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Robertson writes that he had come to the same conclusion as Ewart that a slender horse played an important part in the ancestry of the English thoroughbred. He has compared various fossilised remains and concluded that although the shaft of the central portion of the large metacarpal bone is broad, the shapes of the first three phalanger are indicative of a slender race. He makes several observations on the significance of the metacarpals.

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Robertson comments on Ewart's paper on the development of the horse, particularly on the 'three-toed phase' in early embryonic life. He wonders whether there is any appreciable difference between the embryo of an Arab or thoroughbred mare and a Shire. He imagines that the three-toed stage would persist for two or three days or longer in the case of heavy, coarse breeds.

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Lort-Phillips apologises for not answering Ewart's letter sooner but he has been travelling extensively trying to find what remains of the Welsh pack or cart horse in order to form a stud for the Government. He has been able to find some old stallions of the breed, of whose existence he was previously unaware, and believes that the breed, crossed with the thoroughbred, produces the best horses he has ever seen.

The year is not written on the letter.

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Hayes enquires how he could get a copy of Ewart's paper about 'Callosities and the wartless pony'. He also would like to know whether the breed Equus caballus came directly from North America or through its ancestors pliohippus or protohippus. He mentions a paper that Professor William Ridgeway has sent him on the origin of the thoroughbred horse. He also invites Ewart to visit him for hunting.

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Hobday tells Ewart of the existence of two foetuses of thoroughbreds preserved in spirit. Being aware that Ewart had made an appeal for horse specimens, Hobday recommends that Ewart contact the veterinary surgeon in Lincolnshire, where the specimens are located.

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Ridgeway states that he is sending Ewart an abstract of his paper on the thoroughbred horse. He mentions his thoughts on the evolution of the Barb in North Africa and says how interested he was in Ewart's book The Penycuik Experiments.

Scope and Contents Ridgeway thanks Ewart for his comments about his own thoughts on the thoroughbred horse. Ridgeway hopes to have the paper printed by January 1903. He believes the Nisaean (or Caspian) breed owed its superiority and size to the crossing of Libyan blood with Asiatic. His paper also discusses the portrayal of small-headed horses portrayed by the cavemen of France. At present, his research revolves around the Norwegian pony with a stripe on its back. He is also greatly interested in Ewart's...

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Allison agrees with Ewart about the importance of nutrition in a horse's pregnancy, and supplies information relating to two mares from Ireland. He makes an observation regarding British thoroughbred horses and their lack of robustness due to their breeding habits, comments on various Australian thoroughbreds and reveals his experiences of fox terrier breeding.

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Robertson corrects the recipient on certain points relating to views on the correlation of pigmentation in the thoroughbred expressed at a recent British Association meeting.

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Photograph of the Thoroughbred mare, "Ornament" standing in a paddock in the early/mid 20th century. The horse's sister was "Ormonde" and was the dam of "Sceptre".