Page:Hints to Horse-keepers.djvu/91

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MULES AND HINNIES.
83

a smaller, better-formed head, the flowing mane. and full tail, the general form, the finer coat, larger legs, broader feet, and the voice of the horse. What would at first appear remarkable is, that the mule, or offspring of the male ass and mare, is a far larger animal than that of the stallion and female ass; and not only that, but frequently larger than either of his parents. In proof of which may be cited an advertisement from Porter's Spirit of the Times of Jan. 8, of this year, offering for sale "a splendid pair of jet-black mules, seventeen hands three inches high, beautifully matched, three years old. They were got," it is added, "by the finest Maltese jack in Kentucky, out of thorough-bred mares, got by Wagner and Grey Eagle," &c. Now these prodigious animals, fully equal in height to the largest London dray-horse, which would probably weigh nearly two thousand pounds, if their height be correctly stated—which one may presume to be the case, since no benefit could arise to the advertiser from a deception which must instantly be discovered on examination by a purchaser—are the produce of a sire, the largest specimens of which never exceed the stature of a small horse, and dams which, in the absence of any knowledge on the subject, we may set down as probably not exceeding fifteen hands and two inches, and certainly not exceeding sixteen hands, inasmuch as the latter is, ordinarily speaking, the maximum height of the race-horse. Here, therefore, we have the hybrid offspring overtopping the sire in height by at least three hands, or twelve inches, and the dams by two hands, or eight inches:—a convincing proof, by the way, of the absurdity and hopelessness of expecting to produce an enlarged progeny by breeding small, weak, undersized mares to large, powerful stallions; and a strong argument in favor