In these climates the mare contributes less than the stallion to the beauty of the foal, but she contributes perhaps more to his temperament and form; thus it is necessary that the mares should be strong and large bodied, and good nurses, in order to breed beautiful horses. The Spanish and Italian mares are preferred for an elegant breed, and those of England for draught and coach-horses. The mares of all countries may, nevertheless, produce handsome horses, provided they are themselves well made, of a good breed, and have proper stallions; for if they are engendered from a bad horse the foals which they produce will frequently prove defective. In this species of animals, as well as in the human race, the young frequently resemble their male or female ancestors; only it appears, that in horses the female does not contribute so much to generation as in the human species, where the son oftener resembles the mother than the foal does the mare; and when the foal resembles the mare which has produced it, it is usually in the fore parts of the body, as the head and neck.
To judge well of the resemblance of children to their parents, the comparison should not be made in their youth; we ought to wait till they are arrived at puberty; for there happens at this period so sudden a change of the parts that it may be possible to mistake, at the first glance of the eye, a person whom we have known perfectly well before that period, but have not seen since. Till after puberty, then, we ought not to compare the child with its parents, if we would judge accurately of the resemblance, as then the son frequently resembles his father, and the daughter her mother, and frequently the child resembles both at once. Sometimes children resemble the grandfathers or grand-mothers, and even uncles and aunts. Almost always children of the same parents are like each other, and all have some family-likeness. In horses, as the male contributes more to generation than the female, mares frequently produce colts which are very like the stallion, or which always resemble their father more than their mother; and when the brood-mare has herself been begot by a bad horse, it frequently happens that, though she had a beautiful stallion and is handsome herself, she shall yet produce a foal which, however in appearance handsome and well made in its early youth, degenerates as it grows older; while a well-bred mare produces foals, which though at first they have an unfavourable appearance, grow handsomer as they advance in age.
These observations which seem all to concur in proving that in horses the male has greater influence than the female on their progeny, do not appear sufficient to establish this fact in an indisputable manner. It is not impossible, but that these observations may subsist, and yet in general the mare may contribute as much as the horse to the production of their issue; for it is not astonishing that stallions, always chosen out of a great number, generally brought from warm climates, high-fed, kept and managed with great care, should have the sway in generation over common mares, bred in a cold climate, and frequently obliged to labour. But if the beautiful mares of warm countries were selected out, managed with equal care, and covered by common horses of our own country, I think there cannot be a doubt but the semblance of the females would be superior to the males, and that among horses, as well as in the human species, there would be an equality in the influence of the male and female in their young, supposing a similarity in the accordant circumstances. This appears natural, and the more probable, as it has been remarked in studs that an equal number of male and female foals are bred, which proves that, at least as far as regards the sex, the female has equal influence.
Mares are generally in season nine days after their delivery, when the horse ought to be taken to them, in the choice of which attention should be paid to his figure being perfect in those parts wherein the mare may be deficient. The breed of horses, at least such as are handsome, require an infinite degree of care and attention, and is accompanied with considerable expence. The mares and foals should be kept in rich inclosures, and if alternately grazed by oxen and horses it will be an advantage, as the former constantly repairs the injuries done by the latter; each of these inclosures should contain a pond, which is preferable to a running stream, and be also provided with trees to shelter them from the heat of the sun; when, however, the winter season commences they should be taken into the stable and be well supplied with hay.
The stallion should always be kept in the house; he should be fed with more straw than hay, and be moderately exercised until the season for covering, when he should be fed plentifully, though with nothing but common food. If managed with proper care he may be led to 15 or 18 mares with success in the course of the season, which, as we before observed, continues from the end of March to the end of June.
It has been remarked, that studs, situated in dry and light countries, produce active, swift and vigorous horses, with nervous legs, and strong hoofs, while those which are bred in damp places, and in fat pasturage, have generally large heavy heads, thick legs, soft hoofs, and flat feet. This difference arises from the climate and food, which may be easily understood; but, what is more difficult to comprehend, and essential to be known, is, the necessity of always crossing, or mixing the breed of horses to prevent their degenerating.
There is in nature a general prototype of each species, from which each individual is modelled, but which seems in procreation to be debased, or improved, according to its circumstances, insomuch, that in relation to certain qualities, there is a strange variety in the appearance of individuals, and at the same time a constant resemblance in the whole species.
The first animal, the first horse, for example, has been the exterior and interior model, from which all horses that have existed, or shall exist, have been formed; but this model, of which we are only acquainted with copies, may have fallen off, or arrived at greater perfection, by multiplying and communicating its form. The original form subsists entire in each individual; but though there are millions of individuals, yet no two exactly resemble each other, nor, consequently, the model from which they are sprung. This difference, which proves how far Nature is from making any thing absolutely perfect, and how well she knows how to shade her works, is exactly the same in the human species, in all animals, and in all vegetables; and what is singular, the model of what is handsome and excellent is dispersed through all parts of the earth, and that in each climate there is a portion thereof, which perpetually degenerates, unless united with another portion taken from a distant country; so that to have good corn, beautiful flowers, &c. it is necessary to change the seeds, and that they never should be sown in the same ground where they grew. To have fine horses, dogs, &c. it is proper for the males and females to be of different countries. Without this being attended to, corn, flowers, and animals, will degenerate, or rather take so strong a tincture of the climate as to deform and bastardize the species; the form remains, but disfigured in all the lines which are not essential thereto; by mixing, on the contrary, the kinds, and above all, by crossing their breed with foreign species, their forms seem to become more perfect.
I shall not here enter into the causes of these effects, but indicate the conjectures which readily present themselves. We know from experience that animals or vegetables transplanted from a distant climate frequently degenerate, and sometimes are improved in a short time. It is easy to conceive, that this effect is produced by the difference of the climate and food. The influence of these two causes must at length render these animals exempt from, or susceptible of, certain affections or certain disorders; their temperament must gradually change; consequently their form, which depends partly on the food and the quality of the humours, must also change in their progeny. This change is indeed almost imperceptible in the first generation, because the male and female, supposed to be the stock of this race, being completely grown, had taken their consistence and form before they were brought from their own country; the new climate, and new food may, indeed, change their temperament, but cannot have influence enough on the solid parts, and organs to alter their form, consequently the first generation will be no ways changed, nor will the original stock at the time of birth be degenerated: but the young and tender animal will feel the influence of the climate, and receive a stronger impression than its father and mother had done. The food will also have a greater effect, and act upon the organic parts during the time of its growth, change a little the original form, and produce therein those seeds of defects which manifest themselves in a very conspicuous manner in the second generation, where the progeny will not only have its own defects which arise from its growth, but also the vices of the second stock. In the third generation, the defects, which proceed from the influence of the climate and food, combined with those of influence on the actual growth, will become so visible, that the character of the first stock will be effaced. Thus animals of a foreign race soon lose their particular qualities, and in every respect resemble those of the country. Spanish or Barbary horses, if the breed is not crossed frequently, become in France, French horses, in the second generation, and always in the third. We are, therefore, obliged to cross the breed instead of preserving it, and renew the race at each generation, by giving the horses of Barbary or Spain, to the mares of the country; and what is more singular, this renewal of the race, which is only done in part, produces much better effects than if the renewal was entire. A Spanish horse and mare in a foreign country do not produce such handsome horses as those which are bred from a Spanish horse and a mare of the country; this is easy to be conceived, if attention is given to the amendment of natural defects, which will be produced when a male and female of different countries are put together. Each climate, by its influence, and by that of its food, gives a certain conformation of parts, which offends either by excess or defects. In a warm climate, there will be in excess what will be deficient in a cold climate, therefore, when we join together animals of those opposite climates, we must expect the produce to be complete; and as the most perfect work in Nature is that which has the fewest defects, and the most perfect forms, those that have the fewest deformities, so the produce of two animals, whose defects exactly counterbalance each other, will be the most perfect production of its species: they counterbalance one another the better, in proportion to the distance between the countries the animals matched together were bred in; the compound that results therefrom is the more perfect, the more opposite the excesses or defects of the constitution of the male are to the defects or excesses of the temperament of the female. Thus the breed is always improved by matching the mares with foreign horses, and they will always be more beautiful in proportion as the climates in which the horse and mare were bred are the more distant, and, on the contrary, the produce will be much debased by suffering horses of the same race to breed together; for they infallibly degenerate in a very little time.