Horses and hounds : a practical treatise on their management / by "Scrutator" [pseud.] To which is added "Taming of wild horses." By J.S. Rarey.

  • Horlock, Knightley William, 1802-1882.
Date:
1858
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Horses and hounds : a practical treatise on their management / by "Scrutator" [pseud.] To which is added "Taming of wild horses." By J.S. Rarey. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    as are generally found in tlieir possession, the value of which rarely exceeds thirty pounds; but, as many writers on the horse have assumed, that the Equine race thrive best in genial lati- tudes, there is no reason why as good animals should not be raised in the south, as in the north of England; in fact, as far as climate is concerned, the southern parts of the country ought to surpass the northern in the production of this kind of stock. But the real cause of failure lies in the breed and form of the brood mares, and the little attention paid to their offspring. Were farmers to pay as much attention to the selection of pro- per animals for this purpose, as they do to tlieir other kinds of farm stock, the result would be very different. I have known from twenty to thirty guineas given by farmers of enterprise for good three-year old heifers of the sliort-horned, or Durham breed; and from fifty to ninety guineas for a yearling bull of the same sort. Good Leicester and Southdown rams often sell from thirty to one hundred pounds. But if you were to advise a man to lay out thirty or forty pounds, or even twenty, in the purchase of a clever well-bred brood mare, he would tell you that “ he should never see his money again.” And why not ] Let him only pay the same attention to his horse, as he does to his cow, or sheep stock, and I will answer for it that he is not disappointed, supposing, of course, that he is a man of sound judgment. Let us just compare the cost of raising and fatten- ing a Durham bullock, which is to be handed over to the butcher at three years old, with that of a four-year old colt, put- ting the prime cost of their dams at the same price. I am not going to recommend any extraordinary care or expenses, well knowing that I should, on that account, be met in limine with the old reply—“ It wont pay.” Well, then, we will endeavour to point out what will pay, without building expensive loose boxes, making fine paddocks, and feeding upon an unlimited quantity of oats and beans all the year round. This system we must allow to remain where it is at present, and is likely to continue, with gentlemen amateurs, and breeders for the turf. To agriculturists generally it would be a mere waste of paper to recommend any such plan, except in a very modi- fied degree. More on this subject I reserve for masters of foxhounds, and sporting men, who supply their studs from their own stock. A Durham calf, to be reared to a large size, will consume the whole of its mother’s milk up to a certain period, and when weaned will require, as a substitute, a good allowance of linseed tea, or mucilage. The foal will subsist for two or three months upon its mother’s milk, with what grass it can pick up whilst at pasture. The keep of a mare and cow in