The Handy Horse-book / or Practical Instructions in Driving, Riding, and the General Care and Management of Horses. 4th ed.

by Maurice Hartland Mahon

LIST OF PLATES.

DRAWING COVER,	[frontispiece.]
THE HACK,	page	[4]
THE WEIGHT-CARRYING HUNTER,	”	[6]
RIDING AT IT,	”	[53]
THE PROPER FORM,	”	[95]
PREPARATORY CANTER,	”	[99]

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THE
HANDY HORSE-BOOK.

PART I.

BREEDING.

A few words only of observation would I make on this subject.[3] Palpably our horses, especially racers and hunters, are degenerating in size and power, owing mainly, it is to be feared, to the parents being selected more for the reputation they have gained as winners carrying feather-weights, than for any symmetrical development or evidence of enduring power under the weight of a man. We English might take a useful lesson in selecting parental stock from the French, who reject our theory of breeding from animals simply because they have reputation in the racing calendars, and who breed from none but those which have shape and power, as well as blood and performance, to recommend them. They are also particular to avoid using for stud purposes such animals as may exhibit indications of any constitutional unsoundness.