forced, and unnaturally developed, must decline
as prematurely as they blossomed. Still, the
majority do make some return for the system
or it could not continue. That really handsome
well-furnished chesnut which has just cantered
up, arching his neck and bending so beautifully
to the fine hand of his rider, is only a two-year
old, in the finest possible condition. In two
or three years' time, this promising colt will
probably be a worn-out, broken-down, roaring
hobbling cripple, fit for nothing but the stud
— and how far fit for that the present state
of our breeds of horses may disclose. Youatt,
in his admirable essay on Humanity to Brutes
written more than twenty years, argues thai
"it must be wrong to call upon the powers of
any animal before the period at which nature
intended that they should be fully, or nearly so
developed. That animal can never attain the
state of perfection for which he was designed.
Should he exhibit extraordinary strength and
speed, he obtains a reputation in the sporting
world which he is generally unable to sustain
for the severe measures that have been resorted
to, in order to bring him up to the race, are
contrary to the laws of nature. The developmenl
of the horse has been forced beyond his age.
The bones never obtain their proper strength;
the muscles never gain their full power; and at
a future period, when greater speed and strength
are expected from him if he continues on the
turf, he probably deceives his backers, and is
disgraced; or, at least, ere he has seen four or
five years, he is evidently getting old, and is
withdrawn from the turf." And then our
essayist points his sketch with this sentence:
"The capabilities and powers of a useful and
noble animal are prematurely exhausted, and
many years of valuable and pleasing existence
are lost to him." The following figures, taken
from the most authentic sources, will show how
this evil has increased. In 1859 there were
fourteen hundred and sixty-seven thorough-bred
foals dropped, and of these six hundred and
sixty-one ran at two years old, two hundred and
ninety-two of them never afterwards appearing
on the turf. Of the whole crop of foals, however,
one hundred and sixty did not come out until
they were three years old: while of the two-
year-old performers three hundred and sixty-
eight also continued to race in their third year,
thus giving a total of five hundred and twenty-
eight three-year-old runners. Arrived at four
years old, there were but two hundred and
ninety-one out of the fourteen hundred and
sixty-seven foals, or of the eight hundred and
twenty-one two and three-year-old runners, still
fit to race! The abuse of the system may be
further demonstrated by the two subjoined
comparative tables:

The very best of our race-horses do not often
survive the severity of early preparation, beyond
their third year. Let us look to the Derby
during the last ten years; all of the famous
winners, Andover, Wild Dayrell, Ellington,
Beadsman, Musjid, Kettledrum, and
Caractacus, never appeared as four-year-olds,
but were hopelessly gone at that age; while the
renowned Blink Bonny, that did manage to make
one effort as a four-year-old, was disgracefully beaten;
and Macaroni, the winner in 1863, is already so
infirm that he will probably never run again. The
one grand exception is Thormanby, the wonder
of his day, who ran repeatedly at two years old,
won the Derby at three years old, and the Ascot
Cup at four years old. Even premature forcing
and drilling could not ruin his fine constitution,
nor batter to pieces his low lengthy frame.

A really good horse is of very little value for
racing purposes after he has turned three years
old. His " form," as the phrase goes, is known,
and there is not much further for him to do,
beyond occasionally winning a royal plate or a
weight for age cup, when his owner would have
to lay the odds, so that very little money could
be made at such a business. Money in these
days is the key-stone of the turf, which must be
regarded no longer as an amusement, but as a
profession. Even noblemen will refuse to start
their horses if they cannot get their money
"on;" and the straightforward honourable old-
fashioned sportsman, who always ran to win,
would now be looked upon as little less than a
lunatic. How could he ever expect to get well
in a handicap, if he persevered in such a course?
And the handicap is another great means of
deteriorating the breed of horses. Perhaps there
never was any better plan devised for systematically
encouraging fraudulent and deceitful practices
as the great handicap race, which now vies
with the two-year-old stake as the chief feature
of a popular race meeting. If a man have a really
good animal that he wishes to place favourably
in a handicap, his grand object is to make the
world believe he has a bad one. Horses are
frequently run for months together with such
an object in view. They are sent to run, out of
condition, or pulled back by their jockeys, or
lose the start, or "run out" at the turns, or
some other equally efficient steps are taken by
which they may run to lose and not to win. At
length the time comes; the real merits of the
horse have been kept in the dark; he is
estiimated accordingly, and put down to carry an
extremely light-weight; and he conies out in his
true colours.

These proceedings are of daily and hourly
occurrence, and yet it was but a week or two
since that the stewards of the Jockey Club
tidignantly warned an owner off the race-course