Horse-Breeding Recollections
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HORSE - BREEDING R E C O L L E C T I O N S . G E H N D . O B F F E . PH I LAD E LPH I A C A E P O R T E R O T S . 1 8 8 7 . N O TE S A E S B R E E D I N G R CE H O R S . C H A P T E R I G E N E R AL O B S E R VATI O N S . ood is soun dness TH E principal requisite in a g racehorse , again soundness, and nothing but soundness ; and the object m of the thoroughbred is to imbue the li bs, the constitution , and the nerves of the half-bred horse with that essential quality, and thereby enhance its capabilities . The thoroughbred can , however, fulfil its mission only pro v ided the yearly produ ce be contin ually subjected to severe trials in public . The only appropriate test , proved by the of two experience centuries , is the racecourse, although its o n e- adversaries oppose it as too sided , and propose in its stead others of more or less impracticability . The last strug o f gle for victory , in which culminates the exertion the race , cc- of results from the operation the intellectual , the physical , a of and the mechanic l qualities of the horse , the development which combined power is higher and more reliable than any m that can be obtained in the same animal by other eans . The combination “of those three qualities forms the value of the : s horse destined for fast work the mechanical , in re pect to the outward shape and construction ; the physical , as regards the soundness and normal development of the digestive organs and motive power ; the intellectual, or the will and the energy to put the other two into motion and persevere to the utmost . o f The attained speed is not the aim , but only the gauge, the performance . 8 O N R C H O NOTES B EEDING RA E RS ES . The grand ideal principl e which pl aces this test so in com par ably higher than any other based upon the individual Opinion of o n e o r more judges is the absolute and blind n - w justice , personified in the inflexible wi ning post , hich alone o n decides the racecourse, and the irrefutable certainty that n or f neither fashion ancy , neither favor nor hatred , neither personal prejudice nor time- serving— frequently observable in the awards at horse-shows—has biassed the decision of hotly contested struggles as recorded in the R acing Calendar for the space of one hundred and seventy years . This it is that gives to the English thoroughbred horse a value for breeding pur poses unequalled and looked for in vain in any other species of animal creation . I apprehend great danger from the endeavor to improve - — horse racing like any other human institution , not without —b w its shortcomings y corrective measures , hich might inter fere with that principle o f blind justice ; its fundamental laws i would thereby become underm ned , and the building, which it to . took centuries to erect, fall ruins N othing but the framing of the racing propositions ought to serve as indicator o f what is required of the thoroughbred ; every state in need of an efii cien t cavalry should be careful how to place authority for that purpose in experienced hands , - o n . and see it used leniently , but clearly established principles of As for the rest, it should be left to the immutable laws N m w ature to gradually ould , in outward form and in ard com t . position , that horse which bes answers those requirements The centre of gravity in all trials of strength and endurance is to be found o n the racecourse : the straighter the running track the more infallible the result ; the longer and steeper the gradient the severer the test . As to the distances to be run over, I would recommend for three-year-olds and upwards from on e mile to two miles at the scale of weights adopt ed in the rules of racing at present in in l force Prussia, which is about ten pounds above Eng ish weights . - — Two year-olds should d u e regard being had to the time of 9 GENERAL OBS ERVATIONS . — year and the state of the ground n ever run less than four an d a half nor more than seven furlongs ; shorter races ruin their temper more than those over longer distances , in which the pace from the beginning is not so severe n or the start of so much consequence . Whoever has had frequent opportunities for observing in a - - two - racing stable the development of year old horses will , as of a rule , have noticed an evident change about the middle - summer . They quite suddenly lose their foal like appearance and become young horses . In general this alteration takes place at the same time as the shedding of the two middle teeth all at once the youngsters are better able to resist the wear and tear of training and improve as the work agrees with them . Of cou rse this change does not occur simultaneously in all two - n everthe year olds , although they may be equally well reared ; l ess I have noticed at this period a greater degree of evenness in the development of late and earlier foals than seemed war ' r difier en ce . anted , considering the in their respective ages As too , however, at midsummer the ground frequently is hard to admit of good work being done with two -year- olds without danger to their legs , I would advocate that the princi pal races for horses of that age should not take place before the autumn , when owners who have judiciously saved their young animals during the summer may indemnify themselves through richer prizes than were offered for competition in the earlier part of the season . In principle I do not disapprove of running two -year-o lds ; nq on the contrary , I take it , if done in moderation , to be an u i erring means to ascertain the soundness of the constitut on . From midsummer—say first of August—I look upon such o f races , according to the degree development in the individual horses , as useful ; care must, however, be taken not to overdo it , especially with fillies , whose temper is more excitable than that of colts. I have generally n oticed that mares which cred itably stood the test of two -year-old training also proved them . an selves superior at the stud Taking , for inst ce , the most suc cessful brood-mar es during the twenty years from 1860 to 1879; 1 0 O N C H O S NOTES BREEDING RA E R ES . — s that is to say , the dam of the winners of the fou r classic s o f races , Two Thousand Guineas, Derby , Oak , and Leger , —we o f that period find , upon examination their earlier career, - — that of those eighty, or rather eighty two , mares two races off— resulted in dead heats , which were not run only thirty did t - - not run as wo year olds . That early ripeness in a racehorse n may be regarded as a proof of health , eve With regard to later u e usef lness at the stud , is further corroborat d by Little Lady , o f Two Camb al l o h av the dam the Thousand Guineas winner, , ing carried off the Anglesey stakes for yearlings at Shrewsbury 1 859 — o f in the only race the sort ever run . I mention this ’ u of circumstance, however , by no means in s pport yearlings s o n i n stitu race ; the contrary , I look upon them as senseless tions , which , fortunately , twenty years ago were abolished in England , the only country where they ever existed . v r The se ere t aining and repeated trials of yearlings , more over , I take to be dangerous in Germany , where the winter generally sets in and puts a stop to all training operations about the middle of November . In England , and especially in France, where , as a rule , yearlings can be tried about Christ - ; mas time , it may be done without detriment to their health the more so , as in those favored climates their development is less retarded by the cold , and young horses acquire earlier than in Germany the power which is necessary to bear the strain of training . — ’ I consider the test by hurdle racing, and especially by steeple o f n chasing , rather one of acquired cleverness than co sequence for breeding . The principal race across country in England , N the Liverpool Grand ational , has repeatedly been won (for 1 863 e instance , in by Emblem , and in the following y ar by her of own sister, Emblematic , by Teddington out Miss Batty) by animals not possessed of sufficient staying power to run a mile creditably in even moderate company . This applies more par ticu l arl . y to the younger sister , Emblematic It is not so much l ength of distance that constitutes a criterion of endurance as the pace at which it is run . In a steeplechase this is generally so slow that a horse able to race half a mile is never for a mo 1 1 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS . ment extended ; if with such speed he combines a quiet temper , so as not to take more out of himself than is required by his rider , he may , in an ordinary race of that description , gallop h h us a long time without being distressed, and , aving thus f t banded his strength , have su ficient lef in him to enable him to win the race .