail-holes in the shoes, &c.
” 30. The majority of farriers, in order to pare the
sole well, cut it until it bleeds ; and, to stop the hemor-
rhage, they burn the place with a hot iron, and the
horse returns lame to his stable.”
In reference to this, Fleming says, —
” We see, then, that the curse of paring and heavy
shoes was causing great evils in the days of Lafosse, as
much as in our own. After enumerating all the vices
and defects of shoeing as it was then practised, he pro-
ceeds to lay the foundation for a rational method ; and
his remarks to this end are particularly happy. In a
state of nature, he observes, all the inferior parts of the
foot concur to sustain the weight of the body : then we
observe that the heels and the frogs — the parts said to
be most exposed — are never damaged by wear ; that
the wall, or crust, is alone worn in going on hard ground ;
and that it is only this part which must be protected,
THE HORSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 253
leaving the other parts free and unfettered in their
natural movements. These are the true and simple
principles of good farriery he lays down; and they are
as appropriate^and explicit to-day as they were then.”
. Lafosse goes on to say, —
“To prevent horses slipping on the dry, glistening
pavement, — pavi sec et plombS, — it is necessary to
shoe them with a crescent-shaped shoe, — that is, a shoe
which only occupies the circumference of the toe, and
whose heels gradually thin away to the middle of the
quarters, — so that the frog and heels of the hoof bear
on the ground, and the weight be sustained behind and
before, but particularly in the latter, because the weight
of the body falls heaviest there. The shorter the shoe is,
the less the horse slips ; and the frog has the same influ-
ence in preventing this that an old hat placed under our
own shoes would have in protecting us from slipping on
ice.
” It is necessary, nevertheless, that hoofs which have
weak walls should be a little longer shod, so that the
gradually thinning branches reach to the heels, though
not resting upon them. For horses which have thin, con-
vex soles, — pieds combles, — these long shoes should be
also used ; and the toes should be more covered to pre-
vent the sole touching the ground : at the same time,
the shoe must be so fitted that it does not press upon
the sole, and the heels and frog rest upon the ground.
This is the only true method of preserving the foot, and
restoring it. … A horse which has its heels weak and
254 THE PERFECT HOBSB.
sensitive ought to be shod as short as possible, and with
thin branches, — Sponges, — so that the frog comes in con-
tact with the ground ; because the heels, having nothing
beneath them, are benefited and relieved (Fig. 2).
” Crescent shoes are all the
more needful for a horse which
has weak, incurvated quarters,
aa they not only relieve them,
I but also restore them to their
natural condition. Horses which
have contusions at the heels —
bleimes, corns — should also be
shod in this manner; and for
cracks — seimes, sand-cracks —
“*■ *■ at the quarter it is also advan-
tageous. The sole, or frog, should never be pared : the
wall alone should be cut down, if it is too long. When
a horse cuts himself with the opposite foot, the inner
branch of the shoe ought to be shorter and thinner than
the outer. In order that the shoe wear a long time, I
have used a nail of my invention, the head of which is
in the form of a cone, and the aperture in the shoe of
the same shape, and exactly filled by the nail. How-
ever much the shoe may be worn, it is always retained
in its place. This kind of nail (Fig. 2) possesses three
other advantages : one, that it is less liable to be broken
at the neck, because it exactly fits the stamped hole; the
other, that it is smaller, and, in consequence, not likely
to press on the sensitive part of the foot ; and, lastly,
that it does less damage to the horn.
THE HOBSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 255
” By this new mode of shoeing, all the defects and ac-
cidents attendant upon the old method are evaded.”
In another place he gives directions for shoeing good
hoofs on horses kept for general service, as follows : —
” The shoes must not be too long, or project beyond
the heels, but only reach the bars; neither must the
hoofs, behind or before, be pared The wall, or crust,
alone should be diminished in proportion as it may be
too long. This should be done evenly ; and neither the
sole nor frog must be cut : the latter should be allowed
to project, if possible, above the shoe, so that it may
come into contact with the ground. The shoe ought to
be about the same strength throughout, or a little
thicker and wider in the outer branch of the fore-foot,
and thin at the heels of the hind one. Be careful to
stamp the nail-holes on the same line, not in a zigzag
manner. The holes should not be too coarse, as there
is then danger of pricking the horse, or binding the
hoof with the stalk of the nail. The shoe should be
stamped coarser outside than inside, because it may
be necessary to leave it wider outside. Do not bend
the shoes in adjusting them, nor arch them: they
ought to be nearly flat ; though they might be slightly
curved, so as to preserve the wall of the hoof. They
should also follow the outline of the hoof, — a little more
to the outside than the inside. When fitting, the shoe
should not be kept too long a time on the hoof, for
fear of heating it. With this shoeing we may travel
on slippery ground or grass land, in using for each
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256 THE PERFECT HORSE.
shoe two nails with long heads, which will prevent the
horse from slipping. Also during frost, on paved
roads, or ice or snow, use these nails, as they prevent
slipping : the roads being hard, three nails are required,
— two in the outer branch, and one in the inner.”
Reverting to the defective shoeing of his time,
he endeavors to demonstrate, that, by removing the
horn of the frog, and points of the heels, from the
ground, the animal’s footing on paved roads is much
less secure.
“The draught-horse,” he says, “first places his weight
on the toe, then on the two sides of the hoof; and
afterwards the heels are lowered to meet the heel
of the shoe. The saddle-horse rests more lightly on
the toe. The canon (or shank-bone) presses on the
pastern-bone, this on the coronary, and this again on
the coffin and navicular bones. From this disposition,
we should note two important points which throw light
on the defects of the present method, and indicate how
to remedy them : one is, that the strain of the weight
is neither fixed on the toe nor heel, but between the
two; the other, that the more the frog is removed
from the ground, or from any point of support, the
more the pressure of the coronary on the navicular
bone fatigues the tendon on which it rests, in conse-
quence of the excessive extension it experiences at
each step the horse takes. The frog ought, therefore,
to rest on the ground, as much for the facility as for
the surety of the horse’s movements ; as the larger the
THE HOBSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 257
frog is, so the less do the heels meet the ground ; and
the more the heels are relieved, the greater ease does
the horse experience in progression. The only way
to insure this is to shoe him according to the method I
have indicated, as this causes him to walk on his frog,
which is the natural prop or basis — point tfappui —
for the flexor tendon.”
Fleming, in quoting this passage from Lafosse,
says, —
44 The whole aim of Lafosse’s teaching appears to have
been wisely devoted to the importance of allowing the
posterior parts of the foot to rest on the ground with-
out the intervention of the shoe.”
Again we select from Lafosse’s work : —
44 It is useful and even necessary to put short shoes on
all flat feet, particularly on those which have the form
of an oyster-shell. Every flat foot has low heels ; but
Nature, to remedy this defect, bestows a large frog to
preserve these parts. We ought not, then, to pare
the soles, much less cut them out towards the heels ;
neither should the hoofs be too much rasped : all these
practices are so many abuses which bring about the
destruction of the horse’s feet The first abuse —
hollowing out the heels — is to destroy the horn which
forms the bars, and prevents the heels and quarters
from contracting: the second abuse — rasping the
foot — is to destroy the strength of the hoof, and, con-
sequently, to cause its horn to become dry, and the
horny laminae beneath to grow weak : from this often
17
258 THE PERFECT HOBSE.
arises an internal inflammation, which renders the foot
painful, and makes the horse go lame.
” It ought to be always remembered, that the more
a horse’s foot is pared, so the more do we expose it to
accidents. It is depriving it, in the first place, of a
defence that Nature has given it against the hard and
pointed substances it encounters; and in the second
place, — and which is of the utmost advantage for both
horse and rider, — in not paring the sole, and only using
as much of a shoe as is necessary to protect the horn,
the animal will be no longer liable to slip on bad roads
in winter or summer, when they are vulgarly called
phmbe, as will be shown.
“1. Causing a horse to walk on the frog, and partly
on the heel, the former is found to be rasped by the
friction it experiences on the earth and paved road,
and is pressed by the weight of the body into the little
cavities and interstices it meets.
” 2. By its flexibility, it takes the imprint and the
contour, so to speak, of the ground it comes into con-
tact with ; so that the foot rests on a greater number of
parts, which, mutually assisting each other, multiply the
points of support, and thereby give the animal more
adherence to the surface on which he moves. We may
even say that he acquires a kind of feeling in this part,
through its correspondence with the fleshy sole, and from
this to the tendon, — a feeling that I will not compare
with that we experience when we walk with naked
feet, but which is yet sufficient to warn him of the
THE HOBSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 259
counterpoise he ought to give to his body to maintain
its equilibrium, and so preserve him from falling, twist-
ing, or stumbling.
” The object of shoeing, by him who first resorted to
it, would only be as a preservative and a defence, as
much for the wall as for the sole. But he would not
add the condition of paring either the one or the other,
I do not say to our excess, but in any way whatever ;
because this would be contrary to his principle, and
would destroy his work.
” This precaution (paring) can only be recommended
in cases where the horn is rugged, and the shoe does
not rest on it everywhere equally, thus opposing its
solidity. In such a case it is right; but otherwise it is a
contradiction and an absurdity. I have often questioned
those amateur horsemen who were particularly careful
to have their horses’ feet pared ; but none of them could
demonstrate either its necessity or propriety. . . . The
horny sole receives its nourishment from the vascular
sole : its softness and pliancy are due to its thickness ;
and its nourishment is diminished, while it becomes
harder, in direct proportion to the thinness we give it.
We even see horses, whose soles are pared, habitually
lame. The air, when the sole is in this state of thin-
ness, penetrates and dries it to such a degree, that, if
care is not taken to keep it damp when the animal is in
a dry place, it contracts, and* presses on the vascular
sole ; so that, if some time after we wish to pare the
sole again, it is not possible to do so, because it is so
260 THE PERFECT HORSE.
hard and dry that the boutotr will not touch it, and the
horse goes lame. . . . What risk does a horse not incur
who has nearly been deprived of his soles through this
paring! If he encounters stones, broken glass, or
nails, these easily penetrate to the sensitive sole, and
cripple him for a long time, if not for ever.
“When a horse loses a shoe, — a circumstance fre-
quently occurring, — and if the hoof is pared, the animal
cannot walk a hundred steps without going lame ; be-
cause, in this state, the lower surface of the foot being
hollowed, the horse’s weight falls on the crust ; and this,
having no support from the horny sole, is quickly
broken and worn away; and, if he meets hard sub-
stances on the road, he all the more speedily becomes
lame. It is not so when the sole is allowed to retain its
whole strength. The shoe comes off; but the sole and
frog rest on. the ground, and assist the crust in bearing
the greater part of the weight of the body; and the
animal, though unshod, is able to pursue his journey
safe and sound.
“It is a fact, that every horse, except those which
have the feet diseased and soles convex, and to which
shoes are necessary to preserve the soles, may travel
without shoes: and without going for an example to
the Arabs, Tartars, &c, we will find it among our own
horses, which, in the country, work every day without
requiring shoes ; but as soon as our wisdom and skill are
brought to bear in hollowing out the foot to the quick,
and making a fine, equal, and symmetrical frog, — doing
THE HORSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 261
it well and properly, as we say hi France, — shoes
become indispensably necessary.
” I therefore ask all amateur horsemen to insure their
horses as much as they can against this pretended per-
fection. It may be asked, What will become of the
horny sole if it is never pared ? and it may be feared,
that, by its growth, the foot will become overgrown.
Not at all ; for, in proportion to its growth, it dries, be-
comes flaky, and falls off in layers.
u The compressions so dangerous, which cause inflam-
mation, would no more be dreaded if we left the horn
of the sole, the bars, and the frog, entire. By their
pliability, thickness, flexibility, texture, and the situa-
tion they occupy, they appear to be solely destined by
Nature to serve as a defence to the vascular sole, as the
frog particularly acts as a. cushion to the tendon Achilles;
all being disposed to obviate shock on paved roads,
or injury from a stone, splinter, &c.
“It is necessary to be convinced of another fact: this
is, that it is rare that a horse goes at his ease, and is
not promptly fatigued, if the frog does not touch the
ground. As it is the only point of support, if you
raise it from the ground by paring it, there arises an
inordinate extension of the tendon, caused by the push-
ing of the coronary against the navicular bone, as has
been mentioned above, and which, being repeated at
every step the animal takes, fatigues it, and induces in-
flammation. From thence often arises the distention of
the sheaths of tendons {moieties / vulgo, ‘ windgalls ‘),
262 THE PERFECT HORSE.
engorgements, and swelling of the tendons, &c., that axe’
observed after long or rapid journeys. These accidents
arise less from the length of the journey, as has been
currently believed, than from the false practice of par-
ing the sole.
“I am astonished that this method of shoeing has
,not been employed long ago ; and I have much trouble
in persuading myself that I am the inventor. I am
more inclined to believe that it is only a copy of that
which has been practised by the first artist who thought
about shoeing horses.
” If my suspicions are correct, the oblivion into
which it has fallen proves nothing against its perfection,
because the good as well as the bad are alike liable to
be forgotten. The multitude, more credulous than en-
lightened, are easily persuaded: hence the long, thick
shoes, those with calkins, then with thick heels, and
afterwards the thin. There is every reason to believe,
that, if the poor animals for whom all this has been done
could be allowed to speak as they must think, nothing
of the kind would have taken place, and they would
have preferred their ancient armature, which, having
only been designed to preserve the crust, had certainly
none of the inconveniences of that employed nowa-
days.”
Fleming, at the close of his review of Lafosse,
says,—
” Lafosse’s experience of this admirable mode of pro-
tecting, whole preserving, the foot, was derived from a
THE HOBSB’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 263
•
trial* of its advantages on more than eighteen hundred
horses; and his success was most astonishing, though
no more than might, on reflection, be anticipated.”
Lafosse goes on to observe, —
” These short shoes, thin at the heels, have caused
the horses -to walk on their frogs, which are their points
of support ; and those which were lame at the heels are
sound again; those also whose inside quarters were
contracted, bent over, and split (sand-crack), have been
cured. It has been the, same with horses whose quar-
ters and heels have been contracted (encastdd) : these
have been widened, and havB assumed a proper shape.
The same may be said of those whose soles were con-
vex (comble), and which went lame with long shoes.
My method has also preserved those horses which had a
tendency to thrush (yulgo, fie) and canker of the frog
(erapaud).
” If the horse be shod with calkins, there is a great
space between the frog and the ground ; the weight of
the body comes on the calkins ; the frog, which is in the
air, cedes to the weight ; the tendon is elongated ; and,
if the horse makes a violent and sudden movement, the
rupture of that organ is almost inevitable, because the
frog cannot reach the ground to support it in the very
place it ought to ; and, if the tendon does not break, the
horse is lame for a long time from the great exten-
sion of the fibres, some of which may have been rup-
tured. … If the horse be shod without heels to his
shoes (Sponges), the frog, which carries all the weight
264 THE PERFECT HORSE.
of the horse’s body, yields at each step, and returns
again to its original form. The tendon is never in a
state of distraction : its fibres are no longer suceptible
of violent distention during a sudden movement. I
will go so far as to assert that rupture of the tendon
will never occur on a flat pavement : if it does, it will
be in the space between two paving-stonea Two
things clearly s follow from what I have said, — that it
may happen that the tendon Achilles sustains all the
different degrees of violence that can be imagined, from
total rupture to the smallest abrasion of its fibres, which
will cause the horse to go lame ; and it is on the frog
alone that all these different degrees depend, as has
been demonstrated more particularly in the history of
fracture of the navicular bone and the anatomy of
the foot. My new shoeing, I repeat, has nothing to
oppose it but prejudice. Anatomy, which has made
known to me the structure of the foot, has demonstrated
all its advantages, and experience has fully confirmed
them.”
Fleming, who quotes essentially the same as the fore-
going, well says, at the conclusion of the quotation, —
” I regret extremely that our limits forbid my trans-
lating at greater length from this splendid monograph ;
but I hope that I have been able, to some extent, to
show that Lafosse’s ideas on shoeing were founded on
sound anatomical and physiological principles, the result
of close observation and experience. And yet they ap-
pear to have made but little progress in the face of the
THE HORSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 265
opposition offered by ignorant grooms and farriers, who
were incompetent to understand any thing but the mere
every-day routine of the rapidly-degenerating art ; and
the prejudice of those amateur horsemen, who, though
the last perhaps to take upon trust statements relative
to other matters, would yet believe every thing told
them by these horse attendants and shoers. The far-
riers of Paris, indeed, unanimously protested against the
innovation two years after Lafosse had published his
treatise ; and their protest appears to have carried the
mind of the crowd.”
I presume that the same experience will be met in
case of those authors, who, like myself, seek to bring
forward these wise and salutary principles in farriery.
I fear that popular ignorance, stupidity, and wilfulness
will resist the introduction of all improvement in this
matter; and, for a while longer, man and horse will
continue to suffer. I am inclined, in this connection, to
quote from W. Osmer’s ” Treatise on the Diseases and
Lameness of Horses” (London, 1776). After warning
farriers not to remove any thing more of the crust or
wall of the hoof than is absolutely necessary, he says, —
” In all broad, fleshy feet, the crust is thin, and
should, therefore, suffer the least possible loss. On such
feet the rasp alone is generally sufficient to make the
bottom plain, and produce a sound foundation, with-
out the use of the desperate buttress. . . .
” The superficies of the foot round the outside now
made plain and smooth, the shoe is to be made quite
266 THE PERFECT HORSE.
flat, of an equal thickness all round the outside, and
open and most narrow backwards, at the extremities
of the heels, for the generality of horses. Those
whose frogs are diseased, either from natural or inci-
dental causes, require the shoe to be wider backwards ;
and, to prevent this flat shoe from pressing on the sole
of the horse, the outer part thereof is to be made
thickest, and the inside gradually thinner. In such a
shoe the frog is admitted to touch the ground, the
necessity of which has been already shown : add to
this, the horse stands more firmly on the ground,
having the same points of support as in a natural state.
Here, now, is a plain, easy method, agreeable to common
sense and reason, conformable to the anatomical struc-
ture of the parts, and therefore to the design of Nature,
— a method so plain, that one would think nobody
could ever swerve from it, or commit any mistake in
an art where nothing is required but to make smooth
the surface of the foot, to know what loss of crust
each kind of foot will bear with advantage to itself,
and to nail thereon a piece of iron adapted to the
natural tread of the horse; the design, good, or use
of the iron being only to defend the crust from break-
ing, — the sole wanting no defence^ if never pared. . . .
” The modern artist uses little difference in the treat-
ment of any kind of foot, but, with a strong arm and
a sharp weapon, carries all before him, and will take
more from a weak-footed horse at one paring than
Nature can furnish again in some months, whereby such
THE HORSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 267
«
are rendered lame. If a strong-footed horse, with
narrow and contracted heels, be brought before him,
such meets with treatment yet more severe. The bar
is scooped put, the frog trimmed, and the sole drawn
as thin as possible, even to the quick, under pretence
of giving’ him ease, because, he says, he is hot-
footed, or foundered; by which treatment the horse
is rendered more lame than he was before.”
Fleming, in quoting Osmer, observes, —
” This causes contraction of the hoof, and compression
of the parts within ; and, besides, a shoe was applied
thin on the outer circumference, and thick on the inner,
which being concave to the foot, and convex to the
ground, afforded but few points of support, removed the
frog from pressure, and caused great mischief. I pos-
sess some specimens of this terrible instrument of last-
century barbarism. It almost makes one shudder to
think of the fearful agony the poor horses must have
suffered when compelled to wear and work with it.”
Osmer concludes: u Let the shcfe on every horse stand
wider at the points of the heels than the foot itself:
otherwise, as the foot grows in length, the heel of the
shoe in a short time gets within the heel of the horse ;
which pressure often breaks the crust, and produces
a temporary lameness, perhaps a corn. Let every kind
of foot be kept as short at the toe as possible (so as not
to affect the quick) ; for, by a long toe, the foot becomes
thin and weak, the heels low, and the flexor tendons
of the leg are strained. The shortness of the toe helps,
268 THE PERFECT HOUSE.
alsOj to widen the narrow heels. In all thin, weak-
footed horses, the rasp should be laid on the toe in such
a manner as to render it as thick as may be ; by which
means the whole foot becomes gradually thicker,
higher, and stronger. In all feet whose texture is very
strong, the rasp may be laid obliquely on the fore-part
of the foot, towards the toe, and the toe itself thinned,
whereby the compression on the parts is rendered
somewhat less by diminishing the strength of the hoof,
or crust.
” But this rasp is to be used with discretion, lest, the
crust being too thin, and not able to support the
weight of the horse, a sand-crack ensue; which fre-
quently happens from too free or unskilful use of this
tool, and from the natural rigid texture of the coronet
The heel of the shoe on all strong and narrow-heeled
horses should be made straight at the extreme points ;
the form of the shoe in some measure helping to dis-
tend the heel of the horse. For the same reason, the
shoe on no horse should be continued farther than the
point of the heel. It has been already said, that neither
frog nor sole should ever be pared: nevertheless, it
must be understood that it is impossible to pare the
crust without taking away some of the adjacent sole ;
and it is also requisite — in order to obtain a smooth and
even surface — so far as the breadth of the shoe reaches,
and no farther. The frog, also, will become ragged ; and
loose pieces will occasionally separate from the body
thereof, perhaps in one foot, and not in the other.
THE HORSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 269
When this happens, it should be cut away with a knife,
to prevent the gravel lodging therein ; but, if it be •
left to the artist to do, he will be sure to take away
more of it at one time than will grow again in many
weeks.”
Some twenty years after Osmer published his protest
against treating the horse’s foot as if it were a block
of wood on which a man could hack and hew and cut
away at pleasure, Mr. J. Clark published a treatise •
upon farriery, in which he says, —
“However necessary it has been found to fix iron
shoes upon the hoofs of horses, it is certainly contrary
• to the original design of shoeing them, first to destroy
their hoofs by paring, &c, and afterwards to put on the
foot a broad, strong shoe to protect what remains, or
rather to supply the defect or want of that substance
which has been taken away. Tet, however absurd this
manner of treating the feet of horses may appear, it is
well known that it has been carried to a very great
length, and still continues to be thought absolutely
necessary. The destruction of their hoofs, and many
other bad consequences arising from it, are every day
but too apparent.”
And also this, which might be regarded as descrip-
tive of the state of things : —
” But no apology whatever can vindicate that per-
nicious practice of cutting and paring their hoofs to that
excess which is but too frequently done every time a
horse is shoed, and, in order to repair the injury done to
270 THE PERFECT HORSE.
%
the foot, fix on it a strong, broad-brimmed shoe, from
the very construction of which, together with the loss
of its natural defence, horses too frequently are ren-
dered totally useless. … In preparing the foot for the
shoe, the frog, the sole, and the bars, or binders, are
pared so much, that the blood frequently appears. The
shoe, by its form, — being thick on the inside of the
rim, and thin upon the outside, — must, of consequence,
be made concave, or hollow, on that side which is
placed immediately next the foot, in order to prevent
its resting on the sole. The shoes are generally of an
immoderate weight and length; and every means is
used to prevent the frog from resting upon the ground*
by making the shoe-heels thick, broad, and strong,
or raising cramps, or calkins, on them. From this
form of the shoe, and from this method of treating
the hoof, the frog is raised to a considerable height
above the ground ; the heels are deprived of that sub-
stance which was provided by Nature to keep the crust
extended at a proper wideness; and the foot is fixed,
as it were, in a mould. … If we attend further to the
convex surface of this shoe, and the convexity of the
pavement upon which horses walk, it will then be evi-
dent that it is impossible for them to keep their feet
from slipping, especially upon declivities of streets. It is
also a common practice, especially in this place, to turn
up the heels of the shoes into what is called cramps, or
calkins, by which means the weight of the horse is con-
fined to a very narrow surface, — the inner round edge
THE HOKSE’S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT, 271
of the shoe-rim, and the points, or calkins, of each heel.
The consequence is, that it throws the weight of the
body forward upon the toes, and is apt to make the
horse slip and stumble.
“Farriers, in general, are too desirous to excel one
another in making what is termed fine, neat work ; and
that is no other than paring the sole till it yields easily
under the pressure of the thumb : and, to give the frog
a fine shape, it is frequently pared till the blood appears;
to prevent the effusion of which, the actual cautery is
sometimes applied. It is to be observed, that, when the
sole is so much pared, it dries and hardens in proportion
as it is thinned ; and the strong, horny substance of the
crust, overcoming the resistance from the sole, is thereby
contracted. This will produce lameness, the real cause of
which is overlooked, or little attended to. Among the
many disadvantages that attend the common shoes, one
is their being more liable to be pulled off, from their
great weight, length, &c, especially in deep ground, in
riding fast, or when the toe of the hinder foot strikes
against the heel of the fore-shoe. To prevent this in-
convenience, sixteen or eighteen nails are frequently
made use of, which destroy and weaken the crust by
their being placed too near one another ; and it is not
uncommon, when a shoe nailed in this manner is pulled
off, that the crust on the outside of the nails breaks
away with it. If this should happen a few days after
the foot has been so finely pared (which is not unusual),
or upon a journey, and at a distance from any place
272 THE PERFECT HORSE.
where a shoe may be immediately procured, the horse
instantly becomes lame from the thinness of the sole and
weakness of the crust, and is hardly able to support
the weight of his own body, much less that of his rider.”
This, also, must have been prophetic in its application
to our times : —
u So much are farriers, grooms, &c, prejudiced in
favor of the common method of shoeing and paring out
the feet, that it is with difficulty they can even be pre-
vailed upon to make a proper trial of it They cannot
be satisfied unless the frog be finely shaped, the sole
pared, the bars cut out, in order to make the heels
appear wide. This practice gives them a show of wide-
ness for the time ; yet that, together with the concave
form of the shoe, forwards the contraction of the heels,
which, When confirmed, renders the animal lame for life.
In this flat fornn>f shoe its thickest part is upon the out-
side of the rim, where it is most exposed to be worn;
and, being made gradually thinner towards its inner
edge, it is, therefore, much lighter than the common con-
cave shoe, yet it will last equally as long, and with more
advantag