GENTLEMAN'S
STABLE DIRECTORY;

Modern Syftem of Farriery.

[ Price 6s. in Boards, or ;s. Bound, ]

A NEW EDITION,
CAREFULLY CORRECTED.

Gentleman's Stable Directory;

EXPERIMENTAL REMARKS

BREEDING, STABLING,
BREAKING, EXERCISE, and
SHOEING, ROWELLING.

PARTICULAR INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE
GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF

Hunters and Road Horfes^

With Concluding Observations upon the Prefent
STATE of the T U R F.

% WILLIAM TAP LIN, Surgeon.

*Wcdfor G. G. J. and J. Robinson, Paternofter-Row j and
C. and G. Kearslev, Fleet-Street.

-*^VFTER the many publications upon
equeftrian fubjecls, it may appear to fome
rather extraordinary that matter either new,
wjlruahe, or entertaining, can be produced
to excite the ferious attention even of thofe
^wI>o are the moft curious in their par-
ticular ftuds and different appropriations �
but fuch admiration will as readily fubfide,
^Up°ⁿ ^a ^retr^Peclive allufion to the origi-
nal motives of the various writers, the al-
^moft unlimited extent of the fubjed, the
^conftant]y encreafing eftimation of the ob-
^treated on, and the confignment to

perpetual oblivion of many literary produc-
tions, (unfortunately for their authors) fo
foon as they were brought to the teft of
public inveftigation.

The Gentleman's Stable Directory, hav-
ing by the unprecedented rapidity of its
circulation through ten large editions, and
the acknowledged utility of its inftrudtions,
in a great degree fuperfeded former opi-
nions, and eftabliftied the profeffional re-
putation of the writer j it will be hardly
conlidered a mark of prefumption, that (un-
der the flattering influence of popularity)
the fame pen fhould once more afpire to the
hope of applaufe, in his defire to extend
the fyftem of management to a degree of
confiftency hitherto undefcribed by any one
of the numerous authors, who have pre-
ceded us upon the fame or fimilar fubjects.

So far as health and condition are
preferable to difeafe, fo much more denia-
ble muft prevention ever prove to the
necerfity ₀f _curSt The purport of the pre-
fent undertaking will, therefore, be found
^appertaining much more to fuch parts of
lcabularian difcipline, as come under the
diftin&ion of novelty, and not treated on
in a direct way, than at all applicable to the
investigation or cure of difeafe; unlefs in
occafional allufions or medical references
evidently branching from the fubjedt, and
tending to corroborate and improve the in-
tentional uniformity of the whole. It be-
ing the predominant wifh of the writer, to
render this publication fuch kind of colla-
teral appendage to The Stable Direc-
tory, as may conftitute in both, a com-
plete chain of ufeful and entertaining in-
struction for the improvement of the fpe-
, cies ',

cies ; their management in Jicknefs or health,
the field or Jlable, including, under diftinct
heads, fuchy^^ from experience and infer-
ences from nature, as will, the author is
earneftly induced to hope, procure him the
approbation of thofe, by the fandlion of
whofe extenfive patronage he has been al->
ready fo very highly honoured,

FROM its general magnitude, prevalent
fafhion, and great utility, is certainly
entitled to precede every other fubjed:, up-
on which we mall have occafion to enlarge,
in the courfe of the work before us; and
Will afford ample opportunity to introduce
fuch remarks and inflruftions, as may evi-
dently tend to improve what is now become
fo univerfal, that the world at large, either
»n pleafure, agriculture, or commerce, feem
"iterefted in its fuccefs. Previous to em-
barkation in fo extenfive a field for invefti-
gation, it may be applicable to obferve,
that whatever opinions may be promulgated
as matters of recommendation, they are not
Vol. II g _t0

to be considered the delufive efFed of fpe-
culative rumination, but the refult of long
perfonal experience and attentive obfervation
among horfes in my own pofTeffion, from
brood mares and colts to every defcription,
whether for the Turf, Field, Road, or Draft.

Although fomeof the fubje<fts upon which,
we proceed to treat, may have been night-
ly mentioned by writers who have gone be-
fore us, it is generally known to have been
in fo fuperficial and unconnected a way,
that little information or inftrudfcion could
be at all gleaned from their endeavours -_} a
few loofe hints upon each having been di-
greffively obtruded, or indifcriminately in-
troduced, amidft topics to which they did
not bear the leaft allufion, and from whence*
conclufions of the fmalleft utility could ne-
ver be drawn.

Thefe errors it has been the principal de-
fign to correct, by reducing to dijiinSi heads
all fuch obfervations and remarks as confti-
tute the body of the work, and are intended
as incentives to general improvement upon
the great variety of fubje&s we fliall en-
deavour

deavour to contract into one regular and
uniform point of view, with as little refer-
ence to, or animadverfion upon others, as
the nature of f_uch publication will admit.

So much has been faid upon the origin,
mveftigation and cure of difeafe, in our for-
mer volume of The Stable Directory, that
we ihall advert as little as poffible to medi-
cal considerations, unlefs where, from new
occafions, or recent difcoveries, they be-
come intimately and unavoidably connected
with the fubjeft under difcuffion, as will
probably prove the cafe with fome few
heads, before we arrive at the goal of our
undertaking.

Breeding, though a fubjedl of palpable
importance to the improvement of this moft
ufeful animal, f_eems _t0 _have _recdved _]efg

afliftance from literary exertion than any
otner that has ever attracted the time or
attention of ihofe naturaiifts, who have in
other reJpeBs contributed largely to the ad-
Vantage and entertainment of the public.
This affertion, generally confidered, lias one
inking exception in the peculiar and con-
B 2 . , flan fly

ftantly encreafing circumfpeCtion, to im-
prove (if poflible) what abfolutely appears
to have already reached the very fummit of
perfection : It will be readily conceived I
allude to the almoft incredible care and at-
tention beftowed upon the breed and ma-
nagement of our blood horfes for the turf,
at this moment efteemed equal (if not fupe-
rior) in fpeed, bottom, and difcipline to any
other in the known world, particularly fince
the fafhionable rage for Arabians has fo,
gradually declined.

Perfonal emulation amongft fome of the
firft characters in the three kingdoms for
near a century pan:, (with the moft unre-
mitting perfeverance and practical experi-
ence of the fubordinate clafTes, upon the ad-
vantageous croffes in blood, bone,Jhape, make
and jirengthi) has rendered Newmarket
not only the firft feat of Equeftrian cele-
brity, but to a breeder and fportfman, one of
the moft enchanting fcenes the univerfe has
to produce. This part of the fpecies hav-
ing, under fuch accumulated power and in-
duftry, attained the very pinnacle of pre-
eminence, nothing can be introduced to

breeders of fuch nice diftindtion, that will
poffibly add weight, or give force to fo com-
plete a f_yft_em _of _unfullied perfeftion : As
it is, however, generally admitted this {_y�.
tematic knowledge is by no'means univerfal,
^uc "feful remarks and appertaining ob-
servations will be occafionally introduced
under this head, as will afford ufeful intel-
ligence or inftrudtion to thofe who have
commenced breeders, without adverting to
the qualifications or advantages abfolutely
requifite for the fuccefsful management of
a breeding ft_ud₄

Taking leave for the prefent of blood,
pedigree, zixdfajhion, we advert to the very
capital breed of real Englifh. hunters, and
beautiful draft or carriage horfes, for which
the counties of York, Leice/ler, Lincoln, and
Northampton are fo defervedly famous; they
are certainly entitled to take the lead of
every other county in the kingdom, not
"iore in the care _and fuperiority of their
^breed, than the confiftency of their pro-
ceedings to improve it. This preference,
^fo generally known and univerfally admitted,
� create no furprife when we recolledt
B 3 how

how admirably gifted by nature thofe coun-
ties are with requifite advantages, that other
parts of England have not to boaft; nor can
they, from locality of fituation, ever obtain.

Situate as the inhabitants are for thefe
conveniences, they have confequently de-
dicated more time and attention to the im-
provement of the fpecies in general, for the
purpofes of emolument, than the natives
of moft other counties, where the attempt
(however j udiciouily made) becomes in fome
degree abortive, not only in refpect to the
deceptive expectation of profit, but a cer-
tain degeneracy from fuch heterogeneous uni-
ons (if I may be allowed the expreflion) as
will be hereafter more clearly explained.

Cuftoms and opinions upon this fubject
are both local and numerous, notwithftand-
ing which they are frequently fubfervient
to exigence of circumftances, and become
productive of a propagation calculated for
little more than a confumption of food,
without a fingle prominent or diftinguifhing
mark of blood, flrength or utility.

There are many fubftantial reafons to be
adduced, why the breeders of the northern
counties exceed all other parts of England
in the conjijlency, Jlrength, fajhion, and fym-
metry of their ftock; for exclufive of their
natural advantages of the mod luxuriant
pafture, and temperate climate for fuch pur-
P°te, they are rigidly attentive to every
component minutiae of the whole j not only
to the fhape, make, bone, ftrength, and u-
piformity of both Jire and dam, but likewife
to hereditary defefts, blemifhes, and defor-
mities, rejecting every probability otjlain or
injury, diverged of the paltry penurious con-
fiderations by which the conduct of many
are regulated, who have been breeding all
their lives, without the fatisf action of hav-
ing ever once had a horfe or mare of figure,
fafhion, or value in their pofleffion.

This is a fact fo clearly eftablifhed, it will
come home to the remembrance of every
reader, when taking _a mental furvey of his
rural neighbours, amongft whom he will
Perfectly recoiled forne one or more fo invin-
cibly attached to the merits of a blind Jlal-
"on, or the virtues of his own Jpder-legged
B 4 mare,

mare, that deftitute of judgment, and deaf
to remofiftrance, he ranks (in imagination)
the prodo.ce a prodigy even in embryo, and
proceeds regularly, year after year, encreafing
the number, without a fingle addition to the
improvement of the fpecies.

Thefe are the kind of hypothetical breed-
ers, (and great plenty there are) who cal-
culate doubly in error, by calculating upon
profit, without a (ingle contingent reflection
upon lofs; ridiculoufly fuppofing a mare in
foal, or after delivery, can fupport her own
frame, and that of her offspring, upon lefs
food than any other horfe or mare in conflant
work -, and begin breeding under an idea that
it will be attended with little or no expenfe.
Thus totally inadequate (or indifferent) to the
generating of fiejh, blood, and bone by the ef-
fect of nutrition, they penurioufly and inhu-
manly adopt a kind of temporary poverty, and
after a year or two of artificial famine feem
greatly furprifed, that air and exercife alone
have not produced a colt, or filly, of equal
Jize,firength, and perfection with diofe who
have omitted no one expence or neceffary
acquifition, that could in the leaft contribute
' to

to the formation of points fo very deferable,
in objects of fuch tedious expectation, and
no little anxiety, before their merits or de-
ficiences could be at all fatisfa&orily afcer-
tained. To avoid the accufation or even
fafpicion of intentional repetition, the unin-
formed reader is referred for an inveitiga-
tion of nutriment_t its procefs and effects, to
Vol. I. of the Stable Directory, under
the articles of feeding, furfeit, and mange,
where he may collect every information he
can poffibly require upon the fubject.

Thofe who fucceed beft, and render the
bufinefs of breeding a matter of emolument,
are evidently gentlemen, graziers, or farmers,
who adhere clofely to the plan of producing
a diftinct flock for either the turf, field, or
draft, by a direct fyftematic union of the re-
quisite qualifications in both fire and dam,
without falling into the erroneous opinion
of forming an excellent hunter from a blood
horfe and cart mare, with fimilar changes
eternally ringing by thofe who fall into the
egregious miftake of expefting that an e-
qual partition of qualities from both fire and
dam, will be fo critically blended, as to

conftitute a medium exaBly between both,
when every judicious obferver will be ena-
bled to corroborate the opinion, that the
event frequently proves the error and de-
monstrates a palpable degeneracy from even
the worji of the two.

Thefe are the kinds of connexion I have
before termed heterogeneous, upon experi-
mental conviction in fuch propagation ; the
natural fluggifhnefs and inactivity of the old
Englifh draft horfe, whether it be ixxfire or
dam, generally predominates in the offs-
pring, constituting an object of difappoint-
ment where fo much improvement was ex-
pected by the crofs. I believe (without ad-
verting to memory) that in a number of
years paft, I may boldly venture to affirm, I
could number at leaft twenty within the ex-
tenfive circle of my own acquaintance, who
full of expectation, and certain of fuccefs,
(in opposition to every perfuafion) poiitive-
ly believed they mould produce Strong bo-
ney hunters of figure, faihion, fpeed, and
ftrength in this way, when Time, the ex-
pofitor of all doubts, has at length reduced
the conjecture to a certainty; and after wait-
ing

ing four or five years for the fruit of their
expectation to attain perfe&ion, the prodigy
has been unavoidably doomed to the drud-
gery of _a butcher's tray, or the market cart
oi lome induftrious mechanic.

To this defcription of breeders, who are
continually promoting the propagation of
the fpecies, without a fingle confident idea,
or relative consideration to the necefTary re-
quifites of country and keep, or qualifica-
tions of Jre and dam, (with an additional pre-
pofleffion in favour of certain ridiculous
croiTes) are we indebted for the infinity of
horfes annually produced in almoft every
(improper) part of the kingdom, that from
want of (hape, make, bone, fize and ftrength
are of no proportional value to the expenfe
they have occafioned; they can pafs under
no diftind denomination, are applicable to
no particular purpofe, but become an expen-
sive burden to the owners, who, too fre-
quently fond of their own production, fix an
imaginary value upon their imperfections, and
year after year permit them to confume
^food and fodder that might evidently be ap-
propriated

propriated to fervices of much greater pub*
lie utility and private emolument*

To the conflant increafe of horfes that are
of little or no value may be attributed, in a
collateral degree, the alarming advance in
almoft every neceffary of life where the in-
digent and neceffitous are moftly interested
without exceptor!: But as the introduction
of minute calculations to demonstrate the
faft, would be digreffing from the fubjecT:
before us, I {hall only refer the attention of
the curious reader for a moment, to a com-
parative reflection upon the incredible con-
sumption of pafluragein fummer, and com
with hay in winter, that might through other
channels be much more adapted to the pro-
motion of general good.

After the remarks hitherto introduced
upon the inconfiftency and very fajhionable
abfitrdity of even attempting to breed horfes
in fuch parts of the kingdom as are but ill
adapted to the purpofe, whether from the
hilly ftate of the country, the infertility of
the foil, want of luxuriance in the pafture,
or many other concomitant obflacles, (totally

unattended to by the parties concerned) it
Becomes perfectly applicable, to revert once
more to the frequent and inconfiderate prac-
tice of uniting horfes and mares, with every
^JOmt hereditary blemifh or defect that can
^er the offspring unpromifing -, with-
t a fingle perfection, or encouraging ray of
expectation, to eonftitute a junction of
P^0lnts, poflibly tending in the leaft to form
^a produce even tolerably adequate to the par-
ticular purpofe for which it may be intend-
ed when at a proper age it is brought into
we- Such breeders feldom pay the leaft at-
tention to merits, tempers, vices, conftituti-
onal bkmijhes, or hereditary defers of either
ire or dam _; the grand and leading object is,
to obtain a horfe or mare of their " own
breed:" in that happy thought alone is to
confift their perfection, and in f_uch ex-
panded idea is buried every juft or relative
consideration.

Predominant reafons are by no means

Wanting to elucidate this ftrange and invin-

iWe infatuation, for _penury in fome, abfo-

«te inadvertency in others, and palpable in-

⁰ ^ence in the remaining clafs, effecl: the

annual increafe to a certainty; the fame un~
accountable prejudice that prompts them to
commence breeders without a confiftent
qualification in horfe or mare, influences
them alfo to referve a colt of fuch breed to
perform the office of Stallion, in the vi-
cinity of their own refidence, that the ab-
furdity began by themfelves may be perfe-
vered in by others: This prodigy, with all his
imperfections, is permitted to cover gratis,
or for a trifling pecuniary confideration to
the fervant, (as a complete gratification of
the owner's ambition in breeding) and prov-
ing a local convenience, is readily embraced
by the inactive claffes before defcribed; while
others of more prudence, fpirit, emulation,
or confiftency of conduct, will rather fend a
mare fifty miles, and encounter any confe-
quent expenfe to obtain a horfe whofe (hape,
make, bone, ftrength, and action is calcu-
lated to correfpond with the dam, promis-
ing to produce a colt or filly, adequate in
figure and value to the¹ purpofe originally
intended.

Notwithstanding thefe neceffary precau-
tions, the long (landing adage of there be-
ing

^Ing " no one rule without an exception" is
tomctimes veria_ed. and this even in the
firft blood ji_ud_s _in _tbe _kingdom> _where _theItndeft attention to every confonant point
is fo rigidly pcrfevered in, that the leaft de-
viation from fymmetry, fpeed and perfection
could hardly be believed, did not the refult
o clearly demonftrate the frequency of the

Extraordinary as fuch circumftance may
appear, it is certainly true, that many of the
moft capital runners, when they have be
come ftallions, feldom or never begot a win-
ner, though the mares have been felefted
^w»h the greateft care as objeds of equal
Perfection. Thefe remain among the ab-
itrufe receffes of nature that will perhaps
ever continue unexplained; we may there-
fore patiently adopt a fuppofition as a fub-
ftuute for difcovery, prefuming « fo far {hall
H 8°» ^and "0 farther," is all that can be

^vanced in elucidation of the fubjedt.

_tic^° ^corroboration ₀f this well authen-

^ICated ^affertion, great numbers might be

Particularized of the _prefe�_t day, where the

P^r°geny have degenerated in almoft every

point from fire and dam; but the rapid fuc-
ceffion of one capital horfe upon another,
(feafon after feafon) would render the names
of fuch as might now be mentioned a matter
of oblivion to future readers, and prove
to them little or nothing of an opinion
we wifh to eftablifh beyond the power of
contradi&ion.

So much chance appertains to the acT: of
breeding for the turf, that one lucky get
very frequently conftitutes a Stallion of
Fashion, to which the rage of future fea-
fons becomes incredibly fubfervient j innu-
merable inftances might be quoted in proof
of this fporting credulity, but we will con-
tract the number to fuch only as are too
eminent in their ftock ever to be forgotten,
fo long as the pedigrees of ** great, great,
great, great, great grand dams and grand-
fires" fhall be tranfmitted to pofterity.

It is now within the memory of hun-
dreds upon the turf, that old Marjk (a moft
capital runner of his time) covered in Wind-
far Foreft and its neighbourhood, a very
great number of mares fo low as half a

fi R E E D I N G. ty

|»»nca each, but upon the production of \

clipse, (_a horfe whofe almoft unprece-
dented qualifi_cations _and _performances _wiU^Jn_all probability never be forgotten) hi.
P"ce was enhanced to fifty guineas, and

^at only fo_r _a _certain number in the feafon,

°^ut of which (though much advanced in

^s) he produced many winners, when

«e feleftion of mares became fo much in

per!d^Ch ^flU<aUatIon ^of Popularity fiill de-
P n s upon the uncertainty of events, an
additional proof of which deferves to be
recorded as worthy the attention of fportf-
en to whom it is not very generally known,
though too well authenticated to admit even
afhadow of doubt, and reduces to a certainty
the former obfervation, that Chance alone
is often entitled to the _merit fo conflantly
attributed to judgment and penetration.

in th* ^dam °^f ^EdlpJk ^havinS ^been ^covered^ ^natf_eafon _by _both _Shakespeare _and

forn^T' ^h ^remained ^a ^matter ^of doubt for

Duk T ^Wlth ^hIskte ^Royal ^HiS^hnefs ^the^e of Cumberland and his ftud groom,

to which the colt fhould be afcribed; how-
ever, the time of the mare's bringing forth
(during the great Eclipfe) coming neareft
to the day me was booked to have been
covered by Mar/k, to him was attributed
the diftinguifhed honour of getting one of
the firft horfes in the known world; whofe
ftrength, power and fpeed were fo great, that
he with eafe double-dijianced the mod capital
horfes when running with twelve ftone for
the king's plate, and afterwards walked over
moft of the king's plate courfes in the king-
dom. The doubt refpecling his fire hav-
ing been thus removed, with at leait. an
apparent degree of precifion, it may natu-
rally be fuppofed to have been decided
with the ftrictefl juftice; but had fuch
doubt ftill exified upon his own pedigree,
the fuperiority of his qualifications would
have appeared in his produce, he having
proved the fire of a moil wonderful progeny
in Mercury, Meteor, Soldier, Gunpowder,
King Fergus, Dungannon, Bowdrow, Ju~
piter_iVertiLmnus, and many others too nu-
merous to recite, whofe blood (in fo great
si variety of branches) will no doubt be

continued with fafhionable croffes to the
^end of time.

^1S hardly poffible for one little acquaint-
^Wlt« the cuftoms and manners of the
^tUrf to conceive, how the decifion of a fin-
S c match or fweepftakes alters the proper-
?^les ^ value of a ftallion, whofe reputation
Placed (in blood and performance) upon
the fummit of eminence; for fhould fome
°f the firft of his get that ftart fortunately
become winners, fuch circumftance inftantly
enhances his fuperiority to a degree of en-
thufiafm, and more bufinefs being marked
°ut for him in the aft of pro-creation than
^nature is equal to, his number of mares are
confequently limited, and he becomes im-
mediately an objea of great annual emolu-
ment, feveral inflances having occurred in
the laft twenty years, where different Gal-
lons have produced to their owners five and
twenty hundred pounds in onefeafon.

But in this ftate of acknowledged ex-
cellence and fuperiority, they are toll fub-
ject to the verfatility of chance, and one

unlucky ftep for ever damns their fame i\
C 2 for

for two or three of his get being beat at a
fubfequent Newmarket meeting, the vic-
torious lire foon fuperfedes the favourite,
who, falling into the back ground of the
picture, glides imperceptibly to an almoft
total oblivion. In fuch fluctuation or fuc-
ceffion, fubmits the fame of an Herod to an
Eclipfe, an Evergreen to a Sweetbriar, and
a very long lift of etceteras to thofe reign-
ing favourites of the prefent day Highflyer
and Woodpecker, the former of which hav-
ing produced thirty-nine winners of ninety-
one capital prizes, and the latter feventeen
winners of fifty-four, both in the year 1789

only, it will create no furprife that they at
prafent enjoy, under the funfhine of popular
influence, a more extenfive and beautiful
feraglio than any Arabian on earth has ever
had to boaft.

Having ventured a few remarks upon
what I before termed exceptions to general
rules, or predominant opinions, it becomes
perfectly confiftent to ftrengthen a belief of
fuch poflibilities, by the recital of a diredl
contrail within my own knowledge and
perfect remembrance, of a galloway that ne-
ver

ver exceeded thirteen hands, though got by
Mar/k, (who was a large horfe) out of a
full fized hackney mare in the neighbour-
hood of Windfor: as well as a very large,
°^oney, handfome ufeful gelding full fifteen
» ^0ut of a poney mare under twelve,
that was bought of a troop of gipfies near
^Bafingftoke for a fingle guinea. An en-
creafedlift of fuch inftances might be eafily
formed and equally authenticated_; but thefe
are fufficient to encounter the alTertions of
thofe who feem firmly to believe the im-
practicability of obtaining bone, fize, or
Strength, but from horfes and mares of fuch
fize and bone only j and although it is cer-
tainly right to admit the probability of de-
viation from fire and dam in fuch cafes, yet
the minute inveftigation of caufes mull
lead us into a field of phyfical reafoning,
and anatomical difquifition, that would prove
in general reading too remote and extenfive
for the fubjeft before us.

There are, however, very juft and fair

reafons to be adduced, why thefe contrafts

o frequently occur i_n oppofition to the ef-

taoliOxed notions of breeding, without at all

adverting to an abftrufe animadverfion upon
the " animalculae in femine mafculino," the
probable expanfion or contraction of the
uterus, the act of generation, the crifis
of conception, the formation and growth of
the foetus in embryo, with other relative
confiderations that might very well bear
ferious and fcientific investigation, were we
at all inclined to perplex by the introduction
of conjectures Calculated to promote the
learned lucubrations of a certain^- fociety,
but little to entertain the members of a
fporting club at Newmarket, or to improve
the different gradations of their numerous
dependents.

The uncertainty of all human expectations
being therefore univerfally admitted, and
fuch matters of opinion only paffed over as
can never be brought to the decifive tefi:
of infallibility j it is natural to conclude
(notwithstanding fuch cafual deviations)
much more may be expected in the produce,
from a direct coincidence of parts with an
union of ltrength, fhape and fymmetry, than
from any improper or convenient connection
founded only upon the local fit u at ion of fire

'..... ■ � ..... and

and dam, without a fingle reference to their
different natural blemifhes, defers, impcr-
fedions, or hereditary taints, of which ma-
ny may be frequently difcovered by care and
the neceffary circumfpeclion.

After the introduction of fuch remarks
^as ^evidently tend to conftitute the neceffary
apology for, and prelude to the undertaking,
it will be naturally expected I mould revert
to inftmdtions that become immediately
worthy the attention of every young and
inexperienced breeder, who feels a defire
to excel in his flock from the motive of
emulation, amufement or emolument. It
has been before hinted, that thofe fucceed
beft for either who propagate the different
kinds according to the diftincT: fpecies of
each, whether for the Turf, Field, or Draft,
without defcending to the adoption of crofles
m themfelves erroneous and feldom produc-
tive. ^r

In the prefent enormous price given for

horfes of every denomination (univerfally

laid and believed to be occafioned by the

conftant and unprecedented exportation of

our mod valuable Englifh breed) it is al-<
moft difficult to decide, which clafs contri-
butes moft to the profit of the breeder. I
cannot, however, in my own opinion, hefi-
tate a moment to pronounce the preference
to have fallen upon thofe that turn the foon-
eft into fpecie: Of thefe, for inftance, are
the beft bred blood Jock, now in the higheft
and moft incredible ftate of cultivation; the
common marketable prices of thefe, if of
the firft pedigrees, and brought to a promif-
jng fize when yearlings, are one hundred and
fifty guineas for colts, and one hundred for
JilHes, at which they pafs^ current, provided
they are croiTed in blood from any of the
ftallions whofe celebrity we have before
had occafion to mention.'

Without enlarging upon this fort of fport-*
ing fpeculation, I fhall only obferve, that
under certain regulations and very nice dis-
tinction, with great care and unremitting at-
tention, this may prove a much more profit-
able mode of breeding for thofe who wifh
to afcertain a fixed emolument, (without
hazarding the lofs of a certainty in breaking,
training, racing, &c.J as is the prudent

praftice of the _moft eminent dealer in the
kingdom, _Wh₀ is annually accumulating a

very confiderable fortune by the conflant

transfer of «� n. ■ -

^U1 equeitrian property in its m-

^v» rather than encounter the incredible
expence^ and anxiety of a ftud in training,

glorious uncertainty of the turf, the un-
^ounded infolence of the neceffary depend-
^nts» and the immaculate purity of thofe to
Whom your honour and property mure be
eventually entrufted, as will be more fully
explained when the fubjecl: comes again
«nder confederation towards the conclufion
pf the work.

Concluding, therefore, this clafs of breeoV
ers, to derive the greateft pecuniary advan-
tage from their increafe of ftock by con-
verting it expeditioully into cam with fo
little trouble, expence, and inconvenience,
it is not matter of fu_rprif_e _that _the _rage _forWood and pedigree fhould be daily encreaf-
ⁱⁿg, (and likely to continue fo) though the
Palpable effect of - training on and training
°Jt> annually diffipates and reduces to hu-
miliating indigence fome of the moft prince-
7 fortunes in this and the neighbouring

kingdom of Ireland, where the thirfr. for
equeflrian pre-eminence is equal, if not Ju-
mper tor to our own.

The breed of horfes mofl profitable to the
graziers and breeders of Lincoln, Leicefler,
Northampton, and fome few other counties,
adapted by nature to the purpofe, are proba-
bly the old Englifh black draft horfes, fo
remarkable for their bone, ftrength, and
hardinefs of conftitution : Thefe, from their
great fize, beauty, and uniformity, become to
every curious obferver, obje&s of Angular at-
traction ; their wonderful power in bufinefs
renders them in general requeft, and the
breed is cultivated with the ftri&eft. atten-
tion to correfponding points and perfections
in both fire and dam, little inferior to the
clafs laft treated on. Stallions of emi-
nence in the above counties are eftimated
at very confiderable fums, and frequently let
out to cover from one hundred to two hun-
dred guineas for the feafon; the ftock gene-
rally come into gentle ufe at two years old,
or under, and when brought to a good fize
in proper time, frequently fetch from thirty
to fifty guineas at two and three years old.

Thofe horfes paffing under the denomi-
nation of hunter?, but more particularly the
common erodes for roadfiers and hacks, can
^by ^no ^means prove Jo generally profitable
ⁿ all contingencies are taken into confi-

^ration i the length of time they are obli-
ge to be kept on hand and maintained, (till
^at kaft four years old) with the unfavourable
changes they may probably undergo before
they can be brought to the ultimate market
pf emolument molt applicable to their dif-
ferent qualifications, render the whole a
matter of much greater uncertainty than with
horfes of the preceding defcription ; for the
unavoidable difficulties of cutting, breaking,
hacking, docking, and nicking, render them
ferious operations, the fuccefs of which
cannot be afcertained without encountering
a chance of misfortune or failure to injure
the fubjed: and affed his value.

. ^N°twithftanding thefe confiderations are
^tended for general application, it muft be
remembered they will ever remain fubjedl to
">e different degrees of fuccefs, arifing from
e variety of circumftances already explain-
� bounties, as I have before remarked,

differ fo very much in their lituation and
fertility for breeding, that many will not
produce horfes of fize, and the defirable
qualifications, at even treble their real value,
when brought to the very higheft market for
difpofal: For it is a fact indifputably cer-
tain, that nothing but a part of the kingdom
remarkable for the abundance and luxuri-
ance of its herbage can ever produce flock
of fize and value to render breeding a matter
of emolument; the attempt, therefore, in
unfavourable fituations, mufl ever recoil
upon the adventurer with additional difap-
pointment.

Thefe obfervations, fo immediately rela*.
tive to the idea of profit and lofs, are by no
means introduced to reflrain or deter thofe
from the practice, who are fo unavoidably
circumftanced in Jituation, as to breed under
fuch difadvantage from the motive of amufe-
ment only, where pecuniary compenfation is
no way concerned or expected; it is, how-
ever, to be prefumed, that occafional refer-
ences to the inftructions hereafter incul-
cated, upon an extenfive fcale for the im-
provement of flock in general (without again

adverting to the f_uperiority that one part of
the country enjoys over another) may con-
tribute more to a gratification of their
^ies» than to pay an implicit obedience to
ect of chance unaflifted by any per-
gonal effort « to better the example."

. ^Previous to further difcuffion of the fub-
ject before us, it is worthy admiration in
^fiow many ways the animal production of
the temperate region we enjoy has been en-
abled to demonftrate its individual excel-
lence over a fimilar part of the creation,
When tranfported from any other part of the
globe. This remark might be juftified by a
Very flight comparative view of the different
animals, whofe abilities or power (according
to their diftina qualifications) have been
purpofely placed in competition with others
to prove the inferiority, one, however,
comes unmcdiatcly applicable to our pre-
entdefign. Attempts have been repeated-
7 made by very ftrenuous advocates of the
�ft eminence and property, to improve the
reed of our own nation, by the elaborate in-
trodua,_on and crofs of the mofl celebrated
^RAbi_ANS, _carefully f_eledled _underi

tant commiffions, where expenfe and trouble
proved only inferior confideratlons: But the
trial afforded by time, and experience by ob-
fervation, have fully fhewn the improbabi-
lity of adding to the perfections of the true
Englifh blood horfes by the importation of
theirs.

This rage for improvement with a crofs
from the blood of Arabia was near half a
century paft very fajhionably predominant;
but has fo gradually declined for the laft
twenty years, that they are held in no kind
of eftimation by any fyftematic fportfman or
breeder in the kingdom. The original ad-
vantage expected in the crofs, was fome ad-
dition in/peed, even to our fleeted mares j
this, when obtained, was totally counter-
acted by a want of bottom, [for after repeated
trials, the moft exacT: and difinterefted, they
were found incapable of keeping their rate
for much more than a mile, and confequently
became of fo little confequence to a racing
ftud, that a fhort time will, in all probabi-
lity, render them of no other utility than to
conftitute part of the retinue in the triumph-
ant return of an Englifi Na-bob, or an addi-
tion

tion to the cjlrich, porcupine, ^rhinoceros
01 iome eccentric colledor of curiofities.

^ken has introduced a few judicious

inTi ^UP°ⁿ ^the ^fuhjea °^f ^breedin�' ^butwith^S-^^a/ ^WUy ^f° P^erP^etually interfperfed

_ ^lnaPplicable ftories and ftranee con-
^ ^u ions, that you are dragged through forty

nfty pages of extraneous and digreffive
latter to be informed, that " Spanking Ro-
ger, belonging to the late Sir Edmund Ba-
con, was _a round barrelled horfe ; « that
Mr. Wilham Penry cured his hammering
Patients of that defed in fpeech by purgin* �

rfV'r ^marC ^belongⁱⁿS ^t0 Mr. T. Makin,
w Select, in Lancashire, run with her fore
Jeet as., wide as a barn door ■ yet fhe ran as
faft as mod of her fee, _which was all ow-
ing to-.bringing in her haunches quick, for
they mufi needs go _when the devil drives f
that:« an old woman can cure a wound as
^well as a furgeon " that- << _nu r ■
from tW � phyficians may,

om.their ignorance, be confidcrcd a fct of
211^-Pocke^ almoft _m _numerous _as ^

S? r ^c/^^^r *******

c^^§ab°^Utf^Withag-t number of
** "*»* ^e{i«ally fublime, and as

highly applicable to the fubject he was
treating on ; upon which he has introduced
no new matter in any direct chain of con-
nection, tending at all to enlighten the topic
or improve the management, having liter-
ally taken up the bufinefs by way of amufe-
ment, and laid it down precifely where he
found it.

We might here, with great feeming pro-
priety, introduce a long lift of inftructions,
containing the fhape, make, bone, Strength,
with all the variety of points neceffary (or
at leaft likely) in horfe and mare, to confti-
tute a progeny of promiling perfections;
but thofe requisites are fo extensively and
accurately defcribed between the twelfth
and twentieth pages of " The Gentleman's
Stable Directory," Vol. I. and mull be fo
nicely implanted in the mind and memory
of almoft every SportSman or breeder, that
a repetition here might be candidly deemed
entirely Superfluous, and confequently ren-
der us Subject to an accufation we wifh moft
attentively to avoid.

Such defcriptioa of points and qualifi-
cations

«***, tonding therefore not only incon-

^Verted> but in poffeffion of general ac-

quidcence, to thofe pages the juvenile or

Id?⁶"⁶¹¹⁰⁶'¹ ^Cn^^uirer ^is ^referred ^for ^an7
tain¹¹¹⁰^¹ ^information ^he ^may wifh to ob-
oiMh ^reference ^being juftified only up-
^ ^e natural prefumption, that there will
very f_ew _purch_af_ers of the prefent work,
^ut what _are holders of the firft Volume of
^ir>e btable Directory likewife.

are^hf^S 'v* ^f° ^"^ ***» what
are the re_quif_ltes _deflraWe _tQ ^.^ ^ ^

Proceed to explain what the defers are molt
J*ceffiuy to be difcovered in either fire or
, ' ^that ^the Poffible retention of heredi-
tary taints, defeSis or deformities, may be the
better avoided; for although it remains, and
xn all probability ever will, _a _matter _of _am-biguity why an unblended horfe _and mare
mayproduceacoUorfillyfullof^^or
fyvnmty, it by no means follows that a dif-
eafed or deformed f_lre _and _dam _are _equa]ly^ely to produce a _progeny _of _perfedtion .
nis being unequivocally admitted, (as by
very impartial invefti_gator _of _nature _it _cer_
^ta^ly muft be) it will undoubtedly prove

an act of confiftency to evade fo palpable a
chance of difappointment, by forming an union
of propriety apparently calculated (from every
external appearance) to tranfmit fuch original
purity to their produce.

To effect this, the mare having been ob-
tained correfponding in fize, frame, bone,
and firength, with the wifh of the breeder,
and found upon accurate examination to be
perfectly free from the blemimes and defects
fo frequently mentioned, the choice of a
Jiallion becomes the object of ferious atten-
tion j in him fhould be accumulated all the
points and good qualities it is poflible for a
lingle object to poffefs, upon a proof exceed-
ing all fpeculation, (and this every obfervant
naturalift will allow) that the produce, whe-
ther male or female, much more frequently
acquires and retains the fhape, make, marks,
and difpofition of the Jire than the dam; and
although fuch affertion may not obtain im-
mediate credit with many, yet rigid obferva-
tion has long fince demonstrated the fac\
and juflifies the great coniiftency of rejecting
Jiallions with the leaft appearance of difeafe,
blemifh, or bodily defect, indicating even the

%nteft probability of tranfmiffion to the

Suppof_lng _a _ne]_ghbouring ftalllon, and

luch them ,. 11 � � r ,

"acre generally is in every part of the
g om, to have great recommendation in

^1S_ ^avour, as to the matter of common en-
^y and fafhionable figure, it is ftill ne-
^ce wry^ to defcend to the minutiae of fym-
^^etry ^ln head, neck, Jlooulder, forehand, ribs*
^b"ck, hins, joints, and pajierns, attending to
I ^ftrid: ^uniftn»ity in the fhape, make, and

exture of the very hoofs, and were it poffible
t ich ^m ^almoft every cafe it certainly is
not) even to afcertain the temper and difpo-
l«ion of both fire and dam, rather than be
accelTary to a procreation of vices or imper-*
batons, that by _a _more _judicious _clc�dmay be fo eafily avoided.

After all _that _can _poffi(>ly ^ ^.^

(and if _lt were probable that all could
fe unwerfally read) _upon _this _fubje<ft> _eve

, ^a I ^P°^ffeffin- ^the P°wer of free agency

*** ftill the privilege to rejeft any opinion

ot perfedly coincident with the plan he

***Y have adopted, and to enjoy the uncon-

trolled right of perfevering in his own de-
cifion j but prefumicg on the taflc I have un-
dertaken, I confcientioufly recommend a pro-
per examination to difcover the ftate of the
wind, Jpavins, curbs, tendency to cracks or
greafe, bad conformation of the feet, as corns,
thruih, or long and narrow heeled hoofs, ei-
ther of all which, would furnim fufficient
foundation to prejudice me againft him as a
Jire> however well I might be pleafed with
his other molt promifing perfections.

Thefe cafual blemifties or hereditary de-
fects being carefully avoided, we come to an
enquiry of much greater confequence, the in-
attention to which has been productive of
more difappointment and vexation to the be-
fore-defcribed clafs of unthinking breeders,
than perhaps any other part of their incon-
fiftency. Oppofite opinions will always be the
fupport of two diftinct claffes, the right and
the wrong ; for while one party aiTerts (from
experience and obfervation) the great ha-
zard and certain danger of breeding from a
blind- Jlallion, the other, from innate obftina-
cy, or affected fuperiority of penetration, is
determined to encounter fuch indifcretion

upon the heroic bafis of " the more danger
the more honour," and in the event repent-
^antly difcover the want of knowledge and
prudence i_n themfelves they fo exultingly
P^reiume to arraign in doubting the judgment
°f others.

■*� he introduction of new opinions as mere
fatter of /peculation, is a communication of
juft as much as amounts to nothing-, fuch
conjectures, without the {hew of reafon to
eftabhOi an apparent difcovery of the proof
would be gaining no ground in the estimation
of public opinion, nor laying any juft claim
to credit for the refponfibility \>f our aflerti-
ons. Luckily, however, for the fupport of
the fubjea before us, accumulated proofs are
I ⁿ° ^means ^wa"ting (even within the pale
of my own perfonal experience and convic-
tion) to counteract oppofite opinions, whe-

^Cr ^imblbed ^from prejudice, obftinacy, or
'gnorance.

Adverting again to what I fo lately admit-

' ^the Polity of found fires and mares
Pacing _a _defeaive _prog�ny. _and> _fe

^erJ^a> that blind Jiallions may fometimes get
^D 3 colts

with good eyes; yet the chance, or rather
imprudence, of breeding from fuch had much
better be avoided j as the incontrovertible
evidence I fhall introduce, upon the folly of
embarking in fuch an expedition, (where the
odds are entirely againft the adventurer, with-
out a lingle point in his favour) rauft prove
exa&ly fimilar to playing at hazard with
falfe dice, where you may eternally lofe, but
never can rife a winner.

It is likely thefe conflderations may want
proper weight with thofe who difplay a con-
temptuous fmile of diibelief at the very idea
of tranfmitting hereditary blemilhes or defects
from lire to fon, as the refult of Cynical op-
pofition to the more rational fyftem they a-
dopt of annually breeding under every poffible
difadvantage, in confirmation of their inex-
perience : I mail therefore recommend to
their incredulity a few inftances, confirming
as faffs, what may have been hitherto consi-
dered matters of doubt, without the leaft
criterion for general decifion.

The firft opportunity I could avail myfeif of,
to juflify or render "nugatory my opinion of

the impropriety and danger of breeding from
norfes of this defcription, was in the year
^J773 °r 1774, when a great number of
^mares in that neighbourhood had been co-
vered by _a very popular ". Mndjlal/ion," (for
that was really the appellation under which
*^e Paffed) of the Hon. T. King's, near
^pley, in Surrey, whofe pedigree, fhape,
make, figure, and qualifications were fo ef-
fectually fafcinating with the multitude, that
the want of eyes did not feem at all to im-
pede the daily progrefs of his procreation.
Theinfeaionof famion was then (and ever
will be) as predominant as at prefent; for the
flaves to that gew-gaw continued to bring
their mares in unremitting rotation, and ne-
ver difcovered their own mount of fight, or
common comprehenfion, till the third or
fourth year, when the major part of the pro-
duce became as blind z^ the fire.

Still anxious to afcertain to fome ftate of
«rtainty, an object of fo much confequence
(not only to the fporting people, but the
world at large) as the hereditary tranfmimon

this defeft, I was conflantly upon the

Watch to enlarge my enquiries to fome de-

gree of fatisfadtion; I remained, however,
without any thing perfectly conclufive till
the fpring of the year 1780, when a grey
horfe called "Jerry Sneak, (that had proved a
tolerable runner, in the pofleflion of Lord
Spencer Hamilton) coming into my
hands upon very eaiy terms juft as his eyes
were failing, I covered a few mares, gratis,
with him in the neighbourhood of Frimley,
near BagJhof_t which having made memo-
randum of with a defign to purchafe any of
the produce that appeared tolerable promi�-
ing, and making my excurfion through the
different parifhes to obtain from the parties
the neceflary information, I found in the
fourth year many of the produce totally blind
and the remainder nearly fo without excep-
tion.

Fafts (it is univerfally admitted) are flub-
born things, and to the eftablifhment of
this faff I have been anxioufly labouring
as to the acquisition of individual emolu-
ment, though I have ever confidered it a
promotion of general good, in which the com-
munity is fo much interested, that it would
be an abfolute want of philanthropy to con-
ceal

ceal whatever could in the leaft tend to an
additional difcovery upon the fubjecl.

^� ^1S not the purport of the prefent work

on^1S " ^at ^a11 ^applicabIe ^to ^the P^ur-

?_n° ^�) ^t0 ^enter into phyfical refearches, lead-
^g the reader through a long chain of phi-
⁰⁰Phical difquifition upon Lewenhock's
nwcrofcopic inveftigation of the animalcules
contained in the femen of animals, founding
upon fuch enquiry a thoufand conjectures
refpeding this abftrufe _procefs of nature,
that may very much perplex the mind, but
can neither tend to entertain or improve the
Iudement_

Of as little confequence or advantage it

deafion by what nice and u�difcovere_d ope!

rat.cn tn the animal fyftem, a horfe is _r �-
deredfirft^w^,,^

^en, or hard racing _;aswe]f ^ _[h/
ommo _rence _of _a _ftali._on>s r

Z I ^ T ^C°^aftant ^a"^d "l~** �<r-
^mg> though the aft itfelf ;� I r, ♦
^effort of nature. Spontaneous

However difficult it may be to furnifli an
opinion appl: cable to every idea, I believe
with the fcientific inveftigator there need be
little fcruple to hazard a profeffional defcrip-
tion, by what means fo ferious a revolution
in the frame is effected; for the brain being
the very bails of the nervous fyftem, and
the nerves the acknowledged feat of pain and
pleafure, any exquifite or preternatural ex-
treme in either may be productive of great
debilitation, and the optic nerves being near-
eft the origin, may become more fenfibly
affected in a paralytic or fome other degree,
than any fubfequent pair, and the fight gra-
dually decline from a partial vilion to to-
tal blindnefs.

For the honor of human nature, I can
but moft earneftly wifh the applicable intro-
duction of thefe remarks may induce the par-
ties interefted in the event, to be in future
a little lefs ftrenuous in their different exer-
tions, whether for credit or emolument; the
firft never to diftrefs one of the nobleft ani-
mals on earth, by thofe frequent and fevere
runnings that evidently exhauft nature to fuch
a ftate of mortification j or the latter in the
truly contemptible method of letting a horfe

cover fuch an infinity of mares, as not un-
commonly terminates in the irretrievable lofs
°^f ^his ^ey^es» but the inevitable lofs of his re-
putation alfo, as " a certain foal-getter;" for
great number of mares covered by him
�^ttb°ut produce, brings his character the fol-
°^wing feafon into difrepute, fhould even the
*^te of his bodily ftrength, conftitution, or
cnance, preferve his eyes from the great pro-
bability of annihilation : This remark apper-
taining only to the owners of ftallions who
attend the markets of different towns every
day in the week during the whole feafon,
exclufive ^of ^the additional portion of bufi-
nefs in their own neighbourhood on the'Saa-
uay morning.

_ Of thefe there are fo great a number, and
in their performance fo general a failure, that
it is abfolutely wonderful how fo many can
become dupes to the cuftomary infatuation,
° -leading a mare to any market town, to
_c^e Served by a horfe who is continually

overing from four or five, to eight or ten
J^ares in every twenty-four hours during the

a on; with the additional coniideration, that
^ee extra exertions are moil frequently

made under the corrupt influence of
Jiimulants, provocatives, and cordials adapted
to the purpofe, and fuppofed to adl with the
fame excitement as cantharides upon the
human body. Incredible as it may appear,
(to thofe whofe fituation in life has rendered
them little fubjecT: to difcoveries of this kind)
I have been repeatedly called upon in my
profeffional department, to difpenfe large
quantities of this very article to many of
thofe who travel the country with ftallions
of fuch denomination; firft obtaining from
them a communication of the ufe it was in-
tended for before they were entrufted with
it, upon an experimental conviction of its
danger j having in the courfe of my private
medical practice known one life loft, and
another miraculoufly faved, where it had been
given under the denomination of love powder
for the unfair gratification of the worft of
purpofes. *

Without entering again upon the adl: of
generation, the femen, or animalcule con-
tained in it as before adverted to, can any
intelligent reader, to whofe deliberate atten-
tion thefe pages may become fubjeft, be at

^ali Wrifed, that in fuch a conftrained and
Profited ftate of nature, fo few of her
^tempts mould be productive of fuccefs ?...
Here we _mjgh_t _be readily induced to enter
another l_arge _field _for _fcientific difquifition;

as n would evidently extend not only be-
yond the prefent purpofe, but prove " cavier
^tQthe multitude," cur inferior clafs of readers
�^?ght occafionally exclaim with Mungo in
^e ^Padlock, '« What fignify me read, if
^e no underjiandr

Avoiding, therefore, the indifference in
general (hewn to remote medical explanation,
^and dull anatomical defcriptive, I come di-
redlly tp _a queftion founded in reafon, upon
the merits of which the interefted, part of
the world will be enabled to decfde, at leaft
fo far as correfponds with their own opinions
upon the fubjed. Can it be poffibly be-
heved or expected (but by the moft illiterate,
^ho, in fadl, poffefs the grofs comforts of life
^cnb> and never enjoy the fublime gratification
°* thinking,) that horfes thus eternally jaded
and harraffed, not only with the diurnal
routine of copulation, but the inceffant fa-
^t]gue of travelling perpetually, can be at all
^ciual ,to the Herculean tafle affigned them ?

Can it be matter of furprife, that not more
than one-third, or, upon a more favourable
computation, one half at moft> of the mares
covered in this way produce a colt, and that
the half of thofe fo produced, never come
to a proper fize, bone, or ftrength; then can
there remain a doubt in the mind of any
unprejudiced man living, but to thefe caufes
may be attributed fome portion of that defi-
ciency fo generally complained of, and too
frequently attributed to the want of bone in
fire or dam ?

Having hitherto introduced what I con-
ceive to be the leading qualifications in horfe
and mare, to render the bufinefs of breed-
ing pleafant and advantageous, we come next
to confider the feafon moft proper for bring-
ing them together ; as it muft be admitted,
an inconvenience will certainly arife to the
mare by foaling too early in the fpring,
or to the produce by falling too late in the
fummer, it will undoubtedly prove more
eligible to adhere a little to the line of me-
diocrity, letting either extreme be carefully
avoided.

. Neverthelefs, ft _mufl be Junderitood^ this
circumilance can by no means be altogether
univerlal, as it depends in fome meafure upoa
the country _and f_uuati_on. _the pafturage
being of diffe_rent ftates in different counties,
and dependant upon the fertility of foil as
as the temperature of climate, the fea-
j°ⁿ ^1S ^c°nfequently forwarder, at lead the

lerbage, (by _a fortnight or three weeks) in
⁰ⁿe part of the kingdom than another, a
^Clrcumftance that fhould always be properly
attended to by the parties concerned.

^ It will therefore prove perfedly confident
^ln all counties, however they may be fituated,
to have the produce and pafture appearing
at the fame time as nearly as fluctuating or
unavoidable circumflances will allow j for
when mares are permitted to take the horfe
too foon in the feafon, they bring forth be-
fore there is fufficient grafs for their fupport,
^a"d being neceffarily affifled with dry food,
^lafteals (or milk veffels), for want of
gradual fu_ppi_y _anj expanfion, become con-
traded_; the very {harp winds early in the
P^ring, with a reflraint in food, fometimes
° ^ftmts the colt, (particularly, mould a

wet unfavourable fummer and fevere winter
follow) that he never reaches a proper fize
in growth, but difplays the difadvantage of
his earlieft ftate when arrived at maturity.

It is no uncommon thing in different parts
of the country, to obferve mares that have
dropped their foals early, (before there is a
blade of grafs for their fupport) placed in a
rick yard, where, by inceffantly tugging out
a fcanty living, it is ridiculoufly believed
both mare and colt are indulging moil lux-
urioufly, though the direcT: contrary is really
the cafe j hay may undoubtedly (if admi-
niftered in due fupplies) contribute a fuffici-
ency of fupport for the mare, but is not
calculated to yield, even in almoft conftant
maftication, any great nutritious fuperflux
for the fubfiftence and deferable improve-
ment of the colt. As there is a very great
difference in the nutritive qualities of food
fo is there a very material difference in the
milk it produces j indifferent or fparing ali-
ment will certainly produce a thin aqueous
impoverifhed milk, of quality and in quan-
tity to fuftain and barely fubllft nature, but
by no means to give it Jlrength_i vigour,

growl,, or the formation of flefh and bone
^f0 S^cncr% defirable,

_ma^H°^W^^Ver haftily fome part of the world

�Y be inclined to decide, (as every obferver

^as ^a nght to indulge his own opinion) there

PhjcV ⁿ° ^d°^Ubt ^bUt ^t0 ^the ^{inconflderate}ice of inadvertently leaving mares and

colts to fubfift upon bare land, or barren
Paftures, for the firft fumrner, and a fucceffive
Icene of poverty in the enfuing winter, are
we in fome degree indebted for a proportion
° ^th°^fe ^horfes I have before defcribed, as
^coming under no denomination, applicable
^ no particular purpofe, never rifing to any
Confiderable worth, and doing fo little credit
to the breeder, that you can never difcover
(if you were fo inclined) from whence they
came, after they are once out of his poflef.

Um ^thIS ^mirtaken ^notIon and ridiculous fyf-
m of breeding, fails every penurious and
"^ce*«ry breeder, who, prompted by his

jjⁿ ^narr°wnefs of difpofmon, afFeds to be-
ve there is little or no difference between
y ^and fading, confidering a run after

the cows as good as a run with them j that
chaff is a much more profitable and healthy
food than oats_y and that an open farm-
yard with a crib of barley or oat ftraw,
during the fevere froft and fnow of a long
dreary winter, are preferable to all other ac-
commodations of food and fhelter, as (to
make ufe of his own j unification) they are
then in the moft proper ftate, " a ftate of
nature." Thefe are the perfuajive motives
affigned alfo by thofe ftrenuous advocates for
general improvement, who barely fubfift
their mares during the tedious months o(
geftation, under an idea perfectly coincident
with the principles juft defcribed, that a mare
after having been covered, requires but ** little
or no keep," as (with fuch contemptible Spe-
culators) the acl itfelf is ridiculoufly fup-
pofed to make the mart fat. This is the
invariable opinion among the lefs enlightened
clafs of nifties, and though the aft and its
confequence may be juftly faid to make the
mare 6ig, yet the original remark is certainly
too ludicrous for ferious confideration.



					*u, 3*
					*u, 3*	02>
						02>

THE GENTLEMAN'S STABLE DIRECTORY;

				O R,

	Modern Syftem of Farriery.

			VOL. II.

		[ Price 6s. in Boards, or ;s. Bound, ]

				A



		THE MODERN SYSTEM

			Q F

	^F A R RIERY.

BREEDING, FROM its general magnitude, prevalent fafhion, and great utility, is certainly entitled to precede every other fubjed:, up- on which we mall have occafion to enlarge, in the courfe of the work before us; and Will afford ample opportunity to introduce fuch remarks and inflruftions, as may evi- dently tend to improve what is now become fo univerfal, that the world at large, either »n pleafure, agriculture, or commerce, feem "iterefted in its fuccefs. Previous to em- barkation in fo extenfive a field for invefti- gation, it may be applicable to obferve, that whatever opinions may be promulgated as matters of recommendation, they are not Vol. II g _t0



		BREEDING.
	12	BREEDING.
	12

propriated to fervices of much greater pub* lie utility and private emolument* To the conflant increafe of horfes that are of little or no value may be attributed, in a collateral degree, the alarming advance in almoft every neceffary of life where the in- digent and neceffitous are moftly interested without exceptor!: But as the introduction of minute calculations to demonstrate the faft, would be digreffing from the fubjecT: before us, I {hall only refer the attention of the curious reader for a moment, to a com- parative reflection upon the incredible con- sumption of pafluragein fummer, and com with hay in winter, that might through other channels be much more adapted to the pro- motion of general good. After the remarks hitherto introduced upon the inconfiftency and very fajhionable abfitrdity of even attempting to breed horfes in fuch parts of the kingdom as are but ill adapted to the purpofe, whether from the hilly ftate of the country, the infertility of the foil, want of luxuriance in the pafture, or many other concomitant obflacles, (totally unattended



		BREEDING.
	20	BREEDING.
	20

for two or three of his get being beat at a fubfequent Newmarket meeting, the vic- torious lire foon fuperfedes the favourite, who, falling into the back ground of the picture, glides imperceptibly to an almoft total oblivion. In fuch fluctuation or fuc- ceffion, fubmits the fame of an Herod to an Eclipfe, an Evergreen to a Sweetbriar, and a very long lift of etceteras to thofe reign- ing favourites of the prefent day Highflyer and Woodpecker, the former of which hav- ing produced thirty-nine winners of ninety- one capital prizes, and the latter feventeen winners of fifty-four, both in the year 1789 only, it will create no furprife that they at prafent enjoy, under the funfhine of popular influence, a more extenfive and beautiful feraglio than any Arabian on earth has ever had to boaft. Having ventured a few remarks upon what I before termed exceptions to general rules, or predominant opinions, it becomes perfectly confiftent to ftrengthen a belief of fuch poflibilities, by the recital of a diredl contrail within my own knowledge and perfect remembrance, of a galloway that ne- ver



		BREEDING.
22		BREEDING.
22

	adverting to an abftrufe animadverfion upon the " animalculae in femine mafculino," the probable expanfion or contraction of the uterus, the act of generation, the crifis of conception, the formation and growth of the foetus in embryo, with other relative confiderations that might very well bear ferious and fcientific investigation, were we at all inclined to perplex by the introduction of conjectures Calculated to promote the learned lucubrations of a certain^- fociety, but little to entertain the members of a fporting club at Newmarket, or to improve the different gradations of their numerous dependents. The uncertainty of all human expectations being therefore univerfally admitted, and fuch matters of opinion only paffed over as can never be brought to the decifive tefi: of infallibility j it is natural to conclude (notwithstanding fuch cafual deviations) much more may be expected in the produce, from a direct coincidence of parts with an union of ltrength, fhape and fymmetry, than from any improper or convenient connection founded only upon the local fit u at ion of fire '..... ■ � ..... and



			INTRODUCTION.

		A -^VFTER the many publications upon equeftrian fubjecls, it may appear to fome rather extraordinary that matter either new, wjlruahe, or entertaining,* can be produced to excite the ferious attention even of thofe ^wI>o are the moft curious in their par- ticular ftuds and different appropriations � but fuch admiration will as readily fubfide, ^Up°ⁿ ^a ^retr^Peclive allufion to the origi- nal motives of the various writers, the al- ^moft unlimited extent of the fubjed, the ^conftant]y encreafing eftimation of the ob- ^treated on, and the confignment to perpetual



		vi INTRODUCTION. perpetual oblivion of many literary produc- tions, (unfortunately for their authors) fo foon as they were brought to the teft of public inveftigation. The Gentleman's Stable Directory, hav- ing by the unprecedented rapidity of its circulation through ten large editions, and the acknowledged utility of its inftrudtions, in a great degree fuperfeded former opi- nions, and eftabliftied the profeffional re- putation of the writer j it will be hardly conlidered a mark of prefumption, that (un- der the flattering influence of popularity) the fame pen fhould once more afpire to the hope of applaufe, in his defire to extend the fyftem of management to a degree of confiftency hitherto undefcribed by any one of the numerous authors, who have pre- ceded us upon the fame or fimilar fubjects. So



		INTRODUCTION. vii So far as health and condition are preferable to difeafe, fo much more denia- ble muft prevention ever prove to the necerfity ₀f _curSt The purport of the pre- fent undertaking will, therefore, be found ^appertaining much more to fuch parts of lcabularian difcipline, as come under the diftin&ion of novelty, and not treated on in a direct way, than at all applicable to the investigation or cure of difeafe; unlefs in occafional allufions or medical references evidently branching from the fubjedt, and tending to corroborate and improve the in- tentional uniformity of the whole. It be- ing the predominant wifh of the writer, to render this publication fuch kind of colla- teral appendage to The Stable Direc- tory, as may conftitute in both, a com- plete chain of ufeful and entertaining in- struction for the improvement of the fpe- , cies ',



		viii INTRODUCTION. cies ; their management in Jicknefs or health, the field or Jlable, including, under diftinct heads, fuchy^^ from experience and infer- ences from nature, as will, the author is earneftly induced to hope, procure him the approbation of thofe, by the fandlion of whofe extenfive patronage he has been al-> ready fo very highly honoured,

			THE



		BREEDING. ₃ deavour to contract into one regular and uniform point of view, with as little refer- ence to, or animadverfion upon others, as the nature of f_uch publication will admit. So much has been faid upon the origin, mveftigation and cure of difeafe, in our for- mer volume of The Stable Directory, that we ihall advert as little as poffible to medi- cal considerations, unlefs where, from new occafions, or recent difcoveries, they be- come intimately and unavoidably connected with the fubjeft under difcuffion, as will probably prove the cafe with fome few heads, before we arrive at the goal of our undertaking. Breeding, though a fubjedl of palpable importance to the improvement of this moft ufeful animal, f_eems _t0 _have _recdved _]efg afliftance from literary exertion than any otner that has ever attracted the time or attention of ihofe naturaiifts, who have in other reJpeBs contributed largely to the ad- Vantage and entertainment of the public. This affertion, generally confidered, lias one inking exception in the peculiar and con- B 2 . , flan fly



		4 BREEDING. ftantly encreafing circumfpeCtion, to im- prove (if poflible) what abfolutely appears to have already reached the very fummit of perfection : It will be readily conceived I allude to the almoft incredible care and at- tention beftowed upon the breed and ma- nagement of our blood horfes for the turf, at this moment efteemed equal (if not fupe- rior) in fpeed, bottom, and difcipline to any other in the known world, particularly fince the fafhionable rage for Arabians has fo, gradually declined. Perfonal emulation amongft fome of the firft characters in the three kingdoms for near a century pan:, (with the moft unre- mitting perfeverance and practical experi- ence of the fubordinate clafTes, upon the ad- vantageous croffes in blood, bone,Jhape, make and jirengthi) has rendered Newmarket not only the firft feat of Equeftrian cele- brity, but to a breeder and fportfman, one of the moft enchanting fcenes the univerfe has to produce. This part of the fpecies hav- ing, under fuch accumulated power and in- duftry, attained the very pinnacle of pre- eminence, nothing can be introduced to breeders



		BREEDING, ₅ breeders of fuch nice diftindtion, that will poffibly add weight, or give force to fo com- plete a f_yft_em _of _unfullied perfeftion : As it is, however, generally admitted this {_y�. tematic knowledge is by no'means univerfal, ^uc "feful remarks and appertaining ob- servations will be occafionally introduced under this head, as will afford ufeful intel- ligence or inftrudtion to thofe who have commenced breeders, without adverting to the qualifications or advantages abfolutely requifite for the fuccefsful management of a breeding ft_ud₄ Taking leave for the prefent of blood, pedigree, zixdfajhion, we advert to the very capital breed of real Englifh. hunters, and beautiful draft or carriage horfes, for which the counties of York, Leice/ler, Lincoln, and Northampton are fo defervedly famous; they are certainly entitled to take the lead of every other county in the kingdom, not "iore in the care _and fuperiority of their ^breed, than the confiftency of their pro- ceedings to improve it. This preference, ^fo generally known and univerfally admitted, � create no furprife when we recolledt B 3 how



		6 BREEDING. how admirably gifted by nature thofe coun- ties are with requifite advantages, that other parts of England have not to boaft; nor can they, from locality of fituation, ever obtain. Situate as the inhabitants are for thefe conveniences, they have confequently de- dicated more time and attention to the im- provement of the fpecies in general, for the purpofes of emolument, than the natives of moft other counties, where the attempt (however j udiciouily made) becomes in fome degree abortive, not only in refpect to the deceptive expectation of profit, but a cer- tain degeneracy from fuch heterogeneous uni- ons (if I may be allowed the expreflion) as will be hereafter more clearly explained. Cuftoms and opinions upon this fubject are both local and numerous, notwithftand- ing which they are frequently fubfervient to exigence of circumftances, and become productive of a propagation calculated for little more than a confumption of food, without a fingle prominent or diftinguifhing mark of blood, flrength or utility. There



		BREEDING. 7 There are many fubftantial reafons to be adduced, why the breeders of the northern counties exceed all other parts of England in the conjijlency, Jlrength, fajhion, and fym- metry of their ftock; for exclufive of their natural advantages of the mod luxuriant pafture, and temperate climate for fuch pur- P°te, they are rigidly attentive to every component minutiae of the whole j not only to the fhape, make, bone, ftrength, and u- piformity of both Jire and dam, but likewife to hereditary defefts, blemifhes, and defor- mities, rejecting every probability otjlain or injury, diverged of the paltry penurious con- fiderations by which the conduct of many are regulated, who have been breeding all their lives, without the fatisf action of hav- ing ever once had a horfe or mare of figure, fafhion, or value in their pofleffion. This is a fact fo clearly eftablifhed, it will come home to the remembrance of every reader, when taking _a mental furvey of his rural neighbours, amongft whom he will Perfectly recoiled forne one or more fo invin- cibly attached to the merits of a blind Jlal- "on, or the virtues of his own Jpder-legged B 4 mare,



		S* BREEDING. mare, that deftitute of judgment, and deaf to remofiftrance, he ranks (in imagination) the prodo.ce a prodigy even in embryo, and proceeds regularly, year after year, encreafing the number, without a fingle addition to the improvement of the fpecies. Thefe are the kind of hypothetical breed- ers, (and great plenty there are) who cal- culate doubly in error, by calculating upon profit, without a (ingle contingent reflection upon lofs; ridiculoufly fuppofing a mare in foal, or after delivery, can fupport her own frame, and that of her offspring, upon lefs food than any other horfe or mare in conflant work -, and begin breeding under an idea that it will be attended with little or no expenfe. Thus totally inadequate (or indifferent) to the generating of fiejh, blood, and bone by the ef- fect of nutrition, they penurioufly and inhu- manly adopt a kind of temporary poverty, and after a year or two of artificial famine feem greatly furprifed, that air and exercife alone have not produced a colt, or filly, of equal Jize,firength, and perfection with diofe who have omitted no one expence or neceffary acquifition, that could in the leaft contribute ' to



		BREEDING. 9 to the formation of points fo very deferable, in objects of fuch tedious expectation, and no little anxiety, before their merits or de- ficiences could be at all fatisfa&orily afcer- tained. To avoid the accufation or even fafpicion of intentional repetition, the unin- formed reader is referred for an inveitiga- tion of nutriment_t its procefs and effects, to Vol. I. of the Stable Directory, under the articles of feeding, furfeit, and mange, where he may collect every information he can poffibly require upon the fubject. Thofe who fucceed beft, and render the bufinefs of breeding a matter of emolument, are evidently gentlemen, graziers, or farmers, who adhere clofely to the plan of producing a diftinct flock for either the turf, field, or draft, by a direct fyftematic union of the re- quisite qualifications in both fire and dam, without falling into the erroneous opinion of forming an excellent hunter from a blood horfe and cart mare, with fimilar changes eternally ringing by thofe who fall into the egregious miftake of expefting that an e- qual partition of qualities from both fire and dam, will be fo critically blended, as to conftitute



		BREEDING. n ing four or five years for the fruit of their expectation to attain perfe&ion, the prodigy has been unavoidably doomed to the drud- gery of _a butcher's tray, or the market cart oi lome induftrious mechanic. To this defcription of breeders, who are continually promoting the propagation of the fpecies, without a fingle confident idea, or relative consideration to the necefTary re- quifites of country and keep, or qualifica- tions of Jre and dam, (with an additional pre- pofleffion in favour of certain ridiculous croiTes) are we indebted for the infinity of horfes annually produced in almoft every (improper) part of the kingdom, that from want of (hape, make, bone, fize and ftrength are of no proportional value to the expenfe they have occafioned; they can pafs under no diftind denomination, are applicable to no particular purpofe, but become an expen- sive burden to the owners, who, too fre- quently fond of their own production, fix an imaginary value upon their imperfections, and year after year permit them to confume ^food and fodder that might evidently be ap- propriated



		BREEDING. i₃ unattended to by the parties concerned) it Becomes perfectly applicable, to revert once more to the frequent and inconfiderate prac- tice of uniting horfes and mares, with every ^JOmt hereditary blemifh or defect that can ^er the offspring unpromifing -, with- t a fingle perfection, or encouraging ray of expectation, to eonftitute a junction of P^0lnts, poflibly tending in the leaft to form ^a produce even tolerably adequate to the par- ticular purpofe for which it may be intend- ed when at a proper age it is brought into we- Such breeders feldom pay the leaft at- tention to merits, tempers, vices, conftituti- onal bkmijhes, or hereditary defers of either ire or dam _; the grand and leading object is, to obtain a horfe or mare of their " own breed:" in that happy thought alone is to confift their perfection, and in f_uch ex- panded idea is buried every juft or relative consideration. Predominant reafons are by no means Wanting to elucidate this ftrange and invin- iWe infatuation, for _penury in fome, abfo- «te inadvertency in others, and palpable in- ⁰ ^ence in the remaining clafs, effecl: the annual



		BREEDING. i₅ ^Ing " no one rule without an exception" is tomctimes veria_ed. and this even in the firft blood ji_ud_s _in _tbe _kingdom> _where _theItndeft attention to every confonant point is fo rigidly pcrfevered in, that the leaft de- viation from fymmetry, fpeed and perfection could hardly be believed, did not the refult o clearly demonftrate the frequency of the Extraordinary as fuch circumftance may appear, it is certainly true, that many of the moft capital runners, when they have be come ftallions, feldom or never begot a win- ner, though the mares have been felefted ^w»h the greateft care as objeds of equal Perfection. Thefe remain among the ab- itrufe receffes of nature that will perhaps ever continue unexplained; we may there- fore patiently adopt a fuppofition as a fub- ftuute for difcovery, prefuming « fo far {hall H 8°» ^and "0 farther," is all that can be ^vanced in elucidation of the fubjedt. _tic^° ^corroboration ₀f this well authen- ^ICated ^affertion, great numbers might be Particularized of the _prefe�_t day, where the P^r°geny have degenerated in almoft every point



		16 BREEDING. point from fire and dam; but the rapid fuc- ceffion of one capital horfe upon another, (feafon after feafon) would render the names of fuch as might now be mentioned a matter of oblivion to future readers, and prove to them little or nothing of an opinion we wifh to eftablifh beyond the power of contradi&ion. So much chance appertains to the acT: of breeding for the turf, that one lucky get very frequently conftitutes a Stallion of Fashion, to which the rage of future fea- fons becomes incredibly fubfervient j innu- merable inftances might be quoted in proof of this fporting credulity, but we will con- tract the number to fuch only as are too eminent in their ftock ever to be forgotten, fo long as the pedigrees of ** great, great, great, great, great grand dams and grand- fires" fhall be tranfmitted to pofterity. It is now within the memory of hun- dreds upon the turf, that old Marjk (a moft capital runner of his time) covered in Wind- far Foreft and its neighbourhood, a very great number of mares fo low as half a guinea



		fi R E E D I N G. ty \|»»nca each, but upon the production of \ clipse, (_a horfe whofe almoft unprece- dented qualifi_cations _and _performances _wiU^Jn_all probability never be forgotten) hi. P"ce was enhanced to fifty guineas, and ^at only fo_r _a _certain number in the feafon, °^ut of which (though much advanced in ^s) he produced many winners, when «e feleftion of mares became fo much in «is favour. per!d^Ch ^flU<aUatIon ^of Popularity fiill de- P n s upon the uncertainty of events, an additional proof of which deferves to be recorded as worthy the attention of fportf- en to whom it is not very generally known, though too well authenticated to admit even afhadow of doubt, and reduces to a certainty the former obfervation, that Chance alone is often entitled to the _merit fo conflantly attributed to judgment and penetration. in th* ^dam °^f ^EdlpJk ^havinS ^been ^covered^ ^natf_eafon _by _both _Shakespeare _and forn^T' ^h ^remained ^a ^matter ^of doubt for Duk T ^Wlth ^hIskte ^Royal ^HiS^hnefs ^the^e of Cumberland and his ftud groom, **. to



		18 BREEDING. to which the colt fhould be afcribed; how- ever, the time of the mare's bringing forth (during the great Eclipfe) coming neareft to the day me was booked to have been covered by Mar/k, to him was attributed the diftinguifhed honour of getting one of the firft horfes in the known world; whofe ftrength, power and fpeed were fo great, that he with eafe double-dijianced the mod capital horfes when running with twelve ftone for the king's plate, and afterwards walked over moft of the king's plate courfes in the king- dom. The doubt refpecling his fire hav- ing been thus removed, with at leait. an apparent degree of precifion, it may natu- rally be fuppofed to have been decided with the ftrictefl juftice; but had fuch doubt ftill exified upon his own pedigree, the fuperiority of his qualifications would have appeared in his produce, he having proved the fire of a moil wonderful progeny in Mercury, Meteor, Soldier, Gunpowder, King Fergus, Dungannon, Bowdrow, Ju~ piter_iVertiLmnus, and many others too nu- merous to recite, whofe blood (in fo great si variety of branches) will no doubt be continued



		BREEDING. j₉ continued with fafhionable croffes to the ^end of time. ^1S hardly poffible for one little acquaint- ^Wlt« the cuftoms and manners of the ^tUrf to conceive, how the decifion of a fin- S c match or fweepftakes alters the proper- ?^les ^ value of a ftallion, whofe reputation Placed (in blood and performance) upon the fummit of eminence; for fhould fome °f the firft of his get that ftart fortunately become winners, fuch circumftance inftantly enhances his fuperiority to a degree of en- thufiafm, and more bufinefs being marked °ut for him in the aft of pro-creation than ^nature is equal to, his number of mares are confequently limited, and he becomes im- mediately an objea of great annual emolu- ment, feveral inflances having occurred in the laft twenty years, where different Gal- lons have produced to their owners five and twenty hundred pounds in onefeafon. But in this ftate of acknowledged ex- cellence and fuperiority, they are toll fub- ject to the verfatility of chance, and one unlucky ftep for ever damns their fame i\ C 2 for



		DEEDING. 21 ver exceeded thirteen hands, though got by Mar/k, (who was a large horfe) out of a full fized hackney mare in the neighbour- hood of Windfor: as well as a very large, °^oney, handfome ufeful gelding full fifteen » ^0ut of a poney mare under twelve, that was bought of a troop of gipfies near ^Bafingftoke for a fingle guinea. An en- creafedlift of fuch inftances might be eafily formed and equally authenticated_; but thefe are fufficient to encounter the alTertions of thofe who feem firmly to believe the im- practicability of obtaining bone, fize, or Strength, but from horfes and mares of fuch fize and bone only j and although it is cer- tainly right to admit the probability of de- viation from fire and dam in fuch cafes, yet the minute inveftigation of caufes mull lead us into a field of phyfical reafoning, and anatomical difquifition, that would prove in general reading too remote and extenfive for the fubjeft before us. There are, however, very juft and fair reafons to be adduced, why thefe contrafts o frequently occur i_n oppofition to the ef- taoliOxed notions of breeding, without at all C 3 advert-



		BREEDING. 23 and dam, without a fingle reference to their different natural blemifhes, defers, impcr- fedions, or hereditary taints, of which ma- ny may be frequently difcovered by care and the neceffary circumfpeclion. After the introduction of fuch remarks ^as ^evidently tend to conftitute the neceffary apology for, and prelude to the undertaking, it will be naturally expected I mould revert to inftmdtions that become immediately worthy the attention of every young and inexperienced breeder, who feels a defire to excel in his flock from the motive of emulation, amufement or emolument. It has been before hinted, that thofe fucceed beft for either who propagate the different kinds according to the diftincT: fpecies of each, whether for the Turf, Field, or Draft, without defcending to the adoption of crofles m themfelves erroneous and feldom produc- tive. ^r In the prefent enormous price given for horfes of every denomination (univerfally laid and believed to be occafioned by the conftant and unprecedented exportation of C 4. our



		24 BREEDING. our mod valuable Englifh breed) it is al-< moft difficult to decide, which clafs contri- butes moft to the profit of the breeder. I cannot, however, in my own opinion, hefi- tate a moment to pronounce the preference to have fallen upon thofe that turn the foon- eft into fpecie: Of thefe, for inftance, are the beft bred blood Jock, now in the higheft and moft incredible ftate of cultivation; the common marketable prices of thefe, if of the firft pedigrees, and brought to a promif- jng fize when yearlings, are one hundred and fifty guineas for colts, and one hundred for JilHes, at which they pafs^ current, provided they are croiTed in blood from any of the ftallions whofe celebrity we have before had occafion to mention.' Without enlarging upon this fort of fport-* ing fpeculation, I fhall only obferve, that under certain regulations and very nice dis- tinction, with great care and unremitting at- tention, this may prove a much more profit- able mode of breeding for thofe who wifh to afcertain a fixed emolument, (without hazarding the lofs of a certainty in breaking, training, racing, &c.J as is the prudent practice



			I

		BREEDING. 25 praftice of the _moft eminent dealer in the kingdom, _Wh₀ is annually accumulating a very confiderable fortune by the conflant transfer of «� n. ■ - ^U1 equeitrian property in its m- ^v» rather than encounter the incredible expence^ and anxiety of a ftud in training, glorious uncertainty of the turf, the un- ^ounded infolence of the neceffary depend- ^nts» and the immaculate purity of thofe to Whom your honour and property mure be eventually entrufted, as will be more fully explained when the fubjecl: comes again «nder confederation towards the conclufion pf the work. Concluding, therefore, this clafs of breeoV ers, to derive the greateft pecuniary advan- tage from their increafe of ftock by con- verting it expeditioully into cam with fo little trouble, expence, and inconvenience, it is not matter of fu_rprif_e _that _the _rage _forWood and pedigree fhould be daily encreaf- ⁱⁿg, (and likely to continue fo) though the Palpable effect of - training on and training °Jt> annually diffipates and reduces to hu- miliating indigence fome of the moft prince- 7 fortunes in this and the neighbouring kingdom



		₂6 BREEDING. kingdom of Ireland, where the thirfr. for equeflrian pre-eminence is equal, if not Ju- mper tor to our own. The breed of horfes mofl profitable to the graziers and breeders of Lincoln, Leicefler, Northampton, and fome few other counties, adapted by nature to the purpofe, are proba- bly the old Englifh black draft horfes, fo remarkable for their bone, ftrength, and hardinefs of conftitution : Thefe, from their great fize, beauty, and uniformity, become to every curious obferver, obje&s of Angular at- traction ; their wonderful power in bufinefs renders them in general requeft, and the breed is cultivated with the ftri&eft. atten- tion to correfponding points and perfections in both fire and dam, little inferior to the clafs laft treated on. Stallions of emi- nence in the above counties are eftimated at very confiderable fums, and frequently let out to cover from one hundred to two hun- dred guineas for the feafon; the ftock gene- rally come into gentle ufe at two years old, or under, and when brought to a good fize in proper time, frequently fetch from thirty to fifty guineas at two and three years old. Thofe



		breeding. 27 Thofe horfes paffing under the denomi- nation of hunter?, but more particularly the common erodes for roadfiers and hacks, can ^by ^no ^means prove Jo generally profitable ⁿ all contingencies are taken into confi- ^ration i the length of time they are obli- ge to be kept on hand and maintained, (till ^at kaft four years old) with the unfavourable changes they may probably undergo before they can be brought to the ultimate market pf emolument molt applicable to their dif- ferent qualifications, render the whole a matter of much greater uncertainty than with horfes of the preceding defcription ; for the unavoidable difficulties of cutting, breaking, hacking, docking, and nicking, render them ferious operations, the fuccefs of which cannot be afcertained without encountering a chance of misfortune or failure to injure the fubjed: and affed his value. . ^N°twithftanding thefe confiderations are ^tended for general application, it muft be remembered they will ever remain fubjedl to ">e different degrees of fuccefs, arifing from e variety of circumftances already explain- � bounties, as I have before remarked, diiFer



		a8 BREEDIN G. differ fo very much in their lituation and fertility for breeding, that many will not produce horfes of fize, and the defirable qualifications, at even treble their real value, when brought to the very higheft market for difpofal: For it is a fact indifputably cer- tain, that nothing but a part of the kingdom remarkable for the abundance and luxuri- ance of its herbage can ever produce flock of fize and value to render breeding a matter of emolument; the attempt, therefore, in unfavourable fituations, mufl ever recoil upon the adventurer with additional difap- pointment. Thefe obfervations, fo immediately rela. tive to the idea of profit and lofs, are by no means introduced to reflrain or deter thofe from the practice, who are fo unavoidably circumftanced in Jituation,* as to breed under fuch difadvantage from the motive of amufe- ment only, where pecuniary compenfation is no way concerned or expected; it is, how- ever, to be prefumed, that occafional refer- ences to the inftructions hereafter incul- cated, upon an extenfive fcale for the im- provement of flock in general (without again adverting



		₃o BREEDING. tant commiffions, where expenfe and trouble proved only inferior confideratlons: But the trial afforded by time, and experience by ob- fervation, have fully fhewn the improbabi- lity of adding to the perfections of the true Englifh blood horfes by the importation of theirs. This rage for improvement with a crofs from the blood of Arabia was near half a century paft very fajhionably predominant; but has fo gradually declined for the laft twenty years, that they are held in no kind of eftimation by any fyftematic fportfman or breeder in the kingdom. The original ad- vantage expected in the crofs, was fome ad- dition in/peed, even to our fleeted mares j this, when obtained, was totally counter- acted by a want of bottom, [for after repeated trials, the moft exacT: and difinterefted, they were found incapable of keeping their rate for much more than a mile, and confequently became of fo little confequence to a racing ftud, that a fhort time will, in all probabi- lity, render them of no other utility than to conftitute part of the retinue in the triumph- ant return of an Englifi Na-bob, or an addi- tion



		BREED I N G. $i tion to the cjlrich, porcupine, ^rhinoceros 01 iome eccentric colledor of curiofities. ^ken has introduced a few judicious inTi ^UP°ⁿ ^the ^fuhjea °^f ^breedin�' ^butwith^S-^^a/ ^WUy ^f° P^erP^etually interfperfed _ ^lnaPplicable ftories and ftranee con- ^ ^u ions, that you are dragged through forty nfty pages of extraneous and digreffive latter to be informed, that " Spanking Ro- ger, belonging to the late Sir Edmund Ba- con, was _a round barrelled horfe ; « that Mr. Wilham Penry cured his hammering Patients of that defed in fpeech by purgin* � rfV'r ^marC ^belongⁱⁿS ^t0 Mr. T. Makin, w Select, in Lancashire, run with her fore Jeet as., wide as a barn door ■ yet fhe ran as faft as mod of her fee, _which was all ow- ing to-.bringing in her haunches quick, for they mufi needs go _when the devil drives f that:« an old woman can cure a wound as ^well as a furgeon " that- << _nu r ■ from tW � phyficians may, om.their ignorance, be confidcrcd a fct of 211^-Pocke^ almoft _m _numerous _as ^ S? r ^c/^^^r ***** c^^§ab°^Utf^Withag-t number of "» ^e{i«ally fublime, and as highly



		₃2 BREEDING, highly applicable to the fubject he was treating on ; upon which he has introduced no new matter in any direct chain of con- nection, tending at all to enlighten the topic or improve the management, having liter- ally taken up the bufinefs by way of amufe- ment, and laid it down precifely where he found it. We might here, with great feeming pro- priety, introduce a long lift of inftructions, containing the fhape, make, bone, Strength, with all the variety of points neceffary (or at leaft likely) in horfe and mare, to confti- tute a progeny of promiling perfections; but thofe requisites are fo extensively and accurately defcribed between the twelfth and twentieth pages of " The Gentleman's Stable Directory," Vol. I. and mull be fo nicely implanted in the mind and memory of almoft every SportSman or breeder, that a repetition here might be candidly deemed entirely Superfluous, and confequently ren- der us Subject to an accufation we wifh moft attentively to avoid. Such defcriptioa of points and qualifi- cations



			BREEDING.

		«**, tonding therefore not only incon- ^Verted> but in poffeffion of general ac- quidcence, to thofe pages* the juvenile or Id?⁶"⁶¹¹⁰⁶'¹ ^Cn^^uirer ^is ^referred ^for ^an7 tain¹¹¹⁰^¹ ^information ^he ^may wifh to ob- oiMh ^reference ^being juftified only up- ^ ^e natural prefumption, that there will very f_ew _purch_af_ers of the prefent work, ^ut what _are holders of the firft Volume of ^ir>e btable Directory likewife. are^hf^S 'v* ^f° ^"^ **» what are the re_quif_ltes _deflraWe _tQ ^.^ ^ ^ Proceed to explain what the defers are molt Jceffiuy to be difcovered in either fire or , ' ^that ^the Poffible retention of heredi- tary taints, defeSis or deformities, may be the better avoided; for although it remains, and xn all probability ever will, _a _matter _of _am-biguity why an unblended horfe _and mare mayproduceacoUorfillyfullof^^or fyvnmty, it by no means follows that a dif- eafed or deformed f_lre _and _dam _are _equa]ly^ely to produce a _progeny _of _perfedtion . nis being unequivocally admitted, (as by very impartial invefti_gator _of _nature _it _cer_ ^ta^ly muft be) it will undoubtedly prove



		BREEDING.
	34-	BREEDING.
	34-

an act of confiftency to evade fo palpable a chance of difappointment, by forming an union of propriety apparently calculated (from every external appearance) to tranfmit fuch original purity to their produce. To effect this, the mare having been ob- tained correfponding in fize, frame, bone, and firength, with the wifh of the breeder, and found upon accurate examination to be perfectly free from the blemimes and defects fo frequently mentioned, the choice of a Jiallion becomes the object of ferious atten- tion j in him fhould be accumulated all the points and good qualities it is poflible for a lingle object to poffefs, upon a proof exceed- ing all fpeculation, (and this every obfervant naturalift will allow) that the produce, whe- ther male or female, much more frequently acquires and retains the fhape, make, marks, and difpofition of the Jire than the dam; and although fuch affertion may not obtain im- mediate credit with many, yet rigid obferva- tion has long fince demonstrated the fac\ and juflifies the great coniiftency of rejecting Jiallions with the leaft appearance of difeafe, blemifh, or bodily defect, indicating even the ilighteft