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The blood horse, however, like the fox-hound, is after all an animal of composite breed ; that is to say, time was when he did not exist ; and no horse presenting the features of the modern English thoroughbred was, at one period, to be found in England. To show this conclusively, would be to write in detail the history of the English horse — an unnecessary task, inasmuch as this subject has already been fully dealt with in many books. It will, therefore, be sufficient for our present purpose, if we take the time of King Charles II. as an important landmark, and briefly trace the history of the English horse up to that reign, before entering into any sort of disquisition upon what we now call the thoroughbred horse. We need spend no time in enquiring what sort of horses they were which so excited the admiration of Julius Caesar ; i 2 LIGHT HORSES '. BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. but they were good enough to induce the Conqueror to take a good many away with him. When the Romans established themselves in Britain, they found it expedient to send over a large body of cavalry to assist in maintaining order, and the horses of these soldiers were doubtless crossed with the native stock ; and so the British horse, no matter what it was like, received its first modification or cross. Whether this cross improved it or not, is not to the purpose ; we merely note the fact that it was, so far as known, the first step towards manu- facturing what we venture to describe as a composite breed, more especially as what we have generically termed Roman horses were collected, not only from Italy, but from Gaul and Spain. Then, again, it has been said that the time of the Roman occupation of Britain, saw the first importation of Eastern blood, as Severus is reported to have raced bonafidz Arabs at Wetherby, Yorkshire. This story, however, lacks verifica- tion, and may be passed over without any importance being attached to it. Rather more trustworthy, perhaps, is the statement that Hugh Capet, of France, while courting Ethelwitha, sister of King Athelstan, sent the latter a present of some German "running horses," partly, no doubt, in honour of the event which was soon to take place ; and partly by way of congratulation to the King on his having subdued the rebellious portions of the Heptarchy. At any rate, whatever may have been the motive, we are perhaps justified in concluding that our native horses were crossed with these new comers. This, it may be noticed, is the first mention of " running horses," and the conclusion may be drawn that they were of a lighter build than our own native steeds, though we are still left in the dark as to what sort of an animal the German running horse was. Here, however, was the introduction of another strain of blood. William the Conqueror's own charger is said to have been a Spanish horse, and Roger de Boulogne, Earl of Shrewsbury, is reported to have introduced Spanish horses on his estates. THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. The Conquest, therefore, brought with it sundry strains of foreign blood, which must necessarily have had its influence in more or less changing the appearance of our native horses. As Eastern blood has admittedly been so potent a factor in making our English thoroughbred the horse he is, we may just pause to point out that in the reign of Henry I., we come across the first recorded importation of an Eastern horse. The story goes that Alexander I., King of Scotland, presented to the Church of St. Andrew {inter alia) an Arabian horse. Mention has already been made of the Arabs Severus is said to have raced in Yorkshire, but we may search in vain for any hint as to how they got here. That an opportunity was missed at the time of the Crusades is tolerably certain ; and, if we make passing notice of the fact that Richard Cceur de Lion is reported to have possessed two horses he purchased from Cyprus, and which were probably of Eastern origin, we may go on to the reign of Edward III., for most of King John's exertions were so extended upon war and heavy horses, though at the same time he did not neglect the race course, as he imported many Eastern horses. Edward III., however, bought fifty Spanish horses, believ- ing that their blood would materially improve the native breed, but he is said to have almost repented of his extrava- gance on finding that they had cost him no less than £13 6s. 8d. per head. This King, who was unquestionably a sportsman in his way, had running horses, and was fully alive to the importance of trying to get a lighter and faster horse than the ponderous animals which were required to carry the armoured soldier in battle. One of Henry VIII.'s officials was styled Master of the Barbary horses ; but whether this very arbitrary monarch had any Barbs, or whether this was merely a generic term for his race horses is, we venture to think, doubtful; we do know, however, that he imported horses from Turkey, Spain, and Naples ; while the Marquis of Mantua gave him some high-class mares, and the Duke of Arbino presented him with 4 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. a stallion. Still, partly perhaps owing to the restrictions placed by the King upon breeding operations, we are unable to gather from the records that the stamp of horses improved to any great extent in his reign. With Queen Elizabeth's accession to the throne, however, a better state of things com- menced. It is true that racing fell off; but, as a compensation,, the breed was maintained to a great extent through Barbs, and Spanish horses descended from Barbs which were found on the ships captured by Lord Howard, of Effingham, when he routed the Armada. Although James I. has often been sneered at on account of the manner in which he occasionally followed hunting and racing — in some ways he may remind us of Colonel Thornton — he was beyond doubt a sportsman somewhat in advance of his time. To confine ourselves, however, to the introduction of foreign strains of blood, it seems that a good many foreign horses were sent as presents to the English Court ; half-a- dozen Barbs are said to have been brought to England by Sir Thomas Edmonds, who, as ambassador and traveller, had many opportunities of seeing Eastern sires, and who no doubt imported others of which we know nothing. One imported horse, however, must be specially noticed — the Markham Arabian. So far as we can judge, this seems to have been a private purchase of the King's, prompted solely by his own desire to try an experiment. Possibly he may have remembered the Arab said to have been presented to the Church of St. Andrew about five hundred years before ; and may have desired to try once more the effect of this blood. To put the matter shortly, the Markham Arabian appears to have been a failure. He was put into training, but could win no races ; nor could any of his stock run. Prior to this time, there were as we have shown, a great many Eastern horses of one kind and another imported; but this Markham Arabian is the only one concerning which we have any details ; and these might probably not have been forthcoming had it not been that the Duke of Newcastle saw him, thought him " small potatoes* THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. 5 and few in a hill," and spoke of him in the most disparaging terms. During this time, however, there were in England horses which could hold their own against all foreign importations. For this statement Gervase Markham is our chief authority. He may possibly have been imbued with a certain amount of patriotic admiration for home products, but this is what he wrote : — " Again, for swiftness, what nation hath brought forth that horse which hath exceeded the English ? — when the best Barbaries that ever were were in their prime, I saw them over- runne by a black hobbie at Salisbury, yet that hobbie was more overrunne by a horse called Valentine, which Valentine neither in hunting nor running was ever equalled, yet was a. plain bred English horse both by syre and dam." It is interesting, too, to note the description of the Englislf horse as given by the same expert. " Some former writers," he says, " whether out of want of experience, or to flatter novelties, have concluded that the English horse is a great strong jade, deep ribbed, sid-bellied, with strong legges and good hoofes, yet fitter for the cart than either saddle or any working employment. How false this is all English horsemen knowe. The true English horse, him I meane that is bred under a good clime on firme ground, in a pure temperature, is of tall stature and large proportions ; his head, though not so fine as either the Barberie's or the Turke's, yet is lean, long, and well fashioned ; his crest is hie, only subject to thickness if he be stoned, but if he be gelded* then it is firm and strong ; his chyne is straight and broad, and all his limbs are large, leane, flat, and excellently jointed." A horse with a lean head, a good chine, and flat legs has certainly the attributes of a good one. As already mentioned, the Markham Arabian was invariably beaten on a race course ; and it is important to bear all these matters in mind now that * The practice of castrating horses is said to have been first practised in the time of Henry VII. 6 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. we are approaching a period at which the modern thorough- bred may be said to have been invented. Continuing our notice of imported Eastern horses, we find that in the reign of Charles I., Sir Edward Harwood laments the scarcity of strong horses, giving as the reason that light and swift horses were bred for the purpose of racing ; and, though Sir Edward may have been in error in supposing that strong horses fit for the cavalry soldier were scarce, his testimony to the existence of race horses helps us to under- stand that light horses were being bred with considerable care. In this reign (Charles I.) the Duke of Buckingham brought over to England a horse known as the Buckingham Turk, which, from being sold to Mr. Helmsley, acquired the better known name of the Helmsley Turk. He does not appear to have been raced ; but, as will hereafter appear, to have left his name in the Stud Book. The sad events in this country, which culminated with the execution of the King, not unnatu- rally retarded the breeding of horses ; but Cromwell was clear enough to perceive that the country at large would benefit by the public attention being drawn to the importance of having suitable light horses for the cavalry ; and so he kept his own stud and race horses ; and, having at his elbow a Mr. Place, by reputation a skilful breeder and his stud master, he became possessed of the White Turk, imported by Mr. Place, in con- nection with whose descendants we shall have something to say presently. Without going at undue and unnecessary length into the history of the English horse — and the history has been written by many pens — an attempt has been made to show, in the first place, how the native horses were probably altered in type, by being crossed with the different foreign horses which have from time to time been brought over to England ; and, secondly, that there appears to have been in England a breed of horses, to wit, those described by Gervase Markham, which were, at any rate fast enough to beat the Eastern horses pitted against them. m C o V V 4-* o £ w UJ c c THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. How these "hobbies" were bred we have no means of know- ing, but many of them are said to have come from Ireland, and this is a rather curious circumstance in horse-breeding. Until the hairy-heeled cart horse was introduced into Ireland, the cart horse of the country was a clean-legged one, and it was from these that the famous Irish hunters came — hunters up to weight, and by no means lacking pace. Is it not, therefore, very probable that the race horse of former days may have been bred on similar lines ? What has been written above has gone to show that up to the time of the Commonwealth a good many external strains of blood had been grafted on to the native stock ; even at this time the lightest and swiftest horse was a composite animal, more like our hunters — he could not have been bred to type ; nor could he have shown the mark of any particular breed like the blood horse of to-day. Like our weight-carrying hunter, he must have been more or less a chance-bred animal, and in a kingdom of the blind where the one-eyed were kings, the fastest stood out from the rest of their composite bred brethren. How far pedigrees were kept generally we have little means of knowing. But when all domestic matters were turned upside down by that disastrous upheaval which put a stop to everything except ill-feeling, it is more than probable that many of the records which had unquestionably been kept during the reign of James I. were destroyed, just as many ecclesiastical records were destroyed at the Reformation. At this stage, at all events, we are justified in arriving at the conclusion that there were in England different kinds of horses, and that from time to time the native stock had been crossed with various foreign strains ; and in this state matters stood at the Restoration. King Charles II. may not have been in all respects an ideal monarch ; but it is to him that we owe the foundation of our present race of thoroughbred horses. It seems, however, to have been sometimes assumed that the thread of horse- 8 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. breeding was cut when Charles II. came to the throne ; and that what subsequently took place had no connection with what had gone before. In other words, the opinion seems to have been entertained that the stock which was in existence when Charles II. succeeded had nothing to do with the origin of the thoroughbred horse. To this doctrine we cannot subscribe, as there is no ground for thinking that the previously existing race horses were entirely tabooed by the " Merry Monarch ; " in fact, there is every reason to come to the opposite conclusion. Though James I. and Charles I. introduced Eastern blood, we do not read that they or any of their predecessors imported many Eastern mares ; though, of course, it is only reasonable to suppose that a certain number did come to England. King Charles II., however, commissioned his Master of the Horse, Sir John Fenwick, who was also a breeder on his own account, to go abroad and bring back some mares of the best blood he could find. This was no doubt a congenial task to Sir John, who was a well-known racing man of that time ; but whither he went, how many mares he bought, and what they were, are matters which cannot be stated with any certainty. According to some authorities Sir John Fenwick went to Tangier and returned with four Barb mares ; others say that eight were procured, while others again incline to the opinion that the new purchases included an Arab mare, and possibly a Turk. Be this as it may, these mares were known as Royal mares; but, inasmuch as some of their female offspring were also called Royal mares the exact number of the original stock cannot be ascertained by reference to any existing records. It is in the time of King Charles II. that the modern thorough- bred horse may be said to have been invented. Sir John Fenwick brought back with him not only the Royal mares, but some sires as well ; and from this period a constant stream of Eastern blood flowed into England. So far as can be made out we know very little of what success attended the importation of the Royal mares. One of THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. g the Royal mares, however, was heavy in foal when she reached England, and soon after joining the King's stud, gave birth to the colt, afterwards known as Dodsworth, who was, of course, a pure Barb. Then, as now, private enterprise was largely expended upon horse-breeding ; and several of the King's subjects, Lord Cullen, and Lord Conway, for example, im- ported several Eastern horses. On the death of Charles II. the Royal mares and other horses appear to have been sold. Dodsworth's dam, bought by Mr. Child from the stud master for 40 guineas, and several of the others apparently passed into the possession of Mr. John D'Arcy who seems to have founded a breeding stud at Sedbury soon after the Restoration. This, at any rate, we may infer from the fact that we find the names of the D'Arcy Grey Royal Mare, and three other D'Arcy Royal Mares. Lord D'Arcy also imported two Eastern sires, known respectively as D'Arcy's White Turk and D'Arcy's Yellow Turk, and these, by being put to the Royal, and other good mares, left their mark upon the earlier stock of this country. We gather from the Stud Book that about 176 Eastern sires were imported from the time of King James I. ; and of these 24 found their way to England in the reign of Queen Anne. We would here again remind the reader that the thorough- bred race horse was not for the first time created by the im- portation of Eastern blood, though it unquestionably improved our native horses ; but, amid the many importations which began in the time of the Stuarts, we lose sight of the old English race horse as he existed before the Restoration. It would be mere plagiarism to discuss in detail all the Eastern horses the names of which are to be found ; it will, therefore, suffice for this description of the manufacture of the blood-horse to make short mention of three sires who may be said to have accomplished great things for the breed of race horses, though it is incorrect to say that they, between them, made the thoroughbred. The first is the Byerly Turk, so called because he was 10 LIGHT HORSES: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. ridden as a charger by Captain Byerly during King William's campaign in Ireland. When this horse came to England is not quite clear; but it was probably about the year 1689. Then, during the first dozen years of the 18th century, Mr. Darley, a Yorkshire gentleman, introduced the Darley Arabian (the sire of Childers), and, lastly, came the horse known as the Godolphin Arabian ; but which was probably a Barb. He must have come to England about 1728; in 1730 and 1 73 1 he was teaser to Hobgoblin, and might have been unknown to fame had it not so happened that on the refusal of Hobgoblin to serve Roxana, the Godolphin Ara- bian had to take his place; and the result was Lath, the first of his get. It will, therefore, be seen from the dates of these horses that races had been held very long before their time ; that Eastern horses had run, and been beaten by English horses ; and that Eastern blood had been used. Consequently, it is evident that this illustrious trio of sires founded no new breed ; they would only be crossed with the then living mares. And what were these mares ? The female lines of race horses are too often neglected by writers ; but if the matter be examined closely it will be found that there is a good deal of blood in the modern thoroughbred which is not of Eastern origin. This point is clearly and forcibly put by that high authority, Mr. Joseph Osborne (" Beacon "), in the valuable introduc- tion to the " Breeder's Handbook." In protesting against the oft-made assertion that the English thoroughbred owes his origin to the Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian, and the Godolphin horse, Mr. Osborne says : " But in the female line there are undeniable proofs of important influence out- side and anterior to the known Eastern sires ; and here I maintain that, in considering the origin of the ' thoroughbred ' as distinct from his Stud Book genealogy, it is most un- reasonable— nay, even preposterous — to set aside the female sources. Indeed, if the investigation be pursued logically, that side must be the more interesting in this instance K H < in — < c Pi - o D C Pi c 33 H 1/3 H - c O 00 ha IS w '_ C3 o c rt .c o ■4-1 ■— a; U c THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. H because, the sires being admittedly Eastern, it becomes imperative to trace, if possible, the blood of their mates. If a potent average of the dams at the roots is found not to be Eastern, then it becomes obvious that any restrictive claim for purely Arab descent has no authentic basis in fact." We may find much proof of what is advanced by Mr. Osborne by referring to the pedigree of the famous Eclipse. Marske was the sire of Eclipse, and in Marske's pedigree we find that Snake was by the Lister Turk, out of a mare by Hautboy ; but the name of the mare which threw Snake's dam to Hautboy is not to be found. This is of itself pre- sumptive, though not conclusive, evidence that the mare was English bred. Had she been an Eastern matron her identity would certainly have been established. Then, again, Grey Wilkes was by Hautboy, out of Miss D'Arcy's Pet Mare ; but who was the sire of this Pet Mare cannot be ascertained. The inference is that the sire was an English horse ; and this is all the more probable because Lord D'Arcy, as already pointed out, was one of the foremost breeders of the day ; and as he mentions all his Eastern horses, he would certainly have kept record of this mare had he known her lineage. Of Coney skins we have no knowledge beyond the fact that he was a son of the Lister Turk ; his dam was probably an English mare ; while we may search in vain for the breeding of the Old Clubfoot mare, except that she was by Hautboy ; and yet she was the property of Mr. Crofts, who bred largely, as the term was understood in those days. Not to labour the matter out to an undue length, it may be shortly stated that there are flaws in the pedigree of Bay Bolton's sire ; and it is curious to note that the identity of so many mares which were sent to Hautboy has been lost. Grey Hautboy, sire of Bay Bolton, was by Hautboy. In the pedigree of Spiletta, the dam of Eclipse, we find sundry other blanks which cannot be filled in ; and in each case the probability is that English blood should claim the honour of a place. Mr. Osborne says : " The thirteen un- 12 LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. known sources affect nine of the sixteen divisions, leaving the natural inference that the amount of English blood in the pedigree of Eclipse is almost as large as that of the Eastern sires ; and it is impossible to tell the relative in- fluence of either blood in the descent The Eastern blood is unaffected, so far as Bartlett's Childers (son of the Darley Arabian), and no further ; for his son, Squirt, inherits the unknown blood in two distinct lines from his dam, Sister to Old Country Wench ; whilst Marske, the son of Squirt (and sire of Eclipse), has a far greater admixture of the unknown (but, as I assume, English) element through his dam, the daughter of Blacklegs, who has no fewer than seven blanks, or, in other words, only one of eight lines of descent can be traced to a purely Eastern source. What equitable claim, therefore, can be made to a purely Eastern descent on his sire's side, if both his sire and grandsire inherit so many strains to which no Eastern origin can be assigned ? " Mr. Osborne continues : "The origin of Eclipse traced on the side of his dam, Spiletta, is even more convincing as to the extravagant conclusions which have been made. Even the best influence of the Godolphin has commenced with the unknown element in his son Regulus, whose dam, Grey Robinson, is, *of course, affected by the remarks above, concerning the Sister to Old Country Wench ; whilst Mother Western, the maternal granddam of Eclipse, is conspicuously wanting in Eastern credit, since nothing is known of the dam of her sire, besides the discrepancies in Snake, and the * unknown quantity ' in her dam, the Old Montague mare, through the maternal descent of Merlin. I need say no more about this great pedigree. The evidences which have in- fluenced my own judgment are before the reader in a way that enables him to form his own judgment independently. There is nothing revolutionary in what I have stated. The best authorities have referred, though only en passant, to the Eastern sires as improvers ; but they have left the assumption that the old English influence was at once obliterated by THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. I 3 them ; and that to them alone is due the credit of the whole development." Eclipse was foaled in 1764, and the above-quoted remarks show that there was in his veins a considerable amount of, t o say the least, unknown blood ; and as Pot-8-os, Waxy, Whalebone, Camel, Touchstone, Orlando, and Teddington were amongst his direct descendants, it follows that what Mr. Osborne designates the " unknown quantity," existed in those famous horses. What has been said above justifies, we venture to think, the statement previously made — that the race horse of to-day is a composite animal ; while it is not to be denied that the admixture of Eastern blood materially benefited our native stock. Then the time came when Eastern sires were no longer used to develop the thoroughbred ; and the volumes of the Stud Book now tell their own tale. In order to give the reader who may not care for deep re- search into the Stud Book, a general idea of the families and roots, we may just run quickly through some of the lines. Of the Helmsley Turk, we have already made mention, and it is only necessary to say here, that it is as the sire of Bustler his memory has chiefly been held in veneration, as Bustler's blood is of importance in the older pedigrees. Here, again, Place's White Turk is entitled to honourable mention, as he not only sired some good racehorses, but at the stud helped breeders with some of his female descendants, while the strain has been handed down to us through Matchem and Woodpecker. As already pointed out, the three sires, the Byerly Turk, the Darley Arabian, and the Godolphin Arab or Barb did not found a new breed : they were merely fresh infusions. They are, however, commonly spoken of as the fountain heads from which our best known horses have mainly sprung, the Byerly Turk through Herod, the Darley Arabian through Eclipse, and the Godolphin horse through Matchem. If the male lines alone be considered, the modern racehorse has more of the 14 LIGHT HORSES '. BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. Eclipse blood in him than he has of that of either Herod or Matchem, for from Eclipse have proceeded very many families. In the same way it can be shown that, with reference to the male line alone, Herod is next represented, and Matchem least of all. When, however, we come to take the female lines into consideration as well, the complexion of the case is somewhat changed, and it will be found that, with scarcely an exception, the foremost horses of to-day have more of the blood of Herod in their composition than of Eclipse, that is to say, they represent the Byerly Turk to a greater extent than they do the Darley Arabian. In a most learned and carefully thought out article on " The Blood of our Thoroughbred Horses," which appeared in the Field for the 8th and 29th of May, 1886, and in the Rural Almanack for 1887, all this and much more is cleverly shown by carefully prepared tables, and the writer there remarks "the representation of the Godolphin line of descent (Mat- chem) is ' nowhere ' in comparison with the representation of the Darley line (Eclipse) as regards the number of direct male descendants ; but the descendants, in respect to pro- portion of blood, do not derive from the Darley Arabian one half as much as they do from the Godolphin. And it is even more marked in the line of Herod, for in that sire there was not one drop of Godolphin blood, whereas Herod's descen- dants in the present day derive from the Godolphin three times as much as from the Byerly Turk which they are con- sidered to represent." The reader, therefore, will understand that, although certain horses are described as being de- scendants of one of the three Eastern sires, or of Herod, Eclipse, or Matchem, this does not mean that they do not include much blood of the others, for, as time has gone on, the three strains have become commingled. As the Byerly Turk came to England before either the Darley Arabian or the Godolphin, we will speak of him first. The famous horse, Herod, was great grandson of Jigg, who was son of the Byerly Turk ; and until Partner, one of his THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. IC sons, was six years old, Jigg was merely a travelling stallion in Lincolnshire. Among Herod's best sons were Highflyer Woodpecker, Florizel and Phenomenon. From this strain we have Highflyer, Sir Peter Teazle (commonly called Sir Peter), Selim, Pantaloon, Partisan, Bay Middleton, Gladiator, Glaucus, Sweetmeat, The Flying Dutchman and Wild Day- rell. From two mares by the Byerly Turk there are descended in the female line, as the new edition of the first volume of the Stud Book tells us, Bend Or, Robert the Devil, Uncas, Speculum, Blue Gown, Craig Millar, Paradox, The Bard, Minting, &c. From the Darley Arabian was descended Eclipse, and also King Fergus, Pot-8-os, Waxy, Whalebone, Orville, Whisker, Sir Hercules, Touchstone, Irish Bird-catcher, Lanercost, Blacklock, the Baron, Rataplan, Stockwell, King Tom, and Newminster, whose son was the famous Hermit. Lastly comes the Godolphin Arabian, said to be really a Barb, and in some ways the most important of these three Eastern sires. From him we get Matchem, Conductor, Hum- phrey Clinker, Melbourne, West Australian, Prime Minister, Knight of the Garter, Knight of Kars, &c. Such, then, is a necessarily imperfect outline sketch of the manner in which the modern thoroughbred has been built up or manufactured. In the course of his development there is one fact which everyone admits — he has increased in size ; and having said this, we have said everything on which men are universally agreed. Some people say that the modern race horse is not as stout as he was. Of this opinion is Mr. Joseph Osborne. In the " Horse Breeders' Handbook " he says that the Irish-bred horses, Byron, Paladour and Napoleon " found it no trouble to run four miles under eight minutes," while on a subsequent page he quotes the Earl of Stradbroke as follows : — " My firm belief is that there are not four horses in England now that could run over the Beacon Course (4 miles 1 furlong 135 yards) at Newmarket within eight minutes, which in my younger days I used to see con- stantly done." l6 LIGHT HORSES ! BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. Of course, in making these comparisons much will depend upon the credit attaching to the old records. About 1721 Flying or Devonshire Childers is said to have run a trial over the Round Course (3 miles, 4 furlongs, 93 yards) at Newmarket, in 6 mins. 41 sees., that is to say, at an average rate of speed of 1 min. 50 sees, for a mile, though he was carrying 9 stone 2lbs. On a subsequent occasion Childers is said, when carrying the same weight, to have run the Beacon Course (4 miles, 1 furlong, 138 yards) in 7 mins. 30 sees. In this instance we find that each mile took Childers less time to cover than when he was running the shorter course, for the average over the four miles is no more than 1 min. 47 sees, and a fraction of a second for each mile. Matchem is credited with having even surpassed this per- formance, the report being that he ran the Beacon Course in 7 mins. 20 sees., or a mile in 1 min. 44 sees. ; but then his weight was 8 stone 7lbs. instead of 9 stone 2lbs. Now if these times be compared with those of more modern horses over shorter courses, it will be to the disadvantage of the moderns, as the following figures will show, and a few of the best times have been selected as given in Ruff: — In 1846, the first year in which the time is given in Ruff, Pyrrhus I. won the Derby in 2 min. 55 sees. ; and if we take the Derby Course at a mile and a half, Pyrrhus I. ran at the rate of a mile in 1 min. 56! sees. The average of the Flying Dutchman (1849), Daniel O'Rourke (1852), and Ellington (1856), in still slower, as they took 3mm.; 3 min. 2 sees. ; and 3 min. 4 sees, respectively to get over the mile and a-half. Kettledrum, Blair Athol, Merry Hampton, and Ayrshire show better time, as they covered the distance in 2 min. 43 sees., that is to say, at an average rate of speed of 1 min. 48I sees, for a mile. The St. Leger Course is given in Ruff as 1 mile, 6 furlongs, and 132 yards; and in 1888 Seabreeze's time, the fastest on record, was 3 min. nf sees., which gives an average of 1 min. 45^ sees. T2 a c Q U C Z; Z o < Q « - O o 3C H t«5 00 O c o .8 ft. ft, THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. 17 Then if we take White Feather's time for the Goodwood Stakes of 1 891, we find the time for a mile is 2 mins. 3^ sees., the distance being set down as two miles and a-half. Put in tabular form the averages compare thus : — m. f. yds. 4 x 138 m. f. yds. 3 4 93 m. f. yds. 340 m. f. yds. 1 6 132 m. f. yds. 14 o Childers Matchem Pyrrhus I. Kettledrum Seabreeze White Feather 1 min. 47 sees. 1 min. 44 sees. 1 mm. 50 sees. 2 min. 3^ sec. 1 min. 45J sees. 1 min. 56I sees. 1 min. 48 sees. The distance at the top of each column denotes the whole distance run, and the figures in the columns the average pace per mile. Now, if the above records be true in every particular ; if Childers and Matchem really performed the feats with which they have been credited, it would appear to be a self-evident fact that the modern racehorse is not by a long way the stayer his ancestor of 140 years ago was. Matchem, it will be seen, on reference to the table, ran more than four miles at a rate of speed which has not been equalled by our fastest Derby winners over a mile-and-a-half course. If Childers and Matchem could run for upwards of four miles at the above average of progression, they must have been not only stayers indeed, but speedy as well, and the decadence of the English racehorse would appear to be a matter not allowing of two opinions. The late Lord Redesdale, too, was of the number of those who held to the idea that the racehorse of about 1866 was not so stout as the horse of a hundred years earlier; but remember what Admiral Rous once said in an article he contributed to B ally's Magazine — " My belief is that the present English racehorse is as much superior to the race horse of 1750 as he exceeded the first cross from Arabs and Barbs with English mares; and, again, as they surpassed the old racing hack of 1650. The form of Flying Childers might now win a ^"30 plate, winner to be sold for ^"40. Highflyer and Eclipse might pull through in a ^"50 plate, winner to be sold 18 light horses: breeds and management. for £200. This may be a strong opinion ; it is founded on the fact that whereas 150 years ago the Eastern horses and their first cross were the best and fastest in England, at this day a second-class racehorse can give five stone to the best Arabian or Barb and beat him from one to twenty miles. I presume, therefore, that the superiority of the English horse has im- proved in that ratio above the original stock." It was only in 1885 that the Duke of Portland's four-year-old Iambic, always described as the very worst horse in training, gained an absurdly easy victory over Admiral Tryon's four year-old at a distance of 3 miles at Newmarket. Asil received over four stone and a half. We do not, however, mean to assert that the match in question proved conclusively the true difference in speed between the two breeds ; for Asil may not have been as fit as was his opponent ; and it may be — we do not say such is the case — that Arabs may require to be trained in a manner differing from that employed for con- ditioning our own horses. But the match may be taken as showing that the Arab is no match for even a bad specimen of an English racehorse ; and the Markham Arabian appears to have been just as great a failure in the time of James I. Then, again, it is a common cry that we have no stayers in these days. On this point Admiral Rous wrote as follows in the article from which we have already quoted : — " A very ridicu- lous notion exists that, because our ancestors were fond of matching their horses four, six and eight miles, and their great prizes were never less than four miles for aged horses, the English racehorse of 1700 had more powers of endurance, and were better adapted to run long distances under heavy weights, than the horses of the present day; and there is another popular notion that our horses cannot now stay four miles." In the time of our ancestors, as the Admiral pointed out, there were but few races over a short distance of ground ; now, save at Ascot and Goodwood, we have few long ones ; and with so many valuable prizes to be won over courses varying Thoroughbred Stallion, Birk Gill. A Champion Winner. Owner : Mr. Eustace Barlow. THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. from five furlongs to a mile or a mile and a-quarter, it scarcely worth the while of an owner to forego these stakes, and give his horse a thorough preparation for, say, the Alexandra Plate at Ascot. A horse, like a man, loses his speed if he does the long slow work necessary in training for long distances. In short, the question of staying or non- staying seems to be very much a matter of supply and demand. If the five and ten-thousand pound races were over four miles of ground, the chances are that several horses would be trained thoroughly, with a view to winning those events ; but at present it scarcely seems quite fair to give a horse but two or three opportunities of running in a three-mile race, and then to say that he cannot stay, especially as horses stay three and four miles, in steeplechases. However, we will not venture to dogmatise on a subject which, if it be not quite impossible to prove, is at least very difficult of demonstration. Those who are convinced that the English racehorse has deteriorated, suggest from time to time a re-introduction of Arab blood, which they assert did such good service aforetime. Here it may be pointed out that it was by no means Arab blood exclusively to which we are indebted to the improvement in our blood-stock. Eastern blood of all kinds was imported, as we have already mentioned ; and the horse who has been as valuable as any other — the Goldolphin — is said to have been a Barb and not an Arab. As might have been expected, the proposal to again have recourse to Arab blood meets with a good deal of opposition whenever it happens to be brought forward ; but at present, and so far as those who breed to race and who breed for sale are concerned, another cross with the Arab does not seem akely to be tried just yet. It need scarcely be pointed out that it is not to racing men only that our thoroughbred-stock is important. To at least some of those who do own racehorses the racehorse is nothing more than a machine to make or lose money, as the case may \>e\ but to other owners, and to those who have nothing to 20 LIGHT HORSES ! BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. do with the Turf and its associations, the welfare of the thoroughbred horse means a great deal. He is the founda- tion of our hunting stock ; his blood is represented in our hacks, polo ponies, van horses, and nearly all our harness horses, not to mention the remounts for our cavalry. If it were proposed in Parliament to-morrow to make racing illegal, a thousand tongues would make answer that one of the objects of racing is to improve the breed of horses. This is perfectly true ; and by having a good stamp of blood horse we improve, in nearly every particular, hunter, hack and harness horse, in their several types, whatever may be the case on the Turf. If, then, it be seriously contended that one of the aims and objects of racing is to improve the breed of horses gener- ally ; to enable us to boast that we possess the finest horses in the world ; to enable us to possess ourselves of the gold of the foreigner ; to put money in the pocket of the long-suffering and much suffering agriculturist — if these arguments are seri- ously advanced, surely the first step towards accomplishing all this is to try and breed a sound horse. Yet infatuated people were found to try and bring back Ormonde, regardless of the fact that nearly every veterinary surgeon of note has declared roaring to be one of the hereditary diseases. Surely there is something anomalous in disqualifying for roaring a horse whose chief mission it will be to serve mares at two guineas apiece, while others are willing to pay three hundred guineas for the service of a confirmed roarer. Ormonde, owing to his infirmity, received very little chance of estab- lishing a line of roarers. If people like to breed from a roarer, let them ; only let them at the same time cease talking about racing tending towards the improvement in the breed of horses The importance of breeding from sound parents only has been considerably emphasised since the breeding of hunters and other half-bred stock has been made, to some extent at least, a State question. As every one knows, the money that Thoroughbred Stallion, King's Courtship. Premium and Cup Winner. Owner : Mr. Wickham Boynton. "%-- --»-, - - : *1 THE THOROUGHBRED HORSE. 21 was formerly given for racing was in 1887 diverted into another channel, and under the auspices of the Royal Com- mission on Horse-breeding an annual sum of ^"5,000 was given to subsidising thoroughbred sires which shall serve the mares of tenant farmers at the nominal sum of forty shillings. The scheme has in recent years been carried out on a larger scale by the Board of Agriculture, many more Premiums being given and other methods taken to encourage light horse breeding. Now, the most that this arrangement can effect for some time is to place a sound sire within the reach of the average farmer, without giving him the trouble of asking a single question about its soundness. That is guaranteed, at any rate, as much as ever conflicting opinions allow, by the fact that the horse is the winner of a King's Premium. Yet ever since the King's Premiums have been awarded, not a little grumbling on the part of exhibitors has taken place con- cerning the strictness of the veterinary examination. A ringbone, even at mature age, has caused more than one horse to be discarded ; while any unsoundness in the respira- tory organs leads to disqualification. There is not the slightest doubt that in the end Ormonde, referred to on a previous page, in being sold, left his country for his country's good. The Duke of Westminster secured £ 1 2,000 for him, but the horse changed hands later for ^"31,250 and died at a ripe old age in America. Yet, in his first year of service in England he begot Orme, and Orme sired Flying Fox, and at the late Duke of Westminster's sale in 1900 Flying Fox was sold to M. E. Blanc for 37,500 guineas, the highest sum ever given for a thoroughbred in a public sale ring. Flying Fox, in the fulness of time, more than returned the investment of his plucky French breeder. His stock won all before them in France for several seasons, and so Flying Fox stood at the head of the list of winning sires in France on many occasions. M. E. Blanc himself won countless thousands of francs in stake money with the sons and daughters of this grandson of a roarer ! 22 LIGHT HORSES '. BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. Since Flying Fox's day many large prices have been paid for thoroughbred stallions of repute. M. Martinez de Hoz, the Argentine breeder of all kinds of British live stock, went to ^"30,000 for Mr. Bower Ismay's Craganour who won the Derby of 19 13, after a bumping finish, and lost it, in the end, the honour, and the stakes, going to Mr. A. P. Cunliffe's Aboyeur, which stallion was also a son of Desmond, as was Craganour. Aboyeur found a home in Russia and Craganour in the Argentine, where many of our best stallions have of late years gone. Diamond Jubilee, who won the Derby in 1900 for the late King Edward VII, was sold to an Argentine breeder for 30,000 guineas, and Cyllene went for ^"25,000 and Polar Star for 18,000 guineas to the same country. To U.S.A. went Rock Sand (who won the Derby in 1903) for 25,000 guineas. Rock Sand won ^45,618 in stake money, Flying Fox ^40,096, Ormonde ^28,465 10s., and so on. That great mare Sceptre, happily retained in England, herself won ^38,283 in stake money. She was a daughter of Persimmon out of Ornament. In 1902 she won the Two Thousand and One Thousand Guineas, the Oaks, and the St. Leger — a unique record. In the spring of 1903, Sceptre was sold to Mr. (now Sir) W. A. Bass, for ,£25,000 and has changed hands frequently since at varying sums. Another great mare, La Fleche, who herself won ^"34,703 in stakes, realised 12,600 guineas as a yearling at the sale of the late Baron Hirsch's stud at Newmarket on. June 30th, 1896. The highest price paid for a two-year-old was the 21,000 guineas given by Mr. George Faber for Duke of Westminster, another Eaton-bred colt. THE HACKNEY HORSE. 23 CHAPTER II. THE HACKNEY HORSE. Much has been done to encourage the breeding of Hackney horses and great progress has been made in their improvement and extension. Just lately however it must be allowed that the industry has suffered somewhat from the invasion of the motor for rapid journeys, though the breed maintains its position as the best for high-class harness work. It is only in comparatively late years that the Hackney has been, if not entirely resuscitated, at all events rescued from the serious neglect into which the apathy or the ignorance of English breeders had plunged him. Either of these expressions is a hard term to apply to a brother lover of the horse, but yet no more polite one can reasonably be bestowed upon a body of presumably business-like men who had for years ignored the merits of one of the most useful varieties of native horse. That the Hackney has not been popular as an instrument for gambling purposes is certainly very creditable to the breed ; but, at the same time, it is quite within the bounds of possibility that, had the English been, as the Americans are, addicted to trotting as a pastime, a great deal of the attention that has been devoted to the thoroughbred would have been lavished on the Hackney. It is chiefly due to the exertions of the Hackney Horse Society that the horse, to whose interests it is pledged, has emerged from the obscurity which surrounded him for 24 LIGHT HORSES! BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. a considerable period, and has once more taken his proper place high up in the list of recognised and popular English breeds. That the Society's efforts have been fully appreciated by the nation is discernible by the fact that the late Queen Victoria became one of its patrons; whilst amongst the names of past presidents who have laboured on its behalf, that of King Edward VII (then Prince of Wales) is prominent in a list which is full of the names of the leading horse- breeders and enthusiasts of the day. Still, royal and aristo- cratic patronage, inestimable as is its value when bestowed upon a deserving cause, could never have the power to im- press the horse-loving public — that extraordinary combina- tion of sentiment and common sense — with any idea of the merits possessed by a horse which, if put to the test, would fail to justify the eulogies bestowed upon him ; and conse- quently the Hackney has been compelled to stand upon his merits. That the horse has amply repaid his friends for their support, the state of the market offers proof pregnant with silent tributes to his value; and, moreover, this never- failing testimony to an animal's worth — £ s. d. — is supported by the well maintained entries at the Society's spring shows in London. Regarding the latter for a moment, it may be pointed out that at the first of these exhibitions, in 1885, there were only 123 Hackneys in the catalogue, whilst at the eighth of the series, held in the spring of 1893, no fewer than 383 entries were secured ; and this, let it be added, in the face of a never-ceasing drain upon the resources of exhibitors and breeders by buyers from America, the Colonies, and every country on the Continent. The greatest possible satisfaction must likewise be experienced by every lover of the Hackney, from the conviction that the soundness of the breed is greatly improving as the merits of the horse are more widely recog- nised and proportionately valued. Having proceeded so far in the consideration of the posi- tion now occupied by the Hackney, one almost begins to fear that readers who have not paid much attention to the ante- THE HACKNEY HORSE. 25 cedents of the breed may commence to labour under the erroneous impression that the subject of this chapter is a horse without a history ; but nothing, as a matter of fact, can possibly be further from the fact. The early periods of its existence will shortly be alluded to below ; but it is first necessary to refer to the services that have been rendered to the breed by those enthusiasts in East Anglia and in the wolds of Yorkshire, who, for generations past, through good report and evil, have treasured up the old blood that has been left them by their fathers ; and whose loyalty and devotion to the Hackney are now bringing forth golden fruit as the fit reward of their staunchness and devotion in the days when the Hackney horse was at a discount. These men stuck to the breed, and bred it pure, not only from feelings of affec- tion, but from that implicit consciousness of its merits which a long association with it had impressed upon their minds ; and great indeed must be their exultation in the hour of its, and their, triumph over prejudice and ignorance. That the Hackney is unfortunately still the victim of both these enemies is an admitted fact that no attempt to explain away can possibly accomplish, but that the horse has now attained an unassailable position, and will live down such attacks as may be made upon him is happily an equally accepted certainty. It is, however, as remarkable as it is regrettable, that the chief imputations upon the Hackney come from professed supporters of the thoroughbred, very many of whom would be highly surprised to learn that the society's Stud Book contains references to, and the pedigrees of, horses that were foaled as far back as the middle of the last century. Consequently, it is surprising that such sticklers for blood should express disdain at animals, in whose veins the blood of the Darley Arabian and his illustrious successors most undoubtedly flows, but it is perhaps within the limits of possibility that the attention that several well-known sup- porters of the hunter were bestowing upon the Hackney excited a feeling of rivalry within their breasts. Admitting 26 LIGHT HORSES! BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. for the sake of argument — and of argument only — that the thoroughbred is all that is pure, and that the Hackney is but half-bred, it must be confessed even by the detractors of the latter that he is a mongrel with an exceptionally long pedigree, in many cases as far reaching as that of the first mentioned horse. It can scarcely be maintained, moreover, that such sires as the Darley Arabian or Godolphin Arabian were in the zenith of their fame only put to galloping mares, in fact, abundant proofs are forthcoming to the contrary ; neither can it be contended or substantiated by evidence that other light mares, besides gallopers, were not highly prized by horse breeders in the eighteenth century. The late Mr. Henry F. Euren, first secretary of the Hackney Horse Society, and an enthusiast upon all questions connected with pedigrees, satisfied himself by a reference to the files of the Norwich Mercury, of the breeding of the original old Shales, a horse which is regarded by modern Hackney breeders as the foundation stone of the Stud Book. Shales, according to advertisements which appeared in the Norwich Mercury, in April, 1772, and March, 1773, was the sire of Scots Shales, who was serving at a fee of one guinea a mare, and a shilling to the groom, and is stated to be " by a son of Blaze ; Blaze, by Childers out of a well bred hunter mare." Blaze was foaled in 1733, and was by Flying Childers, dam by Grey Grantham by Brownlow Turk out of a mare by the Duke of Rutland's Black Barb. Of the many sons of old Shales, two at least, Driver and Scots Shales, in turn became pillars of the Stud Book, and to the former of these horses many — very many — of the best Hackneys of the present day owe their origin. For instance, Mr. Philip Triffit's great sire Fireaway was by Achilles (Hairsine's) by Fireaway (Scott's) who was got by Fireaway (Ramsdale's) by Fireaway (Bur- gess') by Fireaway (West's) by Fireaway (Jenkinson's) a son of Driver, from Mr. T. Jenkinson's mare by Joseph Andrews by Roundhead. Other instances — almost innumerable — are forthcoming to prove that Hackney breeders of the past, iili IIIIhik mm — a PQ >> a Si o "eS m c si O c < ** z S o ^ 3 ° - -, o c THE HACKNEY HORSE. 27 although unfortunately denied the benefit of a Stud Book, were not regardless of the value of a pedigree, and it would be as in- sulting to the memories of these departed breeders, as it is opposed to the dictates of common sense to maintain that they were neglectful of the breeding of the mares from which they raised their stallions. That a certain amount of obscurity must always exist concerning the authenticity of ancient pedigrees is a melancholy fact which all experienced breeders are compelled to recognise, but it can scarcely be contended with any reasonable show of justice, that the pages of a printed Stud Book must invariably be correct, if all verbal or traditional testimony, such as handing down the pedigrees from father to son, is necessarily wrong. All breeders must admit that changelings have existed amongst thoroughbreds, and consequently, this being so, the records of their Stud Book might as well be described as being unreliable, and with as much justice as Hackney pedigrees are assailed by those who cavil at the fact that every detail of early breeding is not set down in black and white. Reverting, however, to the antiquity of the Hackney as a recognised breed, it may be stated that most ample testimony is forthcoming in support of this assumption, for which the writings of many recognised authorities are witnesses. John Lawrence, whose exceedingly practical contributions to the literature of the eighteenth century were compiled under difficulties which will be fully appreciated by modern authors, makes frequent allusions to a breed that was in all its principal characteristics identical with the Hackney of the present day. From a perusal of the " Philosophical and Practical Treatise on Horses," published by him, we find that "in former days" the horses for the saddle were nags, amblers, pacers, stirrers, trotting horses, hobbies, great horses, or horses for the buff saddle, hunting horses, coursers, race- horses; whilst he proceeds to add, the appellatives in "present use amongst us," are road horses, riding horses, saddle horses, nags, Chapman's horses, hacks, hackneys, ladies' 28 LIGHT HORSES *. BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. horses or pads, hunters, running horses, racers, race horses, gallopers, welter horses, managed horses, chargers, troop horses, post hacks or post horses, trotters, cantering hacks or canterers, horses which carry double, cobs, galloways, ponies and mountain-merlins. There is fortunately no necessity for analysing the above rather intricate list of varieties and sub- varieties in the present instance, the object held in view in making the quotation being fully served by the fact that the existence of the Hackney as a recognised breed a hundred years ago is amply demonstrated. John Lawrence, more- over, in his " History of the Riding Horse" again alludes to the hackney as a recognised and valued variety, and connects him with the roadster — a designation which apparently is there used for the first time in English equine history, although so far back as the year 1600, Hakluyt makes use of the ex- pression "roader" in his collection of travels, which goes a long way towards proving that the title was in vogue in America at an even earlier date. There can, however, be no reason for doubting that the designations, hackney and nag, were interchangeable terms when applied to horses during the past century, and certainly they have remained so ever since, as in many parts of the country they are applied indis- criminately to animals of the same variety. According to Mr. H. F. Euren's carefully compiled and most valuable introduc- tion to the first volume of the Hackney Horse Society's Stud Book, the expression nag is the oldest surviving appellation for the active riding horse in this country, and the word, he informs his readers with evident correctness, is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word hnegan, to neigh. Subsequently, Mr. Euren went on to state, the Normans when they took posses- sion of this country, introduced their own word, haquenee or hacquenee, which was recognised in England so far back as the year 1303. As a proof of this, Mr. Euren quoted the following extract from the "Vision of Piers Plowman," written in 1350, " ac Hakeneyes hadde thei none, bote Hakeneyes to hyre." The adoption of the expression THE HACKNEY HORSE. 20, Hakeneye unquestionably proves the antiquity of the word, and the general use made of it in England at that date, but unfortunately there are no details forthcoming to inform modern seekers after light what sort of animal it was that was referred to by it. That East Anglia was, if not actually the home of the Hackney, at all events the locality in which horses of a similar character were very highly esteemed so far back as the fifteenth century, is made obvious by the allusion made by Dame Margaret Paston, who in writing to her husband informs him that " there be bought for you three horses at St. Faith's Fair, and all be trotters, right fair horses — God save them — and they be well keeped." From the above quotation Mr. Euren very reasonably argues that the absence of any further comment upon the appearance of the trotters proves that at that time there was a recognised type of horse, in Norfolk at all events, which was commonly known as a " trotter." In those old times, as now, a good deal of difference appears to have existed as regards the value of horses, for one learns that in 1462 Lord Howard paid £1 16s. 8d. for a grey nag to send to the French King; whilst eight years later it is recorded that upwards of ^13 — about ^"75 of our money — was the price paid for a good animal. Of Sir John Falstolfe it is also recorded that in 1435 he bought two weight-carrying saddle-horses at Yarmouth at £11 2s. 6d. apiece, which may be regarded as a good price for the age in which the trans- action occurred. The reign of that excellent monarch and good sportswoman, Queen Elizabeth, was undoubtedly a glorious period for authors of all descriptions. Everyone, of course, knows that the immortal Shakespeare flourished in those days ; but few possibly are aware that the first book in English upon dogs was written by her physician, the famous Dr. Caius, the founder of Caius College, Cambridge ; and also that the first English book on horses by Master Blundeville, of Newton 30 light horses: breeds and management. Flotsham, in Norfolk, was published during the time she oc- cupied the throne. The last-named writer was evidently an enthusiast, and the completeness of his work is surprising, when the difficulties under which he laboured come to be con- sidered. He was a great advocate of scientific horse breeding, and manfully maintained the rights of Englishmen to exer- cise their own discretion regarding what variety of animal they should keep. For breeding serviceable horses Blundeville recommeded mares that were " of an highe stature, strongly made, large and faire, and have a trotting pase," for as he holds, "it is not meet for divers respects that horses for service should amble." The size of the old-fashioned horse is a subject upon which very little light has been thrown by writers, but the Duke of Newcastle, who published a work upon equine subjects in the reign of Charles II., expresses the opinion that " there is no fear of having too small horses in England, since the coolness and moisture of the climate and the fatness of the land rather produce horses too large." Such assertions are, however, of far too vague a nature to afford any reliable data for estimating the stature of horses during the reign of the Merry Monarch, but early in the seventies there is, fortunately, more reliable information forthcoming to show the size of the stallions which produced the mares which a few years later on formed the foundation stock from which the modern Hackney was de- veloped by the infusion of Arab blood. We learn from an advertisement which appeared in the Norwich Gazette in 1725, that a grey stallion, standing 14 hands, was at the service of the public, whilst two years later an announcement appears in the Norwich Mercury, giving the description of a large stout coach gelding of 15 hands, which shows that the stallions, though they appear to have averaged from 13 to 14 hands, were still capable of getting something taller than themselves. Later on, in 1729, one finds that a stallion — " an Arabian," but more probably a half-bred horse — was in Norfolk, and as the century advanced in age so the height of the horses Hackney Stallion, Hopwood Viceroy. Winner of Champion and other prizes. Owner: Mr. M. A. Martinez de Hoz. THE HACKNEY HORSE. 31 apparently increased. Attention may, however, be here directed to the fact that up to a comparatively very recent date the Hackney classes at the annual shows of the Royal Agricultural Society of England were only open to horses not exceeding 15.2 hands in height, but happily this absurd restriction has been removed. Early in the present century there must have been some very big Hackneys about, as a reference to the Society's Stud Book shows that Fireaway (West's) — known as Silver-tailed Fireaway — who was foaled in 1807, stood 16 hands ; and he in turn begot the dappled grey Phenomenon Fireaway, whose height was 16.2 hands, out of a mare by Hazard. West's Fireaway, it may be men- tioned, was a g.g grandson of Shales the Original, and being a Norfolk bred horse, as may be supposed, came out of a trotting mare by Pagan by Spectator, Pagan's dam by Blank by Godolphin Arabian, Spectator by Arab by Alcock's Arabian. It is somewhat remarkable, however, to note the circum- stance that most of the successful stallions, both as sires and exhibition horses, of the present and past generations, have stood 15.2 hands. Fireaway (Trifnt's) was of this height, as was Mr. George Bourdass's Denmark, and the latter's scarcely less illustrious son, Danegelt, is also 15.2. Mr. W. Flanders' celebrated horse Reality, the absolute winner of the first of the Elsenham Challenge Cups for stallions which were pre- sented by Sir Walter Gilbey to the Hackney Horse Society, is likewise of this height, as is Star of the East ; whilst the famous black Prick willow (Tice's), and his equally renowned son Confidence (D'Oyly's) were also 15.2 at shoulder. Having thus endeavoured to briefly trace the existence of the Hackney horse, so far as his origin and stature are concerned, to the remotest period in the history of the breed, the attention of the readers of this chapter may be directed to the purposes for which the horse was primarily produced, as thereby some light may perchance be thrown upon what may be regarded as the correct type of Hackney to select. At this point, again, Mr. Henry F. Euren, in his 32 LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. invaluable production, the introduction to the first volume of the Stud Book, will be found to have expressed a closely reasoned opinion on the subject, the truth of which, especially as he quoted from co-existent authorities, it is impossible to question. Mr. Euren stated clearly ■ that "the construction of railways had a speedy effect on the breeding of Hackney horses," and this circumstance doubtless affords some ex- planation for the lack of popular support the breed received a couple of generations ago. Before the benefits of Stephenson's great invention were offered to the public, farmers in all parts of the country were compelled to go to market on horseback, and, in the words of Mr. Euren, it was " no unusual thing " for them to ride fifty or sixty miles a- day to and fro. Now the British agriculturist, whatever his other imperfections may be, has always been regarded as a solid man — at all events, from an avoirdupois point of view; and consequently it must have been a powerfully- built horse that was used to carry him. The animal, more- over, could not have been a sluggard, for time is valuable when marketing transactions are on the tapis; and, there- fore, it must generally be conceded that the horse the farmer bestrode must have been fast as well as strong. In making use of the .expression fast, it is perhaps desirable to state that the trot is not the only action in which the Hackney should excel, for the style in which he walks is a point that should always be taken into consideration by judges of the breed. Few horses are capable of negotiating a long journey at a trot with a heavy man upon their backs ; and even if they were, it is to the last degree improbable that many men would be forthcoming who were able or willing to ride for twenty miles at this pace. It is, therefore, necessary when selecting a Hackney to bear this in mind, as none of the old-fashioned farmers would have cared to lose time when easing their horses, owing to the animal they rode being a slow walker. We are, therefore, pretty well able to estimate what the THE HACKNEY HORSE. action of the Hackney was like during the earlier years of the present century, whilst, as regards a still more antecedent period, there is plenty of evidence to hand to bear witness to the abilities of the then existent trotting horse. For instance, it is recorded of old Shales' son Driver that he was the sire of a mare that trotted 15 miles within the hour, carrying 15 stone, whilst the old horse himself is credited with having accomplished 17 miles within the same period of time. According to an advertisement in the Norwich Mer- cury in February, 1806, Pretender, who was therein alluded to as being for sale by public auction, is stated to have done his 16 miles within the hour, with 16 stone upon his back, when five years old ; whilst Read's Fireaway won the second prize given by the Agricultural Society to the best trotter, in the year 1801, and after the victory trotted one mile in 2 mins. 49 sees. At a much earlier date, however, there were records forthcoming to prove the ability of the English trotter, amongst which is one held by Phenomena, a mare by the trotting stallion Othello, out of a Norfolk trotting mare, who is credited with a record of 17 miles in one hour. Phenomena, although under 14-2 hands, when 12 years old, in the year 1800, trotted 17 miles in 56 minutes in the Hun- tingdon Road ; and, the performance being questioned, re- peated the achievement — in fact, excelled it — by negotiating the distance in a few seconds under 53 minutes. Subse- quently she was matched to complete 19 J miles within the hour for a stake of 2,000 guineas ; but her opponents paid forfeit when they discovered that in a trial she had trotted 4 miles under 1 1 minutes. It is also recorded of this famous Hackney that, when 23 years old, she did her 9 miles in 28^ minutes. Phenomena owned several masters in the course of her career, amongst them being the Duke of Leeds, who was content to pay 1,800 guineas for her when in the zenith of her fame ; but her old age was not respected by those she served, for she was eventually disposed of in one of the London sale yards for the wretched price of seven pounds 'e 34 LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. but she lived to serve both Mr. Daniel and the Rev. Dr. Astly well, eventually dying suddenly in the last-named gentleman's possession. A grandson of Phenomena appears in the Hackney Society's Stud Book under the name of Phe- nomenon (Jacobs), 578. So much for a brief review of the past history, pedigree and performances of the Hackney horse, which review might readily have been greatly extended had the amount of space available for the present chapter been larger than it is. It is, however, now necessary to offer some observations upon the modern horse, not with the idea of comparing him with the heroes of bygone generations, but rather with a view to describe the position which he occupies, the uses to which he may be put, and the form in which he most frequently occurs. That many Hackneys of the present day have lost a great deal of the old character is a fact that must have impressed itself somewhat strongly upon the minds of those who have studied the ancient and modern types of animal, but it must, at the same time, be equally apparent to all that such alteration as has been effected is easily to be accounted for by the fact that the present horse is put to far different duties from those upon which his ancestors were employed. No heavily-built farmer — or, indeed, any other person in full possession of his senses — would, in these enlightened days, ever think of escorting his buxom better-half to market perched on a pillion behind his saddle ; and even if such an idea was to enter the head of some eccentric individual, it is to the highest degree improbable that the lady would be a consenting party to the arrangement. Consequently, there can be no serious objection raised against the contention of Mr. H. F. Euren that the advent of railways affected the production of the Hackney horse. Long journeys are now ivery whit as great events in a man's career, if conducted upon horseback, as they were half-a-century ago, when negotiated by train ; and therefore it is not surprising that the more powerfully-built stallions have of late years THE HACKNEY HORSE. 35 been less favourably regarded by breeders than their more bloodlike relatives. At the same time, there can be no denying the fact that when quality, and quality alone, is looked for in the Hackney, a great deal of the horse's real value is being lost sight of in the search. A coarse, under- bred looking animal should always be avoided by a Hackney breeder, unless so be that the stallion's pedigree is unimpeach- able, and his services are required for a light or weedy mare ; but even then there is the risk in introducing the blood of a plain-looking sire into a strain, as, however good he may be, a coachy-looking youngster will always require a great deal of selling as a saddle horse. Consequently, in the desire of avoiding the Scylla of too much quality, which so frequently entails weediness, a breeder must use caution not to wreck his enterprise upon the Charybdis of " timber," which as often is attended by so large an amount of substance as to bring coarseness in its train. It will, therefore, be observed that the class of Hackney that not only represents the old- fashioned type the most accurately, and which, moreover, is certain to command the highest price, is a powerfully-built, short-legged, big, broad horse, with an intelligent head, neat neck, strong level back, powerful loins, and as perfect shoulders as can be produced. Such details as feet and muscle need scarcely be discussed at present, for it is obvious that any animal that is deficient in the latter would be unable to do his work ; whilst, however good a horse may be in other respects, if his feet are malformed, or too small to carry him safely, he must clearly be worthless. Commencing with the head, it may be said of this most important Hackney point that it should be, comparatively speaking, wide at the jowl and taper gently towards the muzzle, the eyes being of a good size, so as to, in conjunc- tion with the shape and dimensions of the head, convey into the mind of the observer, an impression of strength, intel- ligence, and courage, combined with quality. A very small effeminate-looking headpiece is almost as objectionable in $5 EJGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT a Hackney as a heavy one, the former usually denoting an absence of resolution combined with softness; whilst the latter is frequently accompanied by a sullen, dogged tempera- ment, which is altogether opposed to the true nature of the horse. In short, in dealing with the head of this class of animal, the general symmetry of its conformation should be studiously regarded, and, therefore, although a small head is always an attraction, and most properly so, it is ridiculous to encourage one that would suit a 14 hands horse when it appears in a Hackney six or eight inches taller. The ears should be small and pointed, although animals have won prizes adorned with organs of hearing that would scarcely have disgraced a lop-eared rabbit, whilst a neat though well- defined crest is undoubtedly a great beauty in the case of a stallion. The neck should be 'of fair length, nicely bent, and rather thick at the setting-on, though free from coarseness ; whilst the chest must be wide, and let down behind the forearms so as to allow plenty of space for the heart and lungs. The shoulders of the Hackney, as in the case of all riding horses, should be free from all that superfluous lumber which only brings coarseness in its train ; they should lay well back, and the bones should be long enough, forming as they do the attachment of the muscle serratus magnus, which connects the fore limbs and trunk. If these bones are small the muscles must necessarily be short, and long muscles alone can afford that flexibility and liberty of shoulder action which is so characteristic of the Hackney. The back must be long enough to allow plenty of room before and behind the saddle, and also very level and strong, whilst the loins should be compact and the quarters long and as powerful as possible without being coarse or of that coachy type which is so distasteful to many judges. The middle piece of the HacKney is ver, vel above and below, the ribs being well sprung and the back ones ol a n;ce length, so as to provide those indications of strength which are always to be eagerly sought after. THE HACKNEY HORSE. 37 The fore legs should be short and very powerful, the arms being big and muscular, the joints large and the bone below the knee plentiful and flat ; whilst the pasterns should be of a fair length, so as to yield elasticity in action, and the feet of good size and placed straight on under the legs. The hind legs should possess powerful sound thighs, strong, well-bent hocks, and ample bone, whilst the tail, which is set on rather high, should be carried gaily when the horse is fully extended. The above short delineation of the leading points of a Hack- ney may be taken as detailing the chief characteristics of a successful show animal, but the merit of the description lies, in the words of Captain Cuttle, in the application of the same. So many different people view the same features from differ- ent points of view, that in arriving at a decision upon the properties of a horse, two judges, although entirely in unison as regards what they want to find, will often entirely disagree as to what points importance should be attached to when called upon to give expression to their ideas in public. Two excellent authorities have even been known to differ upon the comparatively easy question of bone, the one avowing that although the horse was just a trifle light below the knee, he still possessed enough for all practical purposes, whilst his colleague declared that the animal was a weed and wholly unworthy of a prize. Some explanation is, therefore, forth- coming by the publication of this incident, that will readily account for the reversal of the decision made by one judge, by another gentleman whose views are known to be in har- mony with his views. Briefly, therefore, it may be taken that in judging Hackneys, two experts, although possessing iden- tical opinions regarding the points of the breed, may yet fail signally in attempting to reconcile their practical application of the ideas they hold. ^The structural development of the Hackney having been considered, a no less important property belonging to the breed must now be referred to, as a trotter, however speedy 38 LIGHT HORSES: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. he may be, is certain to receive but very scant attention from judges in the show-ring if his action is defective. Any horse, in fact, loses more than half his value if he fails to " move," and there is just as great a difference in the action of animals as there is variety in the gait of men. The Hackney in one respect stands alone amongst light horses, as he is, so to speak, one movement short, for he rarely gallops and relies entirely upon the trot and walk as methods of locomotion. The former of these gaits is so entirely characteristic of the Dreed, that one can readily believe the truth of the statement that many a Hackney can trot faster than he can gallop ; but be this as it may, it must clearly be understood that no pacing — by which expression the moving of both legs on the same side of the body simultaneously is implied — or ambling is per- missible in the case of a Hackney, whose trot is a trot pure and simple, and unassociated with any eccentric exaggeration whatsoever. In fact, the one, two, three, four, of a true- actioned Hackney as he pounds along is veritable music in the ears of an enthusiast, and no breeder of the horse will ever, it is certain, be prevailed upon to try to do without it. Hackney action, however, like everything else in this world, varies in quality, and in this respect, as in all others, judges have been known to differ very materially in their views, though none of any position have ever been known to give a prize to a palpably shoulder-tied horse, and few possibly would ever dream of breeding from the same. As in the case of every other breed, the shoulders, knees, and pasterns are all called upon to contribute to the front action, but in no variety do the shoulders exercise such important functions as in the Hackney, and hence the importance that has been bestowed in the description of his points given above to the length of their bone, which ensures a good and elastic sevratus magnns muscle. If a horse does not possess this he can never be free-shouldered, the result being that when he bends his knees, as he should do, it becomes a case of all action and no go, which is absolutely useless for every practical purpose, THE HACKNEY HORSE. 39 for if a trotter does not get away in front all the beauty of his going is completely lost. Consequently plenty of freedom and liberty about his shoulders is to be regarded as being a sine qua non in the selection of a Hackney, not only on the grounds of the additional grace which such a conformation imparts to his movements, but because, assuming that his pasterns are also good, he is far less likely to knock his feet to pieces against the ground when fairly let go, than he would be if he only lifts his knees up and smashes them down again in an almost perpendicular position. A good knee action is of course essential to the success of any horse, and the higher they are raised — assuming always that they are straightened again in time to effect that most peculiar poise which many of the best Hackneys show just before their fore-feet reach the ground — the more generally the action of the horse will be admired. Exaggerated knee action is usually only obtained at the expense of freedom at the shoulder, and few things are more irritating to witness at a show than a good-looking horse lifting his knees nearly up to his muzzle, and then putting his feet down in almost the identical place from which he raised them. Regarding the use that a horse makes of his pasterns when he trots, it may be explained that a short upright joint promotes concussion, and naturally not being so flexible as a long springy one, is not so readily bent back and then straightened when the horse is trotting. The feet in the case of the animal which has good pasterns are in the majority of cases picked up and put down smoothly and levelly, without any of that dishing or throwing from side to side which simply spoils the action of an otherwise fine mover. The pastern joints are, therefore, it will be seen, valuable co- operators with the shoulders in providing the Hackney with the desired front action, and when properly moved by the ( animal will be found to assist in bringing the feet down with that comparative gentleness which contributes so largely to their remaining in good condition. 40 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. The stifles and hocks, and of course the pasterns to a smaller extent, are the joints which regulate the back action of a horse, the hocks bearing by far the most important share of the movement when the animal is on the trot. Naturally the stifles must be moderately bent, else no pace will be secured, but the chief merit in a Hackney's hind action is the style in which he moves his hocks. When these are first well bent, and then brought nicely under his body, a great amount of extra ground will be covered, and if so be that his quarters are free from all superfluous lumber, and his gaskins powerful, his propelling power will then be tremen- dous. No horse, Hackney or otherwise, can ever get over the ground at a reasonable pace if he leaves his back legs behind him, added to which it deprives the action of a Hackney of the regularity which is its greatest charm, if all the four limbs do not move in unison. Many good Hackneys possess a tendency to go very wide behind between the hocks, which is unsightly, although the act is frequently accompanied by undoubted speed. It has been stated that a barrow might almost have been wheeled between the hocks of the Flying Dutchman when he was fully extended — but then it must be remembered that the great horse in question was not a trotter, neither does the maker of the observation appear to 'hove remarked that his action was improved in appearance by the habit. The development of a propensity to go too wide behind, although an eyesore, need not necessarily prove that a Hackney is unsound, and moreover, it is probably in many instances the result of a mistaken principle in schooling a young horse, by which he is encouraged to over exert himself before he is old enough to take any liberties with his action. Horses that turn in their hind feet ought never to be passed, whilst in cases when the latter are turned out, the animal will be found to be more or less cow-hocked, which likewise is a very serious fault in an animal who should stand square and move truly above all things. The principal gait of a Hackney — the trot — having been THE HACKNEY HORSE. 41 discussed, a few observations may now be directed to the scarcely less important walk, which is so priceless a blessing when added to the other virtues of a good saddle horse. There is no compromise about the true Hackney walk, as the possessor of it steps out all round, throwing his front legs well before him, and his back ones right under his body in a style that makes his stride enormous. Many of the leading Hackney stallions of the present day are by no means good walkers, and more's the pity, as if they possessed the gift and transmitted it to their stock it would add most materially to their worth as sires, and to the value of the youngsters in the market. Without the least desire to draw invi- dious distinctions between the respective merits of different horses, it is impossible, when alluding to the walk of a Hackney, to avoid drawing the attention of our readers to the grand walking action of Mr. Tom Mitchell's chestnut Ganymede, who was bred by Mr. John Wreghitt, in 1888, by Danegelt, from a mare by one of the numerous Phenomenons whose names adorn the pages of the Stud Book. A superb mover in both paces, Ganymede is simply the perfection of a walker when exhibited in proper condition, which has not always been his fate. So long as breeders pay attention to the walk of their horses, they are pretty certain to find a sale for the animals, as most persons who ride have reason to appreciate the value of an animal who, when trotting is impossible, can get over the ground at a good pace. It is, of course, a self-evident fact that many Hackney owners never have any occasion or desire to ride their horses, and in selecting an animal for harness purposes, the great difficulty in finding the right sort of shoulder is materially diminished. A shoulder for a riding horse must necessarily be long if the equestrian expects to secure a comfortable mount, but neither the length nor the slope of his shoulder is a matter of such vital importance in the selection of a harness horse, provided always that each of these required points is sufficiently developed to ensure that freedom of the shoulder 42 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. that is so essential to good action. That the Hackney is destined to become ere long a very popular animal in the capacity of a coach horse, was made evident some time ago, when Lord Hastings disposed of a pair of gigantic bays, which had drawn his carriage upon state occasions, and which were still pure-bred Hackneys. Their great stature, however, as may be seen by a reference to the observations which have already appeared above in reference to the height of Hackneys, should not be a matter of surprise to breeders, who, now that experienced persons on all sides are doing their utmost to improve the horse, may reasonably expect to find an increase of stature amongst the members of their studs. Good food and careful housing must always lead to the development of an animal's frame, so long as such benefits are not carried to extremes, but when a certain height at shoulder — say 15.3 hands — is reached, every additional fraction of an inch will be a difficult matter to secure. Exceptional horses, such as Lord Hastings' bays, will always be appearing, but although the occurrence of such giants will be more frequent, it will be many a long day before 16. 1 or 16.2 hands comes to be regarded as anything but an exceptional height in a Hackney. The question of temper is always an important one in the selection of ,a horse for business or pleasure purposes, and it will usually be found that the more docile an animal is, the greater will be his courage when the pinch comes, whilst his value will, of course, be far greater than that of an evil- dispositioned beast, who at any moment is liable to injure his owner and stable companions in one of his displays of temper. Fortunately, for the reputation of the breed to which they belong, Hackneys are the most amiable of horses, and the appearance of a vicious stallion in the show ring is almost unknown amongst exhibitors, but, unhappily, it is neither the nature nor the breeding of many a savage horse that has made him what he is. Bad breaking, the tricks of shallow-pated grooms, and the teasing some youngsters receive from the idle loafers — adult and juvenile — who contrive to gain admission Hackney Mare, Beckingham Lady Grace. Winner of Champion and other prizes. Owner: Mr. H. Gilding. THE HACKNEY HORSE. 43 to the stables, are each and all responsible for many a ruined temper ; whilst the vagaries of a wooden-headed owner, who, although possessing the hands of a quarryman, is of the opinion that, because he has paid a long price for a spirited horse, he must necessarily be able to drive or ride the animal, have contributed to the ruin of good colts innumerable. If the owners of a valuable Hackney would only realise the fact that they have no hands, when they are unfortunate enough to be so afflicted, they would never lay themselves out to incur the ridicule that is bestowed upon them by the specta- tors of their folly, but as matters go they usually are in- capable of recognising their own imperfections, and thereby succeed in ruining the prospects of their horse. So perfect, however, is the temper of most Hackneys that many breeders who are also farmers ride their stallions regularly about their fields when the men are at work, and beyond all ques- tion, when the rider is a horseman, the animal is benefited by the useful amount of healthy exercise thus afforded him. The disregard to the condition of their stock, and the cir- cumstances under which the young ones are reared, that is evinced by some owners is really appalling ; and creates surprise amongst those who are acquainted with what the animals go through. For instance, a stallion, whose action should be one of his strongest recommendations, is sometimes brought up to the early show, just before the covering season commences, so loaded with fat that he can scarcely move ; and yet the unfortunate animal is expected to take a prize, ' and subsequently to travel the country and foal his mares ! He probably fails in both attempts, and thereby loses his reputa- tion for looks and as a sire, when under ordinary circum- stances he would have been able to have done all that was desired of him. Then in the case of yearlings, they are blown out upon cake and boiled beans, and other stimulating diets until they give an old-fashioned admirer of Hackneys the im pression that they have been prepared for slaughter and not for show ; whilst most of all the object of this ridiculous treat- 44 LIGHT HORSES '. BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. ment of the youngsters is that they are fed up to look big and take a prize. It would be interesting to know how many of these precious juveniles have developed into good horses by the time when they arrive at a full mouth, but certain it is, that many disappear from the scene, and are heard of no more, whilst others get beaten time after time by opponents who, though behind them as yearlings, had not been forced, and who, therefore, have come on whilst they themselves have deteriorated. Doubtless, some yearlings are sold to go abroad, or into remote parts of the country after they have scored an early success or two, and with their blushing honours thick upon them have succeeded in gaining a reputa- tion in the locality that has served them at the stud in after life, nor must it be assumed that every prize yearling has been the victim of injudicious pampering and a heated stable. Fortunately, all owners are not short-sighted enough to adopt tactics with their youngsters which will jeopardise the suc- cess of their future career, and Mr. Henry Moore, of Burn Butts, who was the breeder of many valuable specimens, was a notable instance of a breeder who brings his young stock up hardy. The practice of this gentleman was to let his horses lie out all the winter, the result being that they came up to spring shows as rough as bears and as hard as nails. It is, however, questionable whether this system of leaving horses, and especially young ones out during the existence of cold weather is a desirable one in all cases, as constitutions differ, and it is not every owner of a stud who possesses the knowledge when to bring an animal that is suffering in. The whole question of turning horses out to grass is one that appears to be very imperfectly understood by the average horse owner, who, in many instances, never thinks, or if he does give the subject a thought, is incapable of forming an opinion of what he is about. How often for instance, does one notice during the summer months the horses of some non-reflecting neighbour turned out during the day and THE HACKNEY HORSE. 45 brought back to their stables of a night, an arrangement which effectually secures their being tormented by flies and the sun when in their paddock, and deprived of the benefit of all the refreshing morning dews, which cool their feet and render the grass moist and toothsome. Surely, therefore, this system of summering horses requires some revision when any benefit is expected to be derived by the animals from their short emancipation from the drudgery of active service ; and it is to be trusted that owners who desire to improve the condition of their animals will devote a portion of their leisure to the consideration of the requirements of the latter. The above few lines, however, must be regarded as being rather in the nature of a parenthesis, as the question of sum- mering and wintering horses is scarcely one that can properly be dealt with upon its merits in this chapter. It was, never- theless, introduced as being a matter which has much to do with the constitution of a horse, it being certain that any animal, which is either pampered when young or improperly treated when old, is never likely to do itself justice at the stud, even if its success in the show-yards is not seriously prejudiced. A Hackney, above all horses, should be of a robust and vigorous constitution, for whilst admitting that the exigencies of the age, which regulate the great question of supply and demand, require a somewhat lighter animal than was sought for formerly, it must always be remembered that a Hackney without substance and power has lost two of the great properties possessed by the breed. It is almost to be feared, however, that this demand for quality may influence judges into paying too much attention to animals whose chief merit is their style and blood-like outline, to the detriment of the old-fashioned type which made the reputation of the horse, and will sustain it for all time, if given due encourage- ment. That some judges go for blood and others for sub- stance, is rendered obvious by the presence in the same prize list of animals of both the heavy and light types. Anomalies of such a description are always to be deprecated as being 46 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. confusing to the public, and bewildering even to experienced breeders who very naturally may enquire what sort of horse it is that judges want. In selecting a Hackney mare, the seeker after the right sort of animal should always be on his guard against permitting a very natural regard for that most elastic of all equine virtues — quality — to override his judgment, and cause him to give preference to an animal that looks like being three parts thoroughbred, over a long, low, heavily-boned mare, who knows how to use her shoulders and bend her hocks, and whose pedigree alone should prove that she is bound to throw a Hack- ney. In the expression of this opinion the writer does not desire it to be imagined for an instant that he is unappreciative of the value of blood and style about a Hackney, but at the same time having often wondered why it is that some judges give prizes to mares that are almost ladies' hacks, he ven- tures to suggest with all diffidence that the rage for quality may be carried a little too far, as there is always a chance of getting too much even of a good thing. If a brood mare is too much on the leg and deficient in bone the probabilities are that a plain, heavy horse will be selected for her with the idea of ensuring that plenty of sub- stance shall be about the foal. This is perhaps an inevitable result of breeding from light mares, but a coarse sire is almost certain to transmit some of his plainness to his stock. Thus, as his sons are likely to be bred from in time there is always a probability, unless their mares are all most carefully se- lected , of many of their foals throwing back to the plain grand-sire, and, consequently, a light mare may prove a medium for introducing coarseness and loss of quality into a strain, simply on account of the efforts that have been made by her owner to counteract her own defects. Still, necessity knows no law, and it often occurs that an owner finds himself in the awkward position of having to breed from an animal which he does not really fancy. In such a case, if he is a wise man, he will be very careful about introducing the blood of the THE HACKNEY HORSE. 47 result of the cross into his own strain, for it is always safer to sell a doubtful horse or mare than to breed from it. The master of a stud is always to be envied, therefore, when he is able to breed from animals where there is type and character on both sides, as even though he may not always be fortunate to discover super-excellence in every foal, he may feel reasonably certain that his younsters will not be bringing in faults that may require years to breed out. No expe- rienced owner will, of course, ever dream of sending a mare of any kind, let alone a valuable one, to a horse that he has not seen, or whose pedigree he has not satisfied himself is right in all respects. All men,, however, who raise foals are not to be regarded as breeders in the highest acceptation of the term, and will take a nomination to a stallion simply be- cause he has won a prize, and because they think his stock will sell. Such people are, nevertheless, acting most unwisely even in their own interests, for blood is always thicker than water, and pedigree is sure to tell in the long run. The Hack- ney would not be the horse he is if the old breeders, whose staunchness in the past has been the means of saving the breed from extinction, had not paid attention to details, and a happy-go-lucky system of stud management will never pay in the long run. There is no possible explanation forthcoming to account for why one horse or mare should be a success in the stud, and their own brother or sister a perfect failure ; and, therefore, the safest way to proceed is to put, so far as possible, one's best mares to tried horses. Still, as the poet Horace, who was a bit of a farmer himself and a horse breeder, doubtless, very truth- fully observes, "Fortes cveantuv fovtibuset bonis" and the maxim is as applicable to Hackneys as it is to any other animals under the sun. Having no desire to delve once more into the dim traditions of the past, the writer does not propose to go further back than the last generation to prove the accuracy of Horace's observation, and will, therefore, content himself with selecting Mr. George Bourdass' Denmark H.H.S.S.B. 177, 48 LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. and Mr. Philip Triffit's Fireaway H.H.S.S.B. 249, as illus- trations to go by. These two grand old horses, whose memo- ries will for ever remain green in the minds of those who love a Hackney, were both big prize winners twenty years ago and more, but their victories in the show ring are as nothing com- pared with the services they subsequently rendered at the stud to the breed which they adorned whilst alive. The value of a Denmark mare is notorious amongst Hackney men, and the old horse also sired the winners of two of the Hackney Society's Championships— Candidate and Connaught — the former of which got the champion M.P., a dual winner of this honour. Nor are the big winners of modern times one whit behind these two old champions in stamping their quality upon their getj as witness the vast number of prizes that find their way to the sons and daughters of Mr. W. Flanders' Reality, the absolute winner of the first Elsenham Challenge Cup, Mr. Burdett-Coutts' Candidate, the second winner of that event, and last, but by no means least, of Mr. Henry Moore's defunct chestnut, Rufus, who, like Reality, succeeded in winning the second Elsenham Challenge Cup for his owner. The sudden death of this great horse may be regarded by breeders as being little less than a calamity, as amongst his stock that have appeared there is scarcely one that has failed to be a credit to his illustrious sire — one of the best Hackneys of modern days. All the get of Rufus are long and low, with plenty of substance, and a heap of Hackney character and quality about them. Thanks, therefore, to Mr. Moore's great chestnut, admirers of, and believers in, the old fashioned Hackney should soon be able to recruit their studs by a dash of Rufus blood, the value of which should be inestimable, as he left a good crop of foals behind him, when he was cut off in his prime a short time ago. Rufus, although his show career began and ended whilst he was an inmate of a Yorkshire stable, was by birth a Norfolk horse, having been bred by Messrs. Peacock and Sons, of Brandon, THE HACKNEY HORSE 49 by the chestnut Vigorous, dam Lady Kitty, by Jackson's Quicksilver. Singularly enough, the county of Norfolk — that home of the Hackney horse — had never owned a champion at any of the Society's Shows until the year 1892, when M.P. won. This colt, whose great point was unquestionably the exceptionally fine quality which he possessed, was a son of Mr. Henry Moore's first champion Candidate. In addition to Vigorous, East Anglia also possessed a notable stallion in Mr. C. E. Cooke's chestnut Cadet, a horse who, if he had never done anything else, would have gained enduring fame as sire of the famous chestnut filly Pepita. Sir Walter Gilbey's County Member, too, a grand fore-actioned horse and good-looking to boot, stood, as did Reality, on the borders of East Anglia proper, and apart from his big achievements in the show ring will always be remembered as the sire of the champion mare, Nora. Sir Walter Gilbey was also the owner of Danegelt 174 by Denmark, admittedly the most successful Hackney sire of his age, and a horse that would have done well in the show ring had he been more frequently exhibited than he was. Other noted horses have been Garton Duke of Connaught, Rosador, Royal Danegelt, Polonius, His Majesty, Mathias, Hopwood Viceroy, King's Proctor. Having mentioned the names of the above horses as illus- trations of the truth of the old saying that like breeds like, sufficient attention has been drawn to the advisability of breeding from good-looking sires in preference to plain ones, as long as the blood is right, and the value of the Hackney as a cross for other breeds may now be considered. It may be rank heresy to express such an opinion, but one cannot help expressing the conviction, that Hackney blood, if properly and intelligently made use of, would be extremely likely to improve the breed of modern hunters. Earl Spencer, at all events, for one, appeared to have held this view, and his experiments were followed with interest by breeders. Wny the Hackney should be decried as a hunter sire it is hard to see, unless the fear exists in some minds that 4 50 LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. a trotter would be the only result of such a cross, but the truth of such apprehensions, flattering though they be to the prepotency of the Hackney, are unquestionably far fetched. On the other hand, he can instil temper, shoulders, back, loin, and quarters into his stock, and these qualities are assuredly desirable acquisitions in the case of a hunter. Finally, two short words of advice to those who have never kept a Hackney for general purposes — " Try one." He is strong in constitution, and the best ride or drive horse in existence, providing that he is properly done by ; therefore, whilst once more counselling a would-be buyer to be extra firm on the question of pedigree, in order that when he asks for a Hackney he may get one, the advice is, go in and pay a good price for a good horse. You will never regret your bargain. CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES, $J CHAPTER III. CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. The Cleveland Bay is one of the oldest breeds of English horses, though the name by which it is now known is of comparatively recent origin. The Chapman or pack horse, which is the older name, and by which, until quite recently, the breed was known in the more remote of the Yorkshire dales, which became its principal home, points not only to the antiquity of the breed, but to its great utility during the earlier years of our country's history. The breed flourished exceed- ingly when the roads in more remote parts of the kingdom were little better than tracks, and when the business of the country was principally carried on by its means. Active and powerful, Cleveland Bays were then used as working horses on the farm as well as to convey corn and other marketable produce to the various towns, and their masters to " kirk, or market, feast or fair." In hilly Devonshire and in the north of Yorkshire they flourished the longest, and now it is in North Yorkshire and the neighbouring districts alone that there is anything to be found approaching in type to the ancient pack or Chapman horse. Many are the theories which have been promulgated concerning the origin of the Cleveland Bay, for it will be found more convenient to adopt the modern name. Amongst others which have been received and transmitted in a remarkable manner is that which I be- lieve originated with Professor Low. If he did not originate 52 LIGHT HORSES: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. it, it is one which received his sanction, and with which his name is inseparably connected. This theory is that the Cleveland Bay is the result of an elaborate system of crossing between the thoroughbred stallion and the cart mare. It is singular that such a theory should have received a moment's credence, either from practical breeders or from scientific men. In the first place, the shape of the Cleveland Bay points to the improbability of such a descent, the length, and particu- larly the long level quarter being such as is never found in any descendant of the cart horse that I have seen. If Dr. Knox is correct in assuming that man " cannot even produce and maintain a new and permanent variety of a barn door fowl, of a pheasant, of a sheep or of a horse," this theory of a cross between a thoroughbred stallion and a carting mare falls to the ground at once, and though I am bound to admit that Dr. Knox' seems a somewhat sweeping assertion, yet un- doubtedly physiology points out to us that cross-bred animals do not breed regularly to type, and that the produce of such animals is sure in the third or fourth generations, if not earlier, to revert to the type of one of the original parents. Singularly enough, too, this atavism generally shows the worst instead of the best characteristics of the original parent. It may be said that the fact of the Yorkshire Coach Horse breeding with such trueness to type and character is a practical refutation of this proposition. But if the circumstances are examined they would seem to be a strong confirmation of it. In many respects, from an anatomical point of view, there is a great similarity between what is known as the thoroughbred horse and the Cleveland Bay. There is the same clean flat bone and well-defined sinew, a similar density of bone, such as is possessed by no other breed of horses save the thoroughbred and Arab ; the same level quarters and elegant appearance, and the same liberty of action, and though in a different degree, the same hardy constitution and staying power. The fact that the Yorkshire Coach Horse breeds true to type and colour, tends to prove in the main that there is some CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES 5$ similarity of type between the thoroughbred and the Cleve- land Bay. The most feasible theory as to the origin of the Cleveland Bay breed seems to be that it has been produced, by a system of natural selection, from the original breed of horses found in the southern part of the island of Great Britain. Probably, nay possibly, an Eastern cross may have found its way into the breed at a very early age. Historical probability and the experiences of a later generation are all in favour of such a theory. That there was a powerful and active breed of horses in the island at the time of the Roman invasion is an undoubted fact. The heavy war chariots with which the Iceni discomfited the veteran soldiers of Julius Caesar must have been horsed with animals possessing size, strength, and action in a marked degree, possessing, in a word, all those attributes which are comprised in the modern phrase " qual- ity." Cassar, we are told, was so impressed with the good qualities of the British horses that he took some with him to Rome, and we have the authority of the coinage of King Cunobelin that horses were much valued in Britain, and the portraits of horses found on the coins of his reign, though of course somewhat rude in execution, point to the existence of a breed of great excellence, not dissimilar in many respects to the Cleveland Bay. It has been suggested, and with some show of reason, that the blood of Eastern horses had been imported into Britain before the galleys of Caesar set sail from the shores of Gaul. It is well-known that the Phoenicians carried on a con- siderable trade with the inhabitants of the southern and south-western portions of the island, and it was far from im- probable that they would bring over some of their native horses for purposes of sale or barter, especially when they found that the Britons were of a horsey tendency, and had no objection to an honest deal. The similarity in type which existed between the Cleveland Bay and the Devonshire pack horse has been cited in confirmation of the theory that the 54 light horses: breeds and management. former is a descendant of the ancient British horse. In York- shire and in Devonshire have survived the type of the ancient horse, because in Yorkshire and in Devonshire this type was more strongly pronounced than in any other part of the coun- try, and because in Yorkshire and in Devonshire were bred in the largest numbers the animals which modernised, if I may use the term, the type of the national horse. The Eastern blood which the Phoenicians would be the likeliest to import to Britain would naturally be the Eastern horse of which they possessed the greatest numbers, that is, the Barb. Then we know from historical records, that a legion of the Crispinian horse was stationed at Danum (Doncaster) during the Roman occupation of Britain, and it is equally a matter of history that the Crispinian legion was mounted on Barbs, and it almost goes without saying on stallions of that breed. That these would be crossed with the mares of the country may be taken as a matter of course, and the fact that in the south-western hills and moorlands and the north- eastern dales there existed until lately two breeds of horses which were in many respects of the same type and character, points out strongly that the two breeds must have had a similar origin, and seems conclusively to knock on the head the theory of a cross between the thoroughbred and the heavy-bodied, feather-legged, and, comparatively speaking, unwieldy cart horse. In order to account for one peculiarity in the Cleveland Bay, the black points, a theory has been started that the Scan- dinavian horse, who still has those black points very strongly accentuated, was responsible for their introduction into the Cleveland Bay breed, and that his introduction when the country was over-run by the Saxons and Danes, though not sufficient to materially alter the type of the native horses, was sufficient to leave a mark upon them which lasted through many generations, and which is now gradually dying out. The theory is a very ingenious one, but it will not hold water for a moment. In the first place, it is in direct opposition to CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. 55 the physiological principle to which I have already drawn at- tention. The crossing with such a straight-shouldered, under- sized, crooked-hocked commoner as the Scandinavian horse must have resulted in lamentable failure. Again, the black points have been seen by Darwin very strongly defined on a dun Devonshire pony. The pony not only had the zebra-like stripes on the legs, and the mark down the back which was so long a leading characteristic of Cleveland Bays, and which is now very rarely to be found, but he also had broad shoulder marks as well. Darwin describes *he pony as a fallow dun —that is, between " a cream and a reddish brown which graduates into light bay or light chestnut ;" and it is worthy of notice that it was amongst the light bays that the black points of the Cleveland were the most frequently found and the most strongly marked. There are also instances of the black points being found strongly marked on light bay or dun cart horses. Racing men speak of Doncaster's black spots, and these black points which old Cleveland Bay breeders used to value as such an infallible sign of purity of blood would seem to be common, in a greater or less degree, amongst all breeds of horses, and to be in some measure a reversion to the feral horse. Leaving the region of theory, we come to the fact that the existence of a breed of clean-legged active horses, clear of thoroughbred and carting cross, was acknowledged quite two hundred years ago. Unfortunately, the men in whose hands this valuable breed of horses was principally to be found, did not keep much record of their stock in writing, and it is therefore on oral tradition that we have principally to rely for our early history of the Cleveland Bay horse, I have in my possession a letter which was written some eight years ago by a man who was fast approaching his eightieth year, in which he told me he had heard his great grandfather speak of the breed with enthusiasm, and he claimed to have direct descendants of a breed, the taproot of which had been in the possession of ancestors still more remote. I have also heard 56 LIGHT HORSES! BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. the late Mr. Lumley Hodgson — than whom no one was better able to form an opinion, and who was perhaps possessed of as much horse lore as any man of his time — say that when in the early years of the century he went buying young horses in the East Moor Dales, old men used to tell him of the bright bays, " clear of blood and black," that were recognised as a pure breed by their forefathers before the days of the Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Barb. The following passage from Tuke's " General View of the Agriculture of the North Riding " is of interest as bearing on this part of the subject : — " Yorkshire has long been famed for its breed of horses," says he, "and particularly this riding, in almost every part of which numbers are still bred, the prevailing species of which are those adapted for the coach or the saddle. In the northern part of the vale of York the breed has got too light in bone for the use of farmers, by the intro- duction of too much racing blood; but the most valuable horses for the saddle, and some coach horses, are there bred. In Cleveland the horses are fuller of bone than those last described; they are clean, well made, very strong and active, and are extremely well adapted to the coach and the plough." Tuke goes on to say that in the southern part of the vale of York, the Howardian Hills, Ryedale, and the Marishes, a greater admixture of " black," i.c.t carting blood, prevails, but that the district still produces a considerable number of coach horses; whilst the East Moorlands, he assures us, though possessing a hardy and active breed of horses, did not produce many that were big enough to horse a coach. One more quotation from Tuke may prove of interest : — " The horses which are sold for the London market, if for the carriage, are chiefly bay geldings, with but little white on their legs and faces; those which have much white, with chestnut, roan, and other unusually coloured horses and mares, generally do not bear an equal price in the London market, but, with other slight and undersized horses, are more sought after by foreigners, and eagerly purchased by them for exportation." CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. 57 Until the earlier years of the eighteenth century, it seems fair to presume that Coach Horses, or Chapman horses, or Cleveland Bays, by whatever name we may call them, were not known as a distinct breed — a surmise which an extract from the Note Book of Sir Walter Calverley, dated January 15th, 1670, goes far to confirm. He relates that when he wanted to use his coach, he horsed it with the lighter "mears " of the breed used on the farm. From the account Sir Walter Calverley gives of the performances and behaviour of these same mares, it seems pretty clear that they were much more active and lively than the heavy draught horses, with Flemish blood in their veins, could possibly be. What was Sir Walter Calverley's custom seems to have been an universal one in the seventeenth century, and if these lighter mares were consistently bred from, as they undoubtedly would be, their lightness and activity would gradually develop and increase, until they became the chief characteristics of a practically new breed. It is worth while for a moment to give some consideration to the history of the polled cattle in connection with the development of " new " breeds. On the authority of Youatt, who was a keen observer, in the year 1750 a proportion of the Galloway cattle had horns, yet within sixty years of that time a horned Galloway was scarcely to be found, and now one is quite unknown, and no breed of domestic animals breeds so true to type. In a kindred breed, too, the Aberdeen-Angus, a striking modification of colour has taken place during the same period. In the middle of the last century, cattle of a dark red colour were found amongst them, although not in such numbers as horned cattle were found amongst the Galloway breed, but the fiat of the pioneers of the breed had gone forth that black was to be the colour, and no animal of any other colour was ever used for breeding purposes. When considering the probable development of the Cleveland Bay from the native horse, the question of spontaneous variation also deserves some consideration. On 58 LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. this point Darwin is very clear. M It is probable that some breeds," he states, " and some peculiarities, such as being hornless, &c, have appeared suddenly owing to what we may call in our ignorance spontaneous variation," and that through selection in breeding, these spontaneous variations have come to possess a powerful hereditary tendency. "It is admitted by all authorities," say the authors of an invaluable work on Polled Cattle, " that while deviations from the original or typical form or race of animals may arise spontaneously, some sort o. artificial method or selec- tion in breeding is necessary to impart to those spontaneous and isolated deviations such fixity of character, or strong hereditary power, as would insure their perpetuation." It seems only reasonable to suppose that the Cleveland Bay may have had its origin in a similar natural selection as that which has developed the Galloway and the Aberdeen- Angus cattle. Such an origin would be far more consonant with the principles of physiology than any elaborate system of crossing, and the prepotency of the Cleveland Bay seems to confirm the fact that the breed has been produced in some such manner as I have suggested. There are writers who, anxious to account for every characteristic and good quality which the breed possesses by deriving it from some other r source, maintain that the hardihood of constitution, the courage, and the activity of the Cleveland Bay could only spring from a strong infusion of Eastern or thoroughbred blood. But the native breed of horses was undoubtedly hardy in constitution, very active, and possessed of com- paratively a fair turn of speed. It was especially valued by patriotic Englishmen, and so late as 1739 the introduction of Eastern horses into England was bitterly deplored in a curious article to be found in the Gentleman's Magazine. The writer, speaking of horse-racing, says: — "The original de- sign of this entertainment was not only for sport but to encourage a good breed of horses for real use, and the Royal Plates are supposed to be given for that purpose, the horses \ CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. 59/ being obliged to carry heavy weights ; but alas ! how are these intentions perverted ; our noble breed of horses is now enervated by an intermixture with Turks, Barbs, and Arabians, just as our modern nobility and gentry are de- bauched by the effeminate manners of France and Italy." The fact that English horses possessed courage, speed, and endurance, as well as strength, is sufficiently proved by Mr. Joseph Osborne, in his interesting introduction to the " Horse Breeder's Handbook," and therefore it is not necessary to look for the origin of the courage and hardy constitution of the Cleveland Bay to the Arab or the Barb ; and indeed stallions of either breed would not be likely to be within the reach of Cleveland Bay breeders. But that an occasional cross of the thoroughbred was introduced is by no means improbable, though it is remarkable that an instance of its occurrence is not found in any historical record of the breed. It is none the less remarkable that those who tell us that the modern Cleveland Bay is the result of crossing with the thoroughbred and the carting mare, are especially careful to avoid naming the thoroughbred or to give any reliable data about such crossing. Still there can be little doubt that an occasional cross of blood was accidentally or designedly admitted into the breed. In later years rumours to this effect were extant, and in one instance a prize was with- held on this account, but the rumour may be taken for what it was worth ; for when the owner of the disqualified animal sued for the prize in the County Court, as eventually he did, those who stated that the so-called Cleveland Bay was by a thoroughbred signally failed to prove their case. The proba- bility is, that if the thoroughbred cross was introduced, it would be in the middle of the last century. Any introduction of alien blood in later years would be sure to be known, and indeed there would have been no object in hiding it, as, until c very lately, Coach Horses were more valuable than Cleveland Bays. One thing that points to the introduction of thorough- bred blood at the time I name, is that records state how welJ 60 light horses: breeds and management. some men were carried to hounds by their pure-bred Cleve- lands in the latter part of the eighteenth and the commence- ment of the present century ; and although hounds did not go quite so fast then as they do now, the country was principally undrained, and consequently a " bit of blood " would be required to get through the deep ground in the style which the old stories tell us these Cleveland Bays did. Probability points to a thoroughbred named Traveller as having had something to do with imparting fresh quality and courage to the Cleveland Bay. On many of the cards and bills of the older stallions the pedigree is traced back to a certain Old Traveller, and then stops. There is no pedigree of the Old Traveller given, and as is usual with old stallion bills, the language is obscure, and the identification of horses named becomes a matter of difficulty. But the constant re- currence of the name of Old Traveller in the old bills would seem to point out that he was some well-known and highly- appreciated horse ; and a thoroughbred horse of that name — a thoroughbred horse that was afterwards to make a great reputation at the stud — did travel in the neighbourhood of Yarm, in the middle of the eighteenth century, serving mares at a nominal fee. And it must be borne in mind that Yarm was in the very, heart of the country where Cleveland Bays most flourished. In after years many famous horses were bred within a few miles of what was then one of the most important towns in the Vale of Cleveland, a town whose horse fair, though now decayed and of little importance, was at one time one of the most important in the north — one, moreover, at which Cleveland Bays were to be found in greater numbers than at any other fair, excepting Northallerton. Taking these facts into consideration, together with the fact that a thorough- bred horse was serving mares in the vicinity at a nominal fee — always an important affair in a country district, and more especially so in those days — and it is not difficult to imagine how this Old Traveller might have done much in imparting quality to the produce of the Cleveland Bay mares of the CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. 6l district. Horses of which he was the sire, and of whom no record remains, may have been kept as stallions and trans- mitted his stoutness and quality to another generation ; mares by him may have, and probably they did become, famous as brood mares, and their stock would probably show more than ordinary elegance and style. It is interesting to pause for a moment and recall this famous old horse. He was bred in 1735 by Mr. Osbaldeston — the grandfather of the well known " squire," who was after- wards to make such a name in the world of sport — and was a bay colt by Partner, dam by Almanzor. Out of the six races in which he took part, and of which a record exists, he won four, and was disqualified for another on account of a cross, and it certainly seems curious that after so successful a career on the Turf he should come to be travelling in a country district at a very nominal fee. Fortunately some of his half-bred stock showed promise, the Duke of Cleveland and Mr. Shafto sent some good mares to him, and he became the sire of Dainty Davy, Squirrel, Lass of the Mill, and other good race horses. In the middle of the eighteenth century horses of the highest character stood at remarkably low fees ; indeed, well into the middle of the present century, classic horses were occasionally to be found whose fees for half-bred mares did not exceed two guineas and a half. It is therefore not unlikely, nay, it is very likely, that occasionally a man might cross some highly prized mare with one of these horses. But it is remarkable that in few of the old pedigrees that I have examined have I ever seen the acknowledgment of a foreign strain of blood. It seems to have been looked upon with a certain degree of sus- picion even in those days, and though it may have been of occasional, it was by no means of frequent, occurrence. The traditions of the old breeders who boasted of their long line of horses in whose veins was neither "blood nor black " were in the main respected, and though there might be an occa- sional use of the thoroughbred, I am inclined to think that 62 LIGHT HORSES! BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. except when for the avowed purpose of developing the Coach Horse breed, such crossing was very little resorted to. In the middle and latter part of the eighteenth century and in the earlier years of the present century, the whole of the agricultural work in the Vale of Cleveland was practically performed by Cleveland Bays. The surface of the country presented a very different aspect to what it does now ; there was a larger proportion of grass, and the Cleveland Bay was powerful enough to do all the work of the farm. Indeed, I should very much question if, in the heart of Cleveland, the draught horse in anything approaching his modern type was known at all until the present century was eight or ten years old. With the wars which were the direct result of the French Revolution, the value of wheat and other cereals rose to famine prices, and when oats sold, as they did sell, at 6s. 6d. per bushel, whilst wheat made as much as a guinea, it was not to be wondered at that farmers and landowners equally were eager to grow corn wherever corn could be grown, and that they hastened to convert into tillage much of the good grass land in the Vale of Cleveland. Nor were they content with turning their pasture into tillage. Bleak and apparently inaccessible places — places more adapted for the growth of larches, or even Scottish firs, than corn — were broken up and sown with # wheat. Indeed, the memory of one of these rash enterprises is preserved in the Ordnance map by its name of Bold Ven- ture. A sweeping change like this, as a matter of course, brought other changes in its track. Farmers who were resi- dent in the neighbourhood of Stokesley used to take their corn to Thirsk market, a distance of some twenty miles over not the best of roads, and then they began to fancy that they required a heavier and more powerful horse. The land which had been converted into arable was also found to be a strong clay, and on this account again the farmers thought that they required a heavier breed of horses. So they crossed their fine Cleveland mares with such cart horses as they could get, "with a result that was disastrous, and which indeed nearly Cleveland Bay Stallion, Cholderton Luck. Winner of First and other prizes. Owner : Mr. John Lett. Cleveland Bay Mare, Madeline. Winner of First and other prizes. Owner : Mr. John Lett. CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. 63 proved to be fatal to the existence of the Cleveland Bay as a distinct breed. Another circumstance which took place about the same time also did much harm. This was nothing more than a change of fashion. It became the rage to drive in curricles big upstanding horses, approaching and sometimes exceeding seventeen hands in height ; and to meet the pre- vailing fashion fine Cleveland mares were mated with leggy, flash -topped thoroughbred horses to a very considerable extent. These causes, coming together at the same time as they did, nearly put an end to the pure bred Cleveland Bay. This crossing of the leggy thoroughbred with the Cleveland mares was also, in the opinion of the late Mr. Lumley Hodgson, responsible for another evil; and he traced the great increase of roaring to this cause. Animals bred this way with their fine " rainbow necks " were, of course, peculiarly liable to this disease, and as many of them were kept as sires, and, moreover, were largely used, it is not improbable that a large proportion of the roaring which is found amongst Coach Horses and Cleveland Bays in the present day may have had its origin in the fashion for over-sized curricle horses which sprung up in the days of the Regency. I have heard it stated that previous to the time when this " crossing " took place, roaring and its concomitant diseases were unknown amongst Cleveland Bays. I give the tradition for what it is worth, and cannot say that I place much credence in it. There is no doubt that many horses which were considered sound a hundred years ago would not pass the stricter examina- tions of the present day successfully, and perhaps this may account for the tradition. Referring to the decadence into which the breed had fallen from causes enumerated above, the Farmers' Magazine for 1823 says, speaking of the Cleveland Bay: — " It was the basis of the old London coach horse, when heavier cattle were used for those conveyances ; and after the fashion became to adopt a lighter horse for carriages, this valuable breed was allowed to become almost extinct, till their excellence for agricultural 64 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. purposes was noticed by some practical farmers in the north of England, who for several years back have been exerting themselves to revive the breed." It is a subject for deep regret that more is not recorded of the efforts of these astute and far-seeing gentlemen, to whom subsequent generations are so much indebted. Unfortunately they lived in an age when little importance was attached to the recording of facts connected with stock breeding and agriculture. Newspapers were scarce; what agricultural literature there was, was published in London, then quite out of touch with North Yorkshire farmers ; and it was im- possible for the local newspapers, which were in existence in those days, to devote any attention to the subject. Indeed, those who were most interested did not consider it necessary to make any notes themselves, and pedigree seems to have been thought of so little importance, that even the names of the sires of Mr. Masterman's famous horses, Skyrocket, Summercock, and Forester, are unrecorded ; neither is it possible to more than approximate the date at which they flourished. Tommy Masterman, a Cleveland farmer, was one of those who took an active part in the revival of the Cleveland Bay breed, and his exertions in this direction were so highly appreciated that he was presented with a testimonial by his friends and neighbours. This took the form of a silver cup, value ^"10, which was presented in 1820, and the inscription on which states that it was given in recognition of the service which Mr. Masterman had rendered in keeping first-class sires. I have also heard it asserted that the name of Skyrocket was mentioned in the inscription, and from common report Skyrocket seems to have been the best of Mr. Masterman's horses. Soma years ago I made every effort to trace the owner of this cup, but without avail. A portrait of Skyrocket was once extant, but I have been unable to discover it ; and I am informed that the old signboard of the public house at Nunthorpe, in Cleveland, was a copy of this picture. This public house is now done away with, CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. 65 the sign has long been destroyed, and the only portrait of Skyrocket which is in existence is engraved on a glass in the possession of my brother, the said glass being one of half-a- dozen which Mr. Masterman had engraved. The portrait, which can scarcely be expected to be an accurate likeness of the horse, shows him to have been of exceptional quality, in many respects not unlike a thoroughbred horse. He is also represented as short of substance, and it is highly probable that the artist had drawn considerably on his imagination, as is frequently the case with portraits of our older horses. The horse is nicely turned, and has a remarkably fine outline. Another gentleman who did much for the breed was the late Mr. John Richardson, of Langbarough Hall, near Great Ayton. Mr. Richardson was an enthusiastic breeder, and spent much time and money in endeavouring to raise the standard of Cleveland Bays. Strange to say, although he bred many stallions, he does not seem to have had any of any great merit with the exception of Drainer, from whom descend many famous horses and mares, amongst the latter Tommy Peart's Darling. But Mr. Richardson's mares achieved a wide celebrity, and perhaps no man did more in his day than he to bring the breed into prominence. About the same time Cleveland Bays were taken into both north and south, with a view to the improvement of other breeds, and the results alike in Scotland and the south- western counties were highly satisfactory. Indeed the breed was recognised and valued all over the country, and those practical farmers in the north, of whom the Farmers' Magazine spoke, were amply rewarded for their enterprise and energy. From the time of which I have been speaking, up to the year 1867, Cleveland Bays flourished exceedingly, and there seemed to be no likelihood of the breed again falling into desuetude or decay. Mr. Hansill, Mr. Thomas Peart, Mr. York, of Worsall, Mr. John Smith, of Long Newton, the late Mr. Robinson Watson, Mr. John Robinson, of Hutton Rudby, and others, bred largely, and were the owners of valuable animals. But 5 66 LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. in 1867 came a reaction, as a reaction had come earlier in the century, and singularly enough, the heavy cart horse had something to do with the reaction which set in twenty-five years ago. The Cleveland iron trade had increased with leaps and bounds, and in other seven years was to reach its zenith. The demand for heavy horses, adapted for drawing heavy loads on the roads and in the mines, became larger and larger with each succeeding year, and prices for them were abnormal. The great improvement in the breeding of cart horses, which began to manifest itself about this time also, gave an additional impetus to the breeding of heavy cart horses, and Cleveland Bays were gradually more and more neglected. The foreigners came in, and bought what they could of the best, and the men who kept their mares, bred hunters from them, and crossed them out of recognition. Cleveland Bay classes ceased to fill, and finally were, with one or two exceptions, dropped out of the prize schedules altogether, and it seemed as if the breed must become extinct. But when things are at the worst they not infrequently begin to mend. At any rate that was the case with the Cleveland Bays. At the very time when Englishmen gene- rally looked upon the breed with feelings akin to contempt, there was a growing idea in the United States that this was the class of horse that was wanted in their country, and just when the fortunes of this valuable breed were at their lowest ebb, when only after a warm discussion and a close division was it possible to retain even a couple of Cleveland Bay classes in the representative Society of the district, there was begin- ning— in a very modest way, it is true — that trade with the United States which has since increased to large dimensions. In the dales about Whitby, and running down to the east coast of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the Cleveland Bay had been tenaciously preserved. The farmers there were proud of their horses, the breed of which had been in their families for generations, and they never took kindly to the CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. 67 Clydesdale, or Shire horse, whose " feather " they looked on — and still look on — with dislike. It is to this tenacity of pur- pose that we owe the existence of the Cleveland Bay as a distinct breed at the present day. Mr. Hindson, of Ugthorpe, who had a capital strain of Cleveland Bay horses all his life, kept some good stallions, and his example was followed by Mr. John Welford, who, like Mr. Hindson, had always owned a stud of high-class Clevelands. Then the Right Hon. James Lowther came to the rescue, and not only purchased Fidius Dius at the Guisbrough Park sale, but set to work to get some good mares together. Amongst others he purchased the descendants of the mares that had been bought for Earl Fitzwilliam by the late Admiral Chaloner — a purchase which also proved a distinct gain, not only to Mr. Lowther's stud, but to the country, for the best blood in the country ran in the veins of the mares which hailed from Coollatin. They were by Brilliant, an elder brother of Captain Cook, who was very successful both in the show ring and at the stud, and a son of Harry York's Wonderful Lad and Mr. Peart's famous mare Darling. So that when the time came that Cleveland Bays were wanted, there were plenty to be found. Not that they were there in any great numbers at first. Men were not so careful about breeding them as they are now, and many of the mares were mated with thoroughbred horses, with the object of breeding hunters; but there were quite plenty of mares, and stallions too, to form the nucleus of a breed. The revival of the general interest in Cleveland Bays may be said to date from 1883. In the previous year it had taken all Mr. T. Parrington's influence to get a class for Cleveland Bay mares inserted in the prize schedule of the York Meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society, and only one mare was exhibited. This was Mr. W. D. Petch's Fanny, a mare that he sold to Sir A. E. Pease, and that subsequently found a home in the Brookfield stud. But if Fanny was the only exhibit, she was a very useful specimen of the breed, and the judges considered her worthy 68 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. of the first prize ; "only one entry, very good," being their note on the class in the official report. She was then eight years old, was full of bloom, and combined quality and substance in a manner that was unknown to many visitors to the Royal Show. No wonder, then, that she was the object of consider- able attention. In this same year, too, the rivalry between Mr. Codling's Blossom and Mr. Welford's Madam began to attract the notice of show-yard visitors. Both were Cleveland Bays of good pedigree, both were fine movers, and had remarkable quality ; so when at the latter end of the year 1883, attention began to be called to the merits of the old breed, the public mind — in the north of England, at any rate — was to a certain extent educated on the subject. The formation of the Cleveland Bay Horse Society, in January of the following year, consolidated and gave expres- sion to that vague feeling which had been growing, that the Cleveland Bay was a breed to be cultivated. Since then the breed has increased in numbers in a satis- factory manner. All over the country gentlemen have begun to breed high class Clevelands. In Northumberland and in Hampshire, in Essex, and in the neighbourhood of London good studs were formed. But perhaps even more marked than the increase in numbers is the improvement in quality which has taken place. It has been a frequent remark amongst exhibitors of late that animals have no chance of winning now, that a number of years ago would have won readily enough, and good judges have stated that the average merit of the young animals in the Cleveland Bay classes was higher than they ever remembered to have seen, and their memory extends over many years. It is satisfactory to note that the improvement which has been effected in our other breeds of horses has taken place in the Cleveland Bay breed in quite as conspicuous a manner, and it may now be fairly hoped that it will never again run the narrow risks of becom- ing extinct that it has done in the past. CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. 69 The Cleveland Bay is the embodiment of quality and sub- stance combined. In height he stands from 16.1 to 16. i\ or 16.3, rarely exceeding the latter or falling short of the former height. He stands on a short leg, his shoulders slope well, his back and loins are strong, and his quarters are long, level and muscular. Indeed, the elegance of the quarters and the set on of the tail are amongst the distinguishing features of the breed. His head is rather plain, but it is a good lean head, and is well carried. The bone is flat and clean, the legs devoid of hair or nearly so, and the sinew is clearly defined. In many respects the shank bones of the Cleveland Bay, the thoroughbred, and the Arab resemble each other. The shape and density of the bone, and the clearness with which the sinew stands out are particulars in which the resemblance may be noticed, and although it would perhaps be too much to say that in density of bone the Cleveland Bay equals the thoroughbred or the Arab, it can be asserted with confidence that he stands far in advance of any other breed. The action of the Cleveland Bay is one of his strong points. There is no " snap of the knee " such as is seen in the Hackney, or at any rate there is very little, and what little there is, is in all probability the result of training. But the shoulder action is excellent both in the walk and trot, in the latter pace not being unlike that of the thoroughbred. The hocks are well flexed and got well underneath the body, and as the Cleveland Bay covers a lot of ground it is easy to see that he can travel at a good pace. But it is necessary that he should possess substance as well as style, for one of the most useful purposes to which he can be put is farm work. The measurements of a Cleveland stallion which Mr. J. B. Lloyd took into Gloucestershire in 1827, gives a good idea of a typical specimen. "When old Cleveland," says Mr. I4oyd, "was at his full size he measured 16 h. 1 in. high, 9! in. round the pasterns, 10 in. round below the knee, 21 in. round the arm, 15-I in. round the knee, and 6 ft. 10 in 70 LIGHT HORSES '. BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. round the girth. When measured he was in good condi- tion, but not what you would call full of flesh ; his legs as clean as a race-horse." I fancy Cleveland must have been an exceptionally power- ful horse, and as he was purchased with the avowed object of improving the breed of agricultural horses in Gloucestershire, it is probable that this was the case. At any rate, such a measurement as 10 inches below the knee, is, I should say, extremely rare in the present day. As the name of the breed would seem to imply, the colour is bay, the legs a good black, and although a small white star, or a few white hairs on a hind heel are not an infallible sign of alien blood, they are regarded as an eyesore; and unless they are very small indeed, so small as to be scarcely visible, the sale of an animal possessing them is very much affected thereby. The black points are of rare occurrence now-a-days. They consist of black, zebra-like stripes on the arms and thighs, just above the knees and hocks. Occa- sionally there is a black stripe down the back or a black or dark spot or two on the quarter, the black stripe being generally found on horses of a light bay colour, whilst the stripes and marks on the quarter have been more generally associated with animals of a darker colour. Some misapprehension seems to exist respecting the colour. It is said by some that the bright golden bay is the only colour which is admissible and that a darker colour implies the exist- ence of alien blood, but such an idea is manifestly erroneous. From the golden bay, and even the fawny bay, to the dark bay the difference is only one of degree, and it is difficult to see why a prejudice should exist against a dark bay. Darwin's conclusions on the subject of colour are so clear, and seem to have so much bearing on the qucestio vexata of light and dark bay, and the dappling of which so much is made in some quarters, that I quote them : — II Horses occasionally exhibit a tendency to become striped over a large part of their bodies, and as we know that stripes CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. 71 readily pass into spots and cloudy marks in the varieties of the domestic cat and several feline species — even the cubs of the uniformly coloured lion being spotted with dark marks on a cloudy ground — we may suspect that the dappling of the horse, which has been noticed by some authors with surprise, is a modification or vestige of a tendency to become striped."* This would seem effectually to dispose of the statement made in many quarters that a dark or dappled bay is a sign of alien blood, which, coming from men who insist strongly on the " black points " as a sign of exceptional purity of breed, is surely inconsistent. At the same time it must be borne in mind that although the darker coloured horses may be well- bred ones, and trace their descent for many generations through famous horses and mares, the bright bay is much to be preferred, and for many generations the opinion has prevailed that this is the colour par excellence.-^ In concluding this description of the Cleveland Bay, especial attention should be called to his hardihood of constitution. No pampering is required ; he will do his share of work for many years, and perhaps few breeds of horses are so noted for longevity or are such prolific breeders. If it were neces- sary to describe the Cleveland Bay in a word, it would be done by designating him the general utility horse, a name by which I believe he was at one time known in some parts of the United States. As a matter of fact no work that he can be put to comes wrong to him, except, of course, fast work, for which he is not adapted. In the plough, on light or medium land, he will work the heavier Shire or Clydesdale to a standstill, his superior activity giving him the pull ; and he will always come home with his head and tail up. Even on * " Animals and Plants under Domestication," vol. i., p. 56. t As bearing on the question of light and dark colours in horses, it may be of interest to mention an instance of change of colour which happened to a horse of my own. He was a hunter, and in 1894 was six years old. In the spring of 1893 ne was a red chestnut, approaching to sandy. A year later he was a dark liver chestnut. — W. S. D. 72 LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. strong clays, Cleveland Bays have been known to hold their own, as the following anecdote goes to prove. In the early part of the century a large farmer moved from the neighbour- hood of Darlington to Northumberland, and as a matter of course, he took his Cleveland Bay horses with him. Then, as now, Northumberland was the home of the heavy and power- ful draught horse, and the Northumbrians justly prided them- selves on the excellent breed of horses they possessed. It was only to be expected that they would hold the compara- tively light horses of their new neighbour in derision, and they were very free in their criticism of his teams. But the new comer was not to be chaffed with impunity, and one market night he was stung into challenging the country to a ploughing match. His challenge was speedily accepted, and the terms, which were very simple, were arranged without a hitch. They were as follows. Each party was to produce a pair of horses on the following Monday morning, and they were to plough from Monday morning till Saturday night, the pair which had ploughed the most land in the time to be declared the winner, the stakes being ^"50 a side. On Monday morning they commenced to plough accordingly, but before Wednesday night the heavier horses had had quite enough of it, and the Cleveland Bays were declared the winners. Though I should scarcely be inclined to recom- mend the modern Cleveland Bay for heavy farm work on the strongest clays, yet there is no farm on which an active Cleveland Bay mare cannot be made to pay her way, and pay her way well. The countless jobs which require activity rather than massive strength, and which it would be tedious to enumerate, are much better done by an animal of this type than by a Clydesdale or Shire horse. In olden times Cleve- land Bays have been used on occasion as hunters, but with the pace hounds run now-a-days that occupation for them is out of the question. They are still, however, occasionally used as carriage or dog-cart horses, and if not so showy as the Hackney or so stylish as the blood Coach Horse, they have CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES 73 a good appearance and get over the ground in a creditable fashion. It has been said that there is no breed of horses — leaving, of course, the racehorse out of the question — which a cross with the Cleveland Bay will not improve, and the Cleveland Bay has been likened to the Shorthorn and the Leicester sheep, as the best foundation on which to commence crossing. Indeed, it is the value of the Cleveland Bay brood mare in this direction which is a constant source of danger to the breed. Men buy well-bred mares, cross them with the thoroughbred, or in some instances with the Hackney ; they are satisfied with the result of their enterprise, and keep breeding on the same lines, getting valuable horses such as they require, but running a great risk of " killing the goose that lays the golden egg.,} A pure-bred foal or two should always be taken from well-bred mares, for it is little short of a national loss when any famous strain of blood, to whatever breed it may belong, becomes extinct. In breeding Cleveland Bays great care should be taken in selecting mares and sires with good shoulders. In this respect there can be little doubt that the breed had to a considerable extent deteriorated before the revival of interest in it which took place about ten years ago. Yet it is a point, the importance of which it is impossible to overrate. There are some people I know who hold that a nicely sloping shoulder is not an essential for a horse whose work has to be done in harness and at the draught, but with this opinion I cannot agree. A well-placed shoulder not only adds greatly to the general symmetry of a horse, but it is a distinct advantage to him in doing his work, whatever that work may be. If a horse's shoulder is improperly placed there must be an undue strain on the forelegs, so by all means be particular about the shoulders of both sire and dam. Then there is a special reason for being particular about the shoulders pi Cleveland Bays. Cleveland Bay mares are frequently used to breed weight-carrying hunters from, and good shoulders are an important factor in carrying a heavy man. 74 LIGHT HORSES '. BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. About the breeding of hunters from a Cleveland Bay mare, great difference of opinion exists. Some assert that animals bred in this way are soft and useless as hunters. That is certainly at variance with the experience of many well-known hard riders in Yorkshire, men who can hold their own in any country. The late Lord Middleton had a famous mare named Magic, who was the daughter of a Cleveland Bay, and some descendants of hers are still to be found in the Birdsall stables, and right good hunters they are. If it is desired to breed hunters from a Cleveland Bay foundation, in the first place a short-legged wide mare with good shoulders and back should be selected. A mare answering this description can be found with a little trouble. Then comes the more difficult task of selecting a suitable stallion with which to mate her. The prevailing partiality — I had almost said craze — for a big horse is to be carefully avoided. Neither do I consider that the bone measurement is of paramount importance. The sire I should choose to cross with Cleveland mares should certainly not exceed 15.3, and I should like him no worse if he did not exceed 15.2. Quality would be the great thing required. His head and neck must be well set on, and above everything his shoulders must be well placed and muscular, and his back loins and quarters powerful. The shape and quality of the bone would be considered rather than its size, and his action would be also of more importance in my eye than his capacity to carry weight according to the recognised standard. Such a horse as I have endeavoured to describe was Perion, who was perhaps the sire of more good hunters than any horse of his generation. It has been considered by men of experience that the second cross from the Cleveland mare produced the best hunters, and there can be no doubt that they have more quality, and amongst horses bred this way are to be found the best-looking and hardiest animals, of course, always excepting thoroughbreds. In mating a mare by a thorough- bred sire from a Cleveland mare, rather a different stamp of CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. 75 sire may be required. In the first place, size and substance should receive more consideration. But every pains must be taken to avoid using a horse with long cannon bones or weak pasterns, however good he may be in any other respect. Special care should also be taken to avoid a horse at all light in the loin, or with a tendency to be deficient in his back ribs. Perhaps a better example of the successful management of a Cleveland brood mare would be difficult to find than that of Mr. Thomas Peart's famous old mare, Darling, a great show-yard celebrity during the latter half of the fifties and the first half of the sixties. Peart's Darling bred fifteen foals, of which six were stallions of some repute. Two of these were named Brilliant, one of them the sire of Sports- man and other good horses, whilst from his brother descend many mares of exceptional excellence. Master Thomas was another that did good service in Belgium, and Lord of the Manor who was exported to India by Mr. George Holmes, the well-known Beverley veterinary surgeon, was considered by him to be one of the best horses of the breed he ever saw. Captain Cook and Rosebery were also horses of great excel- lence that were very successful both in the show yard and at the stud, but the first foal Darling had was to a thoroughbred horse, and it came about in this way : she was sent to Wonderful Lad when a two year old, but as she missed to him Mr. Peart had her covered by Perion. The following year she bred a filly foal which ultimately became the property of Mr. H. W. Thomas, of Pinchinthorpe. That gentleman sent her to Newport, and to him she bred a famous horse that was purchased by Mr. John Harvey, the Master of the Durham County Hounds, and that earned a well-deserved reputation as a hunter, being fast, a good stayer, and of ex- traordinary constitution. 76 light horses : breeds and management. The Yorkshire Coach Horse. The Yorkshire Coach Horse owes his origin, according to the late Mr. Lumley Hodgson, to the fashion for driving big upstanding horses, reaching up to 17I1. 2ms., in curricles in the early part of the century. To what he termed this pernicious fashion, Mr. Hodgson attributed in a great measure the deca- dence in the Cleveland Bay breed which took place early in the century, and about the time that these big, flash, half-bred horses came to be used as sires. Continual breeding from these half-bred horses, which were Mr. Hodgson's pet aver- sion, has, however, eventually developed a type of horse which breeds very true both as to colour, conformation and general characteristics. There is a tendency in the Yorkshire Coach Horse to a loss of substance. Quality is maintained and even improved upon, but the general tendency is to a loss of width and bone. This, however, is now very much checked owing to the action of the Yorkshire Coach Horse Society. Previous to the establishment of that Society in 1886, any- thing was recognised as a Coach Horse that at all conformed to the type, and a horse with two or three crosses of thorough- bred blood was not infrequently used as a Coaching stallion, whilst half-bred horses — horses that is with a direct cross of thoroughbred blood — were quite commonly used. It is easy to see that such a method of breeding, if indeed method it could be called, must tend to a loss of substance ; and frequent re- course had to be had to Cleveland Bays to correct this very serious defect. The favourite plan was to put a Coaching mare of fine quality to a Cleveland stallion with action and substance ; and the result of such a cross was generally, nay, almost always, satisfactory. But since the establishment of the Coach Horse Society the Yorkshire Coach Horse has been placed upon a very different footing. For a time the Society recognised the horses with a thoroughbred cross, but soon the question of type, and loss of size forced itself on the at- tention of the Council, and the lines of admission to the Stud Yorkshire Coach Stallion Rillington Victor. Winner of First and other prizes. Owner : Mr. John Lett. Yorkshire Coach Mare, IIarome Beauty. Winner of First and other prizes. Owner : Mr. J. Webster. CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. 77 Book were drawn much closer, and nothing with the direct thoroughbred cross was admitted.* The pure bred Cleveland Bay is however recognised as a Coach Horse, probably because of the fact to which I have already alluded, viz., that the best Coach Horses happen to be a cross between the Yorkshire Coach Horse and the Cleveland Bay. How far such a policy is expedient is a question which I do not propose to enter into here. I may say, however, that it certainly does appear ano- malous that an animal can be entered in two stud books as pure bred. The similarity in many physiological respects of the breeds which have been crossed to produce the Yorkshire Coach Horse does, however, seem to give colour to what, in the case of any other breeds, would appear to be little else than meaningless and arbitrary. The Coach Horse, though by no means boasting of so ancient an origin as the Cleveland Bay, yet has a claim to respectable antiquity, and is much older than many of our breeds of domestic animals. For fully a hundred years he has had a recognised existence, and prizes were given for him in Howdenshire as early as 1805. It is somewhat curious that on some of the old stallion cards the term " Cleveland Coach Horse" is used, and that these old horses, notably Victory and Volunteer, are claimed both by Cleveland Bay and by Coach Horse breeders as the tap roots of famous strains of horses. As bearing on the question of the name of the breed it is also worthy of remark that the "Druid," speaking of Mr. Jolly, of Acomb, and the trade he did with the Indian Government, refers to his Coach Horses as Howdenshire Clevelands. I am inclined to believe that a good many of the earlier Coaching stallions were cock-tails. For instance, looking through the first volume of the Yorkshire Coach Horse Stud * Since this was written the Yorkshire Coach Horse Society had again admitted a single thoroughbred cross ; a policy which some admirers of the breed strenuously opposed as reactionary, and as calculated to cause harm to the breed eventually. 78 light horses: breeds and management. Book we find many pedigrees like the following. Paulinus, sire Necromancer (S.B), dam by Woldsman (S.B.), granddam by Screveton (S.B.), great granddam by Grog (S.B.). Now, although all the horses whose names are mentioned in this pedigree are to be found in the Stud Book Paulinus is con- spicuous by his absence, so the presumption is that his fourth dam would be a Cleveland Bay. The difficulty of tracing the history of the earlier Coach Horses is also considerably enhanced by so many of them being named after thoroughbred horses, and, indeed, not- withstanding the fact that the breed is of much more recent date than the Cleveland Bay, its early history is enveloped in quite as much obscurity. Records do not seem to have been carefully kept, and there appears to be considerable confu- sion respecting some of the older pedigrees. For many years Coach Horses contained a very large admixture of the thoroughbred, for example, Quintessence who was foaled in 1830 had five top crosses of the thoroughbred, and upwards of thirty years later, Prince Arthur, the winner of the first prize at the Yorkshire Show, had two top crosses of the thoroughbred. As is the case with Cleveland Bays the Yorkshire Coach Horses are principally bred by farmers who keep two or three mares, seldom more than half-a-dozen, the heavier of which they work on the light land. Large studs are the exception, but in the neighbourhood of York and Selby, as well as in Howdenshire, there are a few men who breed and graze Coach Horses rather extensively. These gentlemen seldom attempt to cross their Coaching mares with thoroughbred horses unless it is with the object of breeding carriage horses for the London market, a very lucrative branch of the business of horse breeding, and one which obtains largely in the East Riding. It must not be imagined, however, that the thorough- bred sire is generally resorted to when the breeding of London carriage horses is the object aimed at. Coaching stallions are most frequently used, as there is then the chance of breeding CLEVELAND BAYS AND YORKSHIRE COACH HORSES. 79 a stallion. Cleveland Bay stallions are also sometimes resorted to in the case of very light or undersized mares. A different type of thoroughbred stallion should be used for a Coaching mare than that recommended fqpr a Cleveland mare. More size and length are desirable ; the shoulders should of course be good, but the back and loins are not of so much import- ance, whilst it is of importance that the quarters should be long and level, and that the tail should not droop, but should be well set on and well carried. Indeed, the thoroughbred horse selected should possess as much as possible that elegance of the quarter for which the Cleveland Bay and the Yorkshire Coach Horse are alike remarkable. The Yorkshire Coach Horse may be described as a Cleve- land Bay with more quality, i.e., more of the thoroughbred quality. His head is smaller than the Cleveland Bay, and more blood like, and the crest is more arched. The Coach Horse is also narrower, and has less bone. Indeed, some of the lighter horses show a great deal of the thoroughbred character. His action is good, and perhaps has a little more style about it than the Cleveland Bay, though this may in a measure be the result of training. Coach Horse breeders are as particular about colour as are their Cleveland Bay friends, and though they admit every shade of bay and brown, they will not look upon any other colour, and carefully avoid using a stallion conspicuously marked with white. The general management which answers for the Cleveland Bay will answer equally well for the Coach Horse. It is true that Coaching mares are not so well adapted for farm work as are the more powerful Clevelands, but on a light land farm there are many jobs for which their activity is especially adapted, and they generally are looked upon to earn their keep as well as breed a foal. Since the formation of the Cleveland Bay and Yorkshire Coach Horse Societies, both Cleveland Bays and Coach Horses have been more carefully bred, and the difference between the two breeds has been more fully recognised by the general 80 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. public. This was greatly to be desired in the interests of both breeds, and it is a source of satisfaction to all concerned that the Yorkshire Agricultural Society recognised that the breeds do exist as distinctly as they did in the earlier years of the last century, and that that recognition took a liberal form. It would be little short of a national calamity were the two breeds to be merged in one, viz., in that of the Coach Horse. The loss of the Cleveland Bay as a foundation for breeding is one that could never be replaced ; and the handsome and elegant Coach Horse or carriage horse is one we could ill do without. This recognition of the leading agricultural societies means much, therefore; it is, as it were, a new point of departure for the two breeds — from which they will attain to fresh excellencies and wider popularity. THE ARABIAN HORSE. 8 1 CHAPTER IV. THE ARABIAN HORSE. The following enthusiastic account of the Arabian Horse is from the pen of Captain W. A. Kerr, V.C. : — " If centuries of unsullied descent, a masterful prepotency — a gift that long and stainless purity of breed alone can bestow — mien and bearing haught and high, rounded symmetry of form, the ability to travel far and fast, courage, and resolution to struggle and endure, highly-developed intelligence, a gene- rous disposition, a constitution of iron, bone of hardest texture, sinews of steel and flinty hoof — if these go to make up equine perfection, then the true high-caste horses of Nejd, and those shapely steeds, of equal birth, bred in the plain between the two rivers that drink of the waters of the Tigris and Euphra- tes, are assuredly the noblest of their race. Were proof needed of the Arabian's far back and jealously-guarded pedi- gree, it will be found in his fixity of type, in the characteristic spring of the tail from the crupper. A Seglawia Jedran, a Managhi, or any aseel Arab is distinct from other breeds, and could be produced from no other stock in the known world. All the pride of all his race in himself reflected lives ! In him, ' strength and beauty have come together ! ' So pure and distinct is he of race, so great his power of heredity, that no matter how violent the contrast may be, how radical the cross-out, the mint-mark of the desert remains distinctly visible through several generations. " If the Arab lacks the grandeur of physique of such noteworthy specimens of the so-called thoroughbred as Wild 6 82 LIGHT HORSES! BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. Dayrell, West Australian, Bend Or, Minting, and of a few other past and present worthy representatives of the three great Eclipse, King Herod, and Matchem lines, we must bear in grateful recollection that all of these full, broad streams had their source in the Darley Arabian, the Byerly Turk, and the Godolphin Barb — said to have been of pure Managhi descent. It would be passing strange (seeing the conditions under which they have been respectively reared) to find the Arab of the same stature as our English racehorse. From the days, perhaps, when the sons of Noah, descending from Mount Ararat, settled in the plain of Shinar, or from those of Nimrod, that mighty hunter, the great grandson of the first navigator, * the bold man of great strength of hand, who stayed and tyrannised in Babylonia,' down to the present day, the Arab has been bred under circumstances well cal- culated to arrest his growth, and to inure him to long days of continuous toil, semi-starvation, and thirst. For a few months, possibly, he may enjoy the pastures of the Maharaina, of Esdraelon, or some watered plain in * Araby the blest ; ' but for many more he has to subsist on scant feed, such as a Basuto pony alone could thrive upon. ' Never let an animal lose its sucking flesh,' is an axiom with our breeders, who are careful to keep their colts and fillies in growing condition. The Arab foal, on the contrary, endures great privations, has to follow its dam on many a forced march, and must pick up a living as it can, aided only by a little camel's milk when this can be spared. Delightful as is Mesopotamia and the crisp clear air of the desert in the spring, during the protracted summer it is a foundry furnace, the almost perpendicular rays of the sun shooting down upon the brain and spinal column as though concentrated in the focus of a burning-glass. The air is charged with particles of fine sand, scorching as from the blast of an oven ; the parched ground radiates fervent heat. Climatic extremes, free from humidity, however — for the winter, at night especially, is bitterly cold — and oft the scantiest of scant fare, are conditions calculated to produce a THE ARABIAN HORSE. 83 hardy, terse little horse, all wire and whipcord ; but certainly are not likely to rear that massive animal so eagerly sought after in this country, and which, for downright hard work, away from his oats and old meadow hay, is so useless out of it — especially under a tropical sun. " Till very lately the Arabian has been out of favour with our people. With us size covers a multitude of evils, and any- thing not over 15.2, no matter how big of bone and large of frame, is termed a ' little horse.' But now, thanks to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, Mr. Wilfrid and Lady Anne Blunt, the Honourable Miss Dillon, and others afflicted with ' the Arab craze,' increased attention is being directed to this Eastern horse, whose descendants are now found to be distinguishing themselves pre-eminently on all the racecourses of the world, not excluding the trotting-tracks of America ; and whose blood (no matter in what channel directed or with what plebeian puddle mingled) has ever brought improvement in some shape or other, but mainly in respect of quality, stamina, courage, nervous energy, ivory-like bone, tough hoof, and hereditary soundness. In the desert, roaring — the curse of our breeds of horses, from the thoroughbred to the farm slave— is unknown, and the absence of this unmusical propensity is of itself an undeniable recommendation. But Arabs frequently stand well above the normal 14. 1 and 14.2 high. The grey Arab stallion, Smetanxa, the founder of the Russian breed of Orloff trotters, was a horse of commanding size and of unusual power. Naomi, now in the United States, measures 15.2I. The late Mr. Skene (when Consul-General at Aleppo) sent me two Anezeh mares, the one 15. if, the other 15.2. It is on record that in 1729 an Arabian was in service in Norfolk, 'by size 15.3, and strength proportionate.' Later on, in 1762, Pettigrew's Grey Barb — the Barbary horses are descended from Arabians — height 15.1J, was also travelling in the same county. Aleppo, the Ormonde of his day on the turf of Bengal, stood 15.2. The Sakhur tribe, on the borders of Moab, have some well-grown mares. " Thanks to the Live Stock Journal, and to its contributors,the 84 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. important part played by the Arabians, the Barbs, and other horses of Eastern origin in founding our families of racers, trotters, and Hackneys, and even coach -horses, has been freely and forcibly illustrated. It has been conclusively shown that not only is the Arab the most potent factor in the composition of our racers, but also that — * Oh he's such a one to bend the knee, and tuck his haunches in, And to throw the dirt in flats' eyes he never thinks a sin.' We know that one of the most famous trotting families of America is of Eastern descent, and that an astute and enter- prising breeder, Mr. R. Huntington, of Rochester, New York, is so impressed with the value of this hard, blue blood, that he has made some purchases from Mr. Vidal's stud, with a view to replenishing this strain, and of establishing a pure trotting tribe, to rival the record of Maud S., of the Western gelding Gay, and of Axtell, in the States. " The ancestry of this trotting phenomenon supplies abun- dant proof that Mr. Huntington is working on promising ground, and that to this colt's back desert blood is due the foundation of his excellence. That he has the trotting instinct intensi- fied is substantiated by the following tabulated pedigree : — *l *-4 <5 < h-t- OJ .J T4 M ea ►— i ■A — M rt § . r K$''v' % ^^k. ' IF "■ '■ JBk 1 WW ■ flf i '■J f y -1, -;> " ' ;v':;" ■ : v^. ; i;^| j White Arab Stallion, Zoowar. Winner of First and other prizes. Owner : The Hon. George Savile. Arab Stallion, Berk. Winner of First and other prizes. Owner : Lady Anne Blunt. THE ARABIAN HORSE. 87 being alike noted for bottom and speed, and from different tribes, importing fresh blood from time to time for an out- cross ; and had we so bred for the turf exclusively, there is no doubt that the Anglo- Arabian would now be in every respect as high under the standard as the average of our racehorses, of at least equal speed, and their superior in courage, sound- ness, and general utility. That this exotic breed can, in course of time, under altered conditions of climate, food and treatment, and does increase in height without sacrifice of power and just symmetry, is equally true. Miss Dillon had a two-year-old 15 hands, on short legs, and its dam was barely 14 hands, its sire but 14.2I. Her famous jumper, Raschida, was 15. 1 J, and at Crabbet Park were two fillies, bred there, of the same height. In the course of three generations English- bred Arabs will lack nothing in respect of height. " But it is as a hunter and war-horse, or both combined, that the Arab is at his very best. In old Deccan days of 1 saddle, spur and spear,' what stirring camp-fire tales each ■hard-riding pig-sticker had to tell of the superb little nag that had carried him so gallantly over such breakneck ground, « as though the speed of thought were in his limbs ! ' What a picture is the trained hog-hunter at the jungle side as the dis- cordant yells of the beaters, floating down wind, proclaim the find, and announce the joyful tidings that the bristling banditti are afoot ! Note the eager expression of his clean-cut patrician head and wide-thrown nostril ; the bold, resolute eye ; his noble bearing, as he intently scans the echoing hill-side ! How his desert blood mounts like quicksilver, every vein charged to bursting, lacing his thin, high-bred skin ! He stands motion- less but for the quiver of suppressed ecstatic excitement, and an occasional spasmodic shifting of that truest telegraph, the delicately-pointed ear. 'Ready, ay, ready/ is depicted in every attitude; then, as the chase draws nigh, and the sounder pelts past him like a hailstorm, he spins round on his hind legs, and is after that great surly tusker, the last of the ruck, like a gyrfalcon in pursuit of its prey. Now comes a 88 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. burst, trying to the full the speed, stamina, sure-footedness, cleverness, and jumping power of the horse, as of the nerve and strength of the horseman riding for the spear. Hard on his track o'er the open' and facing The devil's own country, the pick of the chase, Mute as a dream, his pursuers are racing, Silence, you know, *s the criterion of pace. (Whyte-Melville, slightly altered.) " He who hesitates is lost ; for the mighty boar has a high turn of speed, is in rare galloping trim, and takes the rock- scarped nullah, the prickly-pear fence with its festering spines, and whatever comes in his way in his quick, resolute stride. What cares he for yawning fissured regur soil, for boulder- strewn ground, or for sheet rock as slippery as glass ? His thick hide is impervious to thorn of stunted babul or khair, to lance-pointed aloe, or sword-like wild pine. Though showing honourable scars — a wild hog will rip up a horse with as much ease and as little ceremony as a huntsman paunches a hare — the Arab, accustomed to the sport, will course the boar, stick- ing to him, following every turn and wrench, and going open- mouthed at him. Where the cloven-footed robber goes, there- he follows, fearing no fall, refusing nothing ; his heart as much in the contest as if he were the rider and not the ridden. Weight appears to make little difference to these small horses; their short stride and quick recovery enabling them to carry men seemingly much beyond their scope. " During the last few seasons Arabs have been distinguish- ing themselves with hounds. No day appears too long for them, no country too big, and they make light of the proverbial three days a fortnight. One mare, fourteen years old, that had never seen an English fence in her life, negotiated her way over a bank country at the first time of asking, in a manner worthy of an accomplished huntress. Naomi has the credit of having, with thirteen stone on her back, over and over again cut down her field in Suffolk. Miss Dillon's mare, Raschida, has carried off eight jumping prizes in public con- tests, and that lady's three stallions, El Emir, Eldorado and THE ARABIAN HORSE. 89 Maidan, all possess the * lepping ' power. The last-named won an important point-to-point steeplechase in India. Mr. Blunt I believe, hunts some of his Arabs with the Crawley and Horsham Foxhounds. "Our campaign in Egypt must have convinced the mili- tary authorities that British-bred horses cannot withstand the exigencies of an Eastern campaign. Without venturing on the domain of foreign politics, it is permissible to hazard the opinion that when England is again called upon to draw the sword in a great war, the scene of the land operations will be not very far distant from the head of the Persian Gulf. Very much of the unsoundness which affects the usefulness and durability of our horses is undoubtedly due to the transmis- sible or hereditary defects both in sire and dam. The soft- ness is attributable to the blood, which wants rehardening ; and to the coddling-forcing system in vogue with our breeders of thoroughbreds. This artificial method of rearing blood- stock has caused the superintendent of Government breeding operations in India to lean very strongly to roadster stallions ; which in my opinion he erroneously describes as of a fixed type. We cannot deal too guardedly with our horse supply. It is a monstrous delusion to imagine that we can take up a position and await attack. No successful campaign can be carried out in these days, unless every arm be as mobile as possible. Great activity, rapidity of movement, and bold- ness in seizing the initiative are essential. Mobility implies an ample supply, both in the field and in reserve, of service- able [horses of a quality and fibre suited to the country in which the army is operating. As in the hunting field, so for military purposes, we must have ' blood on the top.' It is claimed for them that, in India, they get more bone than the Arabs — possibly they do; but is not quality sacrificed for quantity ; hard, fine texture for less dense and durable material ? How do the produce of the two compare as to endurance and constitution — which of the two work best under the tropical sun, and how about roaring ? 90 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. " India's chief requirement is an unlimited supply of good brood mares of a special type. Out there dogs run to nose, and horses to leg. Such a class of mare as would meet her wants used to be bred in Cape Colony some years ago. These mares were full of Arab and Barb blood. The original breed of South Africa came from Spain. In Queen Elizabeth's time the Duke of Newcastle considered the Spanish horse superior to the Barb of Morocco. * The Barbes,' wrote that authority, 4 were the gentlemen of the horse kind, and Spanish horses the princes.* The grandees had evidently made good use of the blood introduced by the Moorish Sultans of Granada. During the eighty odd years since we ousted the Dutchman from the Cape of Good Hope, many thoroughbreds from Eng- land and Arabs from India have been sent thither. The climate being all that can be desired, breeders produced from this material a long, low, powerful, 'blocky,' sound, active horse, up to great weight, and of as good constitution as tem- per. The enormous wear and tear of horseflesh during the Indian mutinies depleted the colony of these excellent general- utility horses; but what it has produced in the past it can surely supply again. Mr. Melk's compact and shapely 1 Kaapsche schemmels ' — a pair of which frequently sell out there for ^"300 — testify to the Cape's horse-breeding capacity. If the Indian Government insists upon Hackney or roadster stallions — the expression is of the widest latitude — then let us humour the whim, and breed them here and in South Africa for the State and the native rajahs, now taking an interest in the enterprise ; but by all means let the blood be hardened by reversion to the Arab sire. Let the mares be of the big bony sort, not too high under the standard, but let us be careful that they have at least as much of the thoroughbred element in them as has Bourdass' Denmark 177, or Mr. Burdett- Coutts' Tom King. Some roadster mares are to be found with grand shoulders, high set on beautifully-turned quarters, fine Arab-like heads, and comparatively free from those tell- tale long hairs in their pasterns. A bit of the much-admired round wheel-like action might well be dispensed with. THE ARABIAN HORSE. gi " A better stallion by far would be the Arab, on the big, roomy, thoroughbred, weight -carrier mare. By big is not meant one such as that giant of his generation, Arrandale, standing 17 hands, with bone in proportion, and, for one of his weight, certainly a wonderful light and easy goer. A well spread young mare, 15.3 to 16 hands, is quite tall enough ; but there must be power enough to carry fifteen stone in the Shires. We want to breed Anglo-Arabs such as Colonel Gore's Moodkee, first prize in the hunter-stallion class at the Royal at Dublin, or Mr. Lofft's Gidran (bred in Hungary), a horse that has got some excellent stock. In the South African campaign, Colonel Gore, then commanding the Innis- killing Dragoons, rode a full brother to Moodkee, and the Arab blood told, for this charger was never sick or sorry, lasting out four picked horses his master had also brought with him from Ireland. Stallions so bred, and not brought up like fatlings, would nick admirably with colonial mares such as are advo- cated above. The Bernais, who are extensive breeders, prefer the Anglo- Arabian stallion to the thoroughbred, finding the foals by the former much stronger and easier to rear on their coarse fodder. " The ' sealed pattern ' according to which we should endeavour to breed stallions for the Indian Government, and for our own home general purpose use, will be found in the engraving of a portrait of the Anglo-Arabian so admirably depicted by Mr. P. Palfrey. In it will be traced a strong resemblance to the famous Sultan, the worthy representative of the Woodpecker branch of the King Herod line, a horse said to have been cast in an enlarged mould of the Darley Arabian, and in many of his characteristics, a reflex of Flying Childers. The line carried from the point of the elbow, along the belly to the stifles, is, it will be noticed, very nearly straight, as is the case with Ormonde, and is common to very nearly all blood Arabians. The deep back rib, which always takes away from the appearance of a deep brisket, is indicative of that stamina and constitution possessed by the * air drinker 92 LIGHT HORSES! BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. of the desert.' For such a class of horse the Italian Govern- ment would be an eager competitor, and from Buenos Ayres large orders might be confidently anticipated. Khaled is good enough to hold his own against all comers on the flat or between the flags, to carry a first flight fourteen-stone man in the Shires, would mount the Prince of Wales to perfection at the head of the Tenth, or Lady Clara Vere de Vere in the Row, and could not be passed over by the most critical judge for one of the Queen's Premiums. "This account is embellished with a portrait of * Speed of Thought,' a pure Keheilan - Seglawi Arabian, bred by the Gomassa tribe of the Anezah, the property of the writer. 4 Speed of Thought ' was a dark, rich chestnut without white, save a star. His near eye had been knocked out by the point of a lance in a razzia. Height 14.3, girth 72 inches, measured 8| inches below the knee, and stood on perfectly-shaped feet, tough as the nether millstone. He was possessed of super- lative quality from head to heel, of great muscular develop- ment ; sinews clean and hard as pin-wire, and stood fair and square on the best of limbs and joints. High couraged, as proved when he beat the famous horse Long Trump by a short head after a desperate race ; full of what the Americans term * vim ' ; a strong, vigorous galloper ; his bold, free, and jaunty walk, quite up to five miles an hour, being the theme of general admiration. Across country, though somewhat headstrong, he was as clever as a cat, and would face any- thing, no matter how big, how yawning, and on parade bore himself bravely, as became his ancestry. Great depth through the heart, strong shoulders, a muscular neck with marked breadth in front of the withers and immediately behind the ears, denoting lung, staying, and weight -carrying power. The nearest approach I have seen to this aseel son of the desert was Count de la Grange's * Consul,' the winner of the French Derby, but this undoubtedly clever and shapely thoroughbred lacked his fine fibre and finish. A better constitutioned, sounder, or gamer horse never looked through a bridle, and THE ARABIAN HORSE. 93 • Hagar's desert Ishmael's plains ' never reared his superior. A true Sh'rubah Er'rech (wind drinker) was he, such a one as the brilliant Khaled, 'the sword of God,' the long-armed Tarik, or the chivalrous Saladin mig;ht have bestridden in some wild charge for Islam. Among his four-and-twenty vic- tories, all achieved in the best of company, may be instanced : The Poona Derby, the Dealers' Plate (Bombay), H.H. Agah Khan's Cup, H.H. Alii Shah's Cup, the Gold Cup (Bombay), the ioo Gold Mohur Sweepstakes, the Drawing-room Stakes, the Welter, the Forbes Stakes, and the Winners' Handicap ; his racing career closing with the easy defeat of the crack Madras horse, Risaldar, in a three-mile match. The artist, as is his wont, has done justice to my prime favourite." In 1 918 an English Arab Horse Society was formed and there quickly gathered round its banners a large number of lovers of the breed. Scarcity of breeding stock appeared in 191 9 to be the stumbling-block to the breed's rapidly attain- ing pre-eminence among our equine societies. 94 LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. CHAPTER V. THE AMERICAN TROTTING HORSE. This handbook deals chiefly with English breeds of light horses, but in view of the origin of the breed and the interest that is taken concerning its performances, a chapter on the American trotting horse will not be out of place. In his valuable little work on " Horse Breeding," Mr. J. H. Sanders savs : — « Our American horses are largely permeated with the blood of the English thoroughbred. Many of the best stallions and mares in England have been imported to this country, and their influence is seen on every hand. It enters largely into the ground work of all our trotting strains, and it is doubtful if a single great road horse or trotter has been produced in this country that did not possess a large share of this royal blood as a foundation upon which the trotting superstructure has been built." It is clear that in the eastern districts of England trotting matches were quite common during the last century. After quoting the performances of the celebrated Hackney mare Phenomena, in 1800, Mr. Leslie E. Macleod, in an exhaustive paper on the " National Horse of America " (printed in the United States Report of the Department of Agriculture, 1887), says — " The conclusion is forced upon us that the English had the material from which to build and evolve a great breed of trotters." The fact seems to be that the Americans commenced the sport of trotting at the point at which it was broken off in England, and, using our materials and their own, they have brought it, and the breed engaged in it, to great perfection. THE AMERICAN TROTTING HORSE. 95 A State law of New York, passed in 1802, forbidding all horse racing and trotting, was amended in 1821, and allowed the training, pacing, trotting, and running of horses upon certain regulated courses in Queen's County on Long Island. There were somewhat similar enactments in other States, and though racing was prohibited trotting was permitted, so that the sport received encouragement while racing was pro- scribed. In this way American tastes were guided in the direction of trotting, a circumstance which has had no small influence in its subsequent development. " The foreign horse that played the most important part in originating the American trotting breed, and that figures in the ancestry of our greatest sires and performers, was imported Messenger." In these words Mr. Leslie Macleod, in the paper to which we have already referred, confesses how large a part this great sire has performed in the creation of the trotter. Messenger is registered in the General Stud Book as having been got by Mambrino from a mare by Turf, from Regulus mare by Starling out of Snap's dam by Fox. He was foaled in 1780, and was grey in colour, like his sire, his height being 15.3. It was in 1788 that he was exported to Philadelphia, United States. His sire, Mambrino, was bred by Mr. John Atkinson, of Scholes, near Leeds, in 1768, and was sold in 1771 to Lord Grosvenor. He was got by Engineer (a son of Sampson) out of a mare by Old Cade, and it is stated that Mambrino was also sent to America, and "became the progenitor of the finest coach and trotting horses ever produced in any country, while, before quitting England, he begot some coach-horses that were never equalled." Sampson, the grandsire of Mambrino, was a black horse of great size and power. Lawrence observes that he was the strongest horse that ever raced, and was entitled to pre- eminence if viewed as a hackney or hunter. He was fifteen hands and a-half in height, and it is alleged by Lawrence that at twenty, and perhaps fifteen stone, he would have beaten over the course both Flying Childers and Eclipse. Sampson 96 light horses: breeds and management. was foaled in 1745, and is entered in the Stud Book as got by Blaze (a son of Childers) from Hip Mare by Spark. A doubt was raised by Lawrence as to the accuracy of his pedigree on the dam's side, it being asserted that the mare appeared to be about three parts bred. Sampson was exceptionally large in size, and resembled a coach-horse rather than a thoroughbred. As has been stated, Messenger was imported to Philadelphia in 1788. He was kept in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for the first six years of his life in America, and was also on Long Island, in Dutchess, Winchester and Orange Counties, New York and New Jersey, until his death, near Oyster Bay, Long Island, in 1808. " It was," says Mr. J. H. Wallace, " the crowning glory of his twenty years' service in this country that he left a race of driving-horses of unapproachable excel- lence, and, as he inherited this quality from his sire, so he imparted it to his sons, and they in turn to theirs, until we have to-day from this stock the fleetest and stoutest trotters in the world." The most famous son of Messenger was Mambrino (named after his English-bred grandsire). He was a bay, foaled in 1806, being out of a daughter of imported Sour Crout. He never raced, and was so little valued that history loses trace of him for part of his career. He died in Dutchess County in or about 1831, and was a large, coarse, leggy horse, with well-defined trotting action. But he was a successful sire, and his son Abdallah, foaled in 1823, was sire of Rysdyk's Hambletonian, from whom some of the best trotters are descended. His dam was a daughter of the imported Bellfounder, of Norfolk blood. Rysdyk's Hamble- tonian is described as a bay horse of excellent structure, but very plain, the large head and Roman face especially rendering him objectionable to the eye of the lover of form. His most noted sons comprise Alexander's Ab- dallah, Aberdeen, Dictator, Electioneer, George Wilkes, Happy Medium, Harold, Messenger, Sentinel and Volun- teer. Mambrino Chief was a grandson of Mambrino, THE AMERICAN TROTTING HORSE. 97 his sire having been Mambrino Paymaster. He is the head of a family that ranks next to that of Hambletonian. Mam- brino Chief was foaled in Dutchess County, New York, in 1844, and was from a mare of unknown pedigree. He was a fast trotter himself, and got some noted sons. The Clay family of trotters was founded by Andrew Jackson, a trotter of high class in his day. He was a son of Young Bashaw, son of Grand Bashaw, a Barb imported from Tripoli in 1820. Young Bashaw's dam was by the racehorse First Consul, and his grand-dam was by Messenger. The dam of Andrew Jackson was a mare of unknown blood that, it is said, both trotted and paced. Andrew Jackson was foaled in 1827 at Salem, New York, and died in 1843. Other blood-influences in the early record of the trotter were the imported stallion Diomed (winner of the first English Derby), and the imported Norfolk trotter Bellfounder (Jary's). The latter was foaled in 1816, and was by Stevens' Bell- founder out of Velocity by Haphazard. Velocity trotted on the Norwich road, in 1806, sixteen miles in one hour, and Bellfounder trotted in 1821, at five years old, two miles in six minutes. The Messenger and the Bellfounder blood was united in producing Hambletonian. The Morgans are a very old trotting family ; they are de- scended in the paternal line from a horse called Justin Morgan, bred in Vermont in 1793. The Pilots trace from the old black pacer Pilot, who was of French Canadian ancestry. He was the sire of Pilot, jun., sire of Maud S. and Jan-Eye-See, two noted performers. The chief families of trotters, therefore, are the Hamble- tonians, the Mambrino Chiefs, the Clays, the Morgans, the Bashaws, and the Pilots. The first recorded trotting performance in America was that of Yankee, at Harlem, New York, July 6th, 1806. The time of the mile was 2:59, but the track was not a full mile. At Philadelphia, August, 1810, a " Boston Horse" trotted the mile in harness in 2:48!. In 1832 Burster trotted in 2:32. 7 98 LIGHT HORSES: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 1878 Rarus 2:13^ 1879 St. Julien 2:12! 1880 St. Julien 2:n| 1880 St. Julien 2:11^ 1880 Maud S .. 2:io| 1881 Maud S - 2:io£ 1881 Maud S 2:io| 1884 Jan-Eye-See 2:10 1884 Maud S „ 2:09! 1884 Maud S 269 j 1885 Maud S 2:o8| 1891 Sunol 2:08^ 1892 Nancy Hanks 2:07! 1892 Nancy Hanks 2:05! 1892 Nancy Hanks 2:04 1900 The Abbot '2:03! 1901 Cresceus 2:02! 1903 Major Delmar *i:59l 1903 Lou Dillon *i;58$ 1912 Uhlan *io8 The first trotting horse to beat i\ minutes for the mile was Lady Suffolk, who recorded 2:29^. Gradually speed has pulled down the record to 1:58 as the following table shows : — 1818 Boston Blue ... 3:0 1821 Top Gallant 2:43 1824 Top Gallant 2:40 1824 The Treadwell Mare 2:34 1830 Burster 2:32 1834 Edwin Forrest 2:31^ 1845 Lady Suffolk 2:29$ 1849 Pelham 2:28 1853 Highland Maid 2:27 1856 Flora Temple 2:24^ 1859 Flora Temple 2:23! 1859 Flora Temple 2:22 1859 Flora Temple 2:21^ 1859 Flora Temple 2:19! 1865 Dexter .... 2:18^ 1867 Dexter 2:17^ 1871 Goldsmith Maid 2:17 1872 Goldsmith Maid 2:i6f 1874 Goldsmith Maid 2:15^ 1874 Goldsmith Maid 2:14! 1874 Goldsmith Maid 2:14 * Made against time. Training and tracks have been responsible for this great development. A good deal might be said in reference to the changes in the formation of the tracts and to the use of pneumatic-tyred sulkies, but space will not permit of details on these points. The following notes on the breeding and management of trotters were written for us some time ago by Mr. R. C. Auld, New York :— " Secretary Tracy voiced the popular sentiment when he declared ' that to get trotters, you must breed to trotters ; and to attain the highest possible rate of speed at the trotting gait you must continually blend those strains that possess the greatest stamina and nerve force with those that possess the highest form of trotting speed. I am a believer in a thorough- bred foundation in the trotter, nevertheless, provided that it came from the best sources. I do not, however, like it so close up as do Mr. Robert Bonner and Senator Stanford. Safety in breeding lies in matching like with like. In other THE AMERICAN TROTTING HORSE. 99 words, if you desire the highest type of trotter or runner, mate only with the best and highest type. As you cannot gather grapes from thistles, neither can you expect to breed world-breakers in point of speed at the trot from the Percheron or Shire horse, nor uniformly from a type, rich though it be in Oriental blood, whose instinct is to run and not to trot. As regards gameness and stamina, it does not appear to me that the highest type of trotter can borrow anything from the thoroughbred. The resolute manner in which he trots heat after heat, day in and day out, frequently after exhausting scores before getting away from the wire, leaves nothing to be said on the question of gameness.' "John Splan, one of the leading trainers, writes: 'When we get brood mares with five or six crosses in their pedigrees, that have been tried through fire by actual battles on the Turf, bred to stallions with the same characteristics, we will, I think, have a family of racehorses that will not have to look to a pacing family for speed, or to the thoroughbred for staying qualities.' " The veteran driver Turner declares : c The horse that tries to win is the one we want, whether the breeding be gilt-edged or otherwise.' " Pedigree can only give opportunity a better chance. It is a true saying that success depends on being ready when one's opportunity comes. Pedigree is the best means of making the trotter ready. " There are fifty mares in the table of great brood mares whose breeding is unknown, and one hundred and fifty the breeding of whose dams is unknown. These facts illus- trate what pedigree may eventually do in breeding the trotter. It will be some time before horses will have become so bred that they have all become classified in their various ranks so that none will be a trotter but of trotting breeding. The time might come, however, when the admission to the Register on standard claims will become occasional — if the American tendency to run everything into certain stud-book channels 100 LIGHT HORSES'. BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. continues. This we much doubt. Every light-harness horse the American breeds, the first question about him is, * Can he trot ? ' So that there will continually be additions to trotting ranks from other sources of light horses — as the Hackneys, Coachers and Saddlers — by occasional experiments of trotting sires on such females, or vice versa. " Speaking of the 2:30 class, a high veterinary authority holds that training for trotting predisposes to disease, and that there is more probability of finding some capital blemish in a trotter of speed than there is in others. This is but natural, how- ever; the same holds good, doubtless, in regard to the thoroughbred. Breeding ought to be, in both, a safeguard against this predisposition. In the breeder's consideration of this question it will be at once seen what a use ' pedigree ' is to him ; it teaches him what strong lines to draw to, which weak ones to discard. It is here at once seen that the 1 deeper in ' he gets the safer he must be. " It is said that the thoroughbred blood has always been a resource to draw from for staying powers. The late Senator Stanford put into training a thoroughbred filly, well-named Experiment, on the trotting turf. Considering the distinct anatomical conformity of the two goers it would seem as if a thoroughbred could not stand the pounding he must endure on the trotting track. On this subject we may quote old reliable John Lawrence, 1809, who says : * It is a remarkable fact that there has existed no instance of a thoroughbred horse being a capital trotter. They soon become leg weary, and their legs and feet are too delicate for the rude ham- mering of the speedy trot.' " ■ The advocates of the various theories of breeding,' re- marked the editor of 'Wallace's,' 'are each finding their grain of comfort in the unparalleled records of 1891. The trotting purists claim the magnificent performance of the phenomenal two-year-old Arion, 2:io|, and world's race records of Nancy Hanks, 2:09, and Direct, 2:06 (pacer), as upholding their theory. Those who believe that a thoroughbred should not THE AMERICAN TROTTING HORSE. IOI be found closer on the pedigree than the second dam, point to the queen of the trotting turf, Sunol, and her magic 2:o8|. Those who believe in the sustaining power of the thorough- bred through the first dam, dwell lovingly on the champion stallion record of Palo Alto, 2:08 J, a half thoroughbred. * Honours are easy.' ' " Yet there was no chance work in the breeding of these. 1 Every one was bred for a trotter.' Merit, therefore, does not seem confined to any particular line of good breeding. * Good breeding in blood lines from good individuals, and from producing progenitors is the secret of success.' But it does seem that as far as thoroughbred blood is concerned it is best when not too close up. But the better the record its possessor has he is always deeper in trotting blood, which argues the eventuality of the thoroughbred trotter. " While on the subject of breeding, allusion may be made to the recognition of the pacer in the Register. The pacing gait is that seen in the camel — the lateral propellers move together. In the trotter it is the diagonals that move together. Among some there is also an outcry over the pacer ; he is — would be — ridiculed. But he is there to stay, and the best should be made of the fact. The fact is, further, that the pace and the trot are interchangeable. It is what such pacing stallions have done, not only in the way of siring 2:30 trotting speed, but also in the prepotency in speed production of their sons and daughters that makes it evident that it is impossible to disregard the influence of the pacing element in the trotter. * Horses that sire pacers also sire trotters. Pacing stallions get lots of trotters. The sons and daughters of these pacing stallions keep on imparting speed at the trot to their de- scendants.' " The conformation of the American trotter is noticeably peculiar to a foreigner. He is not drawn out so finely or whalebone-like as the thoroughbred. He does not stand — extend himself — over so much ground. He is of more stocky, compact build ; has more sloping pasterns, a shorter and 102 LIGHT HORSES! BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. wider neck, so that through it plenty of air can be pumped to supply the deep capacious chest. His face is fine and intelli- gent— so that if a person had to choose a horse by one point he might select a trotter so. He is wide between the eyes. He is rather low in the withers. He has powerful hind-quarters, specially powerful hocks ; these are noticeable as it is therefrom, as initial points, that his great bursts of speed emanate. His motion is peculiar. His hind propellers give one the impression of being thrown inside the line of the front propellers. He must have a straightforward gait, not swinging, which may mean loss of time by curving outward. He has not only to do the distance in a certain time, but he must do it in a certain way. There must be no going off the feet or breaking ; all * hitching,' ■ skipping,' * running behind,' is not trotting. A true trotting horse is possessed of nerve, judgment, self-control and determination. The trotter's steady, regular pounding of the turf — like the sound of the obsolete paddle-wheel in water — when it comes on the ear so syn- chronously and rhythmically, almost blended into one con- tinuous sound, is the sweetest music on earth to the trotting expert. " A description of Sunol may not be uninteresting. It has been said of her that it is a * deuced lucky thing that she has a record.' She would never impress the beholder as being one of the fastest trotters in the world. Looking at the little bay- mare, with her apparently heavy head and tucked-up stomach, one could almost persuade oneself that she had * levanted with another's baggage,' and was travelling under false pretences. Her conformation curiously reminds one of the shape of the greyhound. She has the same deep chest; her stomach is drawn up. At least a portion of her head, particularly her ears, suggest the greyhound, while the sloping hips and slender steel-like legs add to the suggestiveness of the picture. " It is a grand thing for the trotting queens and kings of these times that they have such a friend as Mr. Robert Bonner. In his stables, at West Fifty-fifth Street, New York, they H o OS c_ < o 5 St THE AMERICAN TROTTING HORSE. IO3 reach a haven of rest after their arduous trials, which is an honoured humane retirement. Mr. Bonner never races these world-beaters for money, seldom for exhibition. "Sunol's daily diary may be noted. When she rises in the morning, she is given two quarts of oats : in the course of an hour she receives a drink of water. Then her groom brushes her lightly all over, puts on her walking boots and a light blanket, and takes her out for a walk of half-an-hour's dura- tion. Returning to her stall, she is rubbed down, her boots changed. She is then hitched up and turned over to her driver. On returning from this exercise, she is rubbed with cloths until perfectly dry ; a blanket is thrown over her, her boots removed, and her legs wound with soft flannel band- ages, and she is walked slowly about to cool off. Again returning to the stall, she is rubbed once more with cloths and brushed until her coat shines, fresh bandages encase her legs, and a fresh blanket her body. Then she is about ready for some attention to her ' inner ' wants — a hot bran -mash, fol- lowed by hay. Thus her morning passes. In the afternoon she is ready to receive visitors or take a spin in the park, driven by Mr. Bonner. Sometimes she may be hitched up with Maud S., but we imagine each would look better apart. Sunol weighed 1,070 lbs., which was a gain of 135 lbs. during the season. " It will be seen how much grooming enters into the routine of Sunol's life. Grooming has, indeed, always entered largely into good horse hygiene. As in the days of Columella, it still seems to be considered that * it was more beneficial to horses to be well and thoroughly groomed, than to be largely fed,' and that, without proper dressing, the horse could not attain that perfection of which he was capable. " We may conclude by a reference to the recent changes in the management of the American Trotting Register, &c. For- merly the Register was conducted by Mr. J. H. Wallace and his company. The Register was begun by Mr. Wallace, and the first volume was published in 1868. A few years ago the 104 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. breeders determined to acquire control of the Register for themselves ; this would have been a simple matter, if there had been only one organisation of breeders ; but there were two, hence a deal of competition arose as to which should gain control of it. The two Associations were, the National, with an adhesion of 400 track members, and the American, with an adhesion of 700. To make a long story short, Mr. Wallace, as president of the old Register Company, finally gracefully surrendered to the American, as the stronger element. He was paid 150,000 dols. for the copyright of the Register, Year Book, his Monthly, and plant. The American Association, whose offices were formerly in Detroit, moved to Chicago ; there conventions will meet ; from there they now issue the various publications connected with the Register, including the Monthly, which has certainly gained largely by the change." The following rules, for registration of standard trotters, came into force in April, 1893 : — I* " Any stallion that has a record of 2:30 or better, provided two of his get have records of 2:20 or better, and provided his sire or dam is already a standard animal. 2. Any mare or gelding that has a record of 2:25 or better. 3. Any mare that has a record of 2:30, pro- vided her sire is standard and her dam is by a standard horse. 4. Any stallion that is the sire of four animals with records of 2:30 or better, or the sire of three with records of 2:25 or better, or two with records of 2:20 or better. 5. Any mare that has produced an animal with a record of 2:25 or two with records of 2:30 or better. 6. The progeny of a standard horse, when out of a standard mare. 7. Any mare whose sire is standard, and whose first and second dams are by standard horses." THE HUNTER. 105 CHAPTER VI. THE HUNTER. That the thoroughbred is the foundation of nearly all our half-bred stock, is simply a truism. The blood horse makes the best sire for our hunters, hacks, chargers, troop horses, and for those harness horses which are bred from Hackneys, Cleveland Bays, or Yorkshire Coach Horses ; though in the case of the last-named type, the thoroughbred may claim an additional amount of credit, since he has been called in to add quality to the Cleveland Bay. With these breeds, however, we are not now immediately concerned, and so may confine our attention for the present to the hunter. For hunting purposes, no horse equals the thoroughbred, provided only that the rider does not too heavily tax the mechanism of the weighing machine. So long as the hand does not pass n stone 7lbs. on the dial — which means that the extra weight of saddle and hunting clothes will not bring the total to more than 13 stone — no man need despair of riding a blood horse in the hunting field ; and when he has once ridden him, he will never want to go back again to any half- bred horse. The longing to keep to the pur sang will prompt him to mortify the flesh, if needs be, in order to keep down his weight ; for when a man has once experienced the easy, elastic gallop of the thoroughbred, he will not readily adapt himself tq the more laboured action of the half-bred. It is sometimes said that the thoroughbred cannot jump so well as his relative of commoner lineage, and that he takes I06 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. longer to school ; but both these statements may be dismissed with the remark that they are inaccurate. So long as a tho- roughbred horse can be schooled to jump the Liverpool course, the hunting man may comfort himself that, if his own heart be in the right place, he never need be pounded in any county in England. At the several Newmarket sales, and also at Don- caster, yearlings are sold at prices varying from 15 guineas to 30 guineas, and in the opinion of the writer it would be well worth the while of any light weight to purchase some of these, to turn them out, and " forget all about them " for a couple of years. About three pounds of oats per day — and they need not be of the very finest quality — would go far towards build- ing up their frames and fitting them for the duties of the hunting field ; a slow racehorse is a very fast hunter. The time is probably very far distant, when men will breed thoroughbreds to hunt ; but there does not seem to be any reason why — if any one chose to try the experiment — thorough- breds up to weight, should not be reared. One sometimes sees both thoroughbred horses and mares with great bone, and for hunting purposes, to carry weight, it would be useless to think of breeding from anything which had not substance. There are generally some hunter sires going about having quite sufficient bone, but there might be a difficulty about getting the proper type of mare ; though, judging from the prices realised for unfashionably bred ones, the difficulty need not be an insurmountable one, and after one or two mares had been bought, the fillies they might throw could, of course, be utilised at the stud, if they proved suitable. Considering the pleasure to be derived from riding a blood hunter, and remembering that one able to carry 14 or 15 stone would always realise a large price, it is perhaps rather astonishing that so very few people have tried the experiment of breeding the blood hunter. It may be objected that to do so would be embarking in a profitless speculation, inasmuch as more money would be given for a yearling to race than for hunting. True ; but this only holds good in the case of those with more or less THE HUNTER. I07 fashionable lineage, and everyone who has attended the blood- stock sales must have heard Mr. Tattersall trying to obtain a bid of 20 or 25 guineas for a yearling by some unknown sire, and out of a dam who has not yet made a name for herself. When these youngsters come to more mature years, and turn out too slow for racing, they find their way into cabs, or are sold at low prices for other work ; whereas had they been treated in a manner calculated to fit them for becoming hunters, they would, at four years' old, have been worth four times the money that would be given for them as Turf failures. The embryo race-horse is trained, galloped, and tried, and these processes sometimes result in rendering him unsound, when of course he is practically valueless; but under the more gentle regime of the paddock and the hunting stable he would never be asked to gallop as a two-year-old ; his work at three years would be of a light description only, consequently his frame would have time to get well set before it was taxed by work. It is not, of course, pretended that every young thoroughbred would remain sound, or make a valuable hunter ; but it stands to reason that if they are not set to severe exer- tion in their two-year-old days they have a greater chance afforded them of growing into sound horses ; so that the pro- portion of failures owing to breaking down must be smaller than in the racing stable. When the time comes for the future hunter to be schooled over a natural country a fresh set of risks begin. He may break his back at some little ditch, or otherwise injure himself ; or he may be unable to stand the strain jumping puts upon his legs ; but these things have to be chanced with every horse, thoroughbred or not. So long as we deal with thoroughbred animals alone, whether they be horses, cattle, sheep, or dogs, we may breed to type ; but directly we come to crossing one breed with another we are landed in a sea of uncertainty. We may have a thoroughbred horse on the one side, and a good looking hunter mare on the other : they are mated, and the produce may be worth £100 at three years old, or it may be fit for 108 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. nothing better than cab work. It may be 16 hands high, or may never grow beyond 15 hands. The breeding of half-bred stock, therefore, may be truly regarded as a lottery ; though at the same time there are certain rules and fixed principles which should not be lost sight of. Beginning with the sire, it has been laid down as a general rule that he should be thoroughbred, or practically so. A slight stain in the pedigree should not, however, disqualify a stallion that is otherwise suitable as a hunter sire. The writer has seen one or two good hunters got by a trotting sire out of well bred mares ; but one would think hunters so bred are rare. Experience has shown, too, that in the majority of cases medium-sized sires are more successful than very tall ones. Soundness is, of course, a sine qua twn, and so are good limbs ; while it is as well to ascertain whether the horse it is proposed to use has got his mares in foal, as failure to do this puts the breeder to much expense and loss. If the sire has acquitted himself respectably over a country it will be a recommendation ; but it is not so neces- sary that he shall have won races as that he shall have shown himself a good fencer, for jumping capability often runs in families like temper, pace, and other attributes ; while for a hunter it will be no harm if the sire be somewhat of the "cobby" order, so long as his shoulders are well placed, and his back and loins muscular. The reader is probably aware that a number of persons are greatly in favour of Arabs as hunters, and of using Arabs as hunting sires. So long as a horse is of proper make and shape, can carry the necessary weight, and jump properly, it does not matter to the user how he is bred ; the man who breeds only to mount himself can ride a jumping bull if he likes, as did Jemmy Hirst. But wThen breeding for sale is the object, the breeder must try to produce the animal that will sell best ; and it may be questioned whether a half- Arab is the sort of horse after which buyers will run. We read of Arabs of 14.3 and 15 hands carrying 13 stone and upwards over all sorts of THE HUNTER. IOg country ; but, as a rule, as mentioned elsewhere, size means power, and it is a succession of big fences that beats the little horse. It may be that the 15-hand Arab is equal to the Eng- lish horse of three or four inches higher, but the majority Of hunting men would be slow to assent to the claim ; conse- quently the breeder who can offer a buyer nothing but small horses must be prepared to pay for his fancy in the shape of a reduced price. It is not contended that the cross between an Arab and a hunting mare is necessarily small, but usually they give one the idea of being nothing more than light weight horses. The breeder cannot too soon realise the fact that the choice of a suitable sire is only one step towards breeding a hunter. It is of paramount importance that the dam should be equally good in her way. Yet many breeders, small farmers especially, when they are not themselves great horsemen, persist in breed- ing from weedy, undersized or worn-out mares. It is not until a mare is past work that some of them think of sending her to the horse. The very natural result of this is that nine out of ten of the produce are fit for nothing better than to put in a butcher's cart, indeed, sometimes they have not pace enough for that ; and then the breeder exclaims that horse breeding is a delusion, and that after all the expense and trouble have been undertaken he has had to sell a four-year-old for about £10 or less. The wonder would have been if the animals had brought any bigger prices. Even when the greatest judgment is exercised — when both parents are just what one would think they ought to be, and when everything is done to bring on the young stock — there must be a certain number of failures ; but when judgment and prudence are cast to the winds, who can wonder if disastrous results follow ? In the first place it is no more worth any one's while to set out with the idea of breeding light-weight hunters than it is for them to lay themselves out for breeding a stamp of horse that shall sell for £2$ or ^"30. In the ordinary course of things the breeder, even if in the long run he be successful, will find HO LIGHT HORSES: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. himself with as many misfits as he wants ; his aim should, therefore, be to produce a horse of the highest class, and this, in the hunting department, may be described as a horse up to 15 stone with hounds, and with as much quality as pos- sible. As often as a good sample of this sort of horse can be bred, so often will a remunerative price be forthcoming either for the raw material or when the horse shall have become a finished performer over a country. In a certain proportion of cases the breeder will be so far disappointed that he will find he has a light weight horse instead of a weight carrier; consequently there is no reason why he should try to breed the latter unless he confine his attention to thoroughbreds. The careful breeder will do well never to breed from a mare of whose history he is ignorant. She may have been put to a Hackney, Cleveland Bay, cart-horse, Arab, or half-bred sire ; and it is a well established fact that a mare, like the female of other animals, will frequently throw back to the male with which she was, at some anterior time, mated. If, therefore, a mare happens, unknown to her present owner, to have been put to a cart-horse, she may, when mated with an eligible thoroughbred, drop a colt with the quarters of a blood-horse and the head and neck of a Dobbin; and though this may not affect the horse's performances, it will affect its appear- ance, and what is more to the point, the price. The first thing, then, is to ascertain the history of the mare from which it is proposed to breed, and if this be impossible, it will be best to leave her alone, or, at any rate, not to pin one's hopes on anything she may breed. What kind of mare is most likely to help her owner to breed a weight-carrying hunter is a question which it is practically impossible to answer. A mare, which to outward appearance is just what a hunter brood-mare should be, is necessarily made up of several strains ; and her produce may take after some of her ancestors just as they may favour some horse with which she may have been mated, as mentioned above. If cart THE HUNTER. Ill blood predominates, the offspring may be a heavy, shapeless thing, fit only for a van. If, however, the mare has been ridden, and if she rides lightly and gives one the idea of being well bred, the chances are in favour of her not throwing back to anything coarse on her own side. When there is a pre- dominance of cart-blood, there is also present, as a rule, a heavy action and a general kind of clumsiness which can be detected by any one in the habit of riding well-bred horses. The texture of the coat, too, is sometimes another guide to the mare's fitness to become a brood-mare. Strength she must have, in the form of both bone and muscle ; and she should not be less than I5hands 2^in. in height, nor should she exceed i6hands iin. In this, as in other matters, the mean is best ; and perhaps i5hands 3m. is about the best height for a brood mare. At the same time, although size generally means power, it does not follow that a tall horse is necessarily up to weight — a self-evident proposi- tion, yet one which a good many breeders do not appear to have grasped. There was a good deal of sense in the remark of the old master of fox hounds who declared that the " height of a hound had nothing to do with his size." This is true of horses to a certain extent; but as we presently propose to show, a certain amount of height is as necessary in a horse as it is in a hound. To return to the brood mare, however. Various experi- ments have been tried. With the hope of combining strength with fashion, thoroughbreds have been crossed with heavy cart mares, and the fillies so produced have been again put to the blood sire, and so on ; but the result has scarcely been satis- factory, and after the second cross the progeny has come out in all sorts of shapes. Others have tried the clean-legged cart mare, with better results. In former days, when the breeding of hunters was at its best in Ireland, the dams of the hunters were almost invariably the clean-legged cart mares of the country, for five and thirty or forty years ago hairy heels were practically unknown in Ireland. Then by degrees the 112 LIGHT HORSES: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. Clydesdale and Shire horses were introduced, to take the place of the native mares, which had been sold to go abroad, and it may be stated with confidence that since that time Irish hunters have not been what they were. What we require — in theory, at least — is an upstanding, big- boned, roomy mare, got by a thoroughbred horse, and with as few mixtures in her pedigree as possible. Such a mare is hard to find, and when found will not always throw the sort of foal we want. A few years ago, " G. S. L.," an acknowledged authority upon breeding matters, ventured the opinion that every hunter brood mare should have some pony blood in her, on at least one side of her head, and there certainly seems to be a great deal in this theory, when one calls to mind the mares one has known which have been descended from New Forest, or what are now regarded as Exmoor, ponies. At the best, however, the writer regards the most eligible stamp of weight -carrying hunter as, under existing condi- tions, a purely chance-bred animal, and no rules can be laid down which will give a breeder a reasonable chance of thinking that he can breed two in succession from the same parent. We are speaking now of horses equal to 15 stone at the most ; but there is still more chance about breeding those elephantine animals which can be ridden by men who walk from 15 stone to 17 stone. These must give up all hope of quality, for the man who rides 17 or 18 stone to hounds must be thankful to be carried at all, and must be grateful for the assis- tance of an active cart-horse. On the other hand, however, one has seen some wonderful heavy-weight horses. When Lord Macclesfield used to hunt the South Oxfordshire country, he must have ridden 16 or 17 stone ; yet what horses he had ! The writer well remembers two of them in particular, a chestnut and a brown. Both had the quarters and middle piece of a dray- horse, but they could gallop at a great pace, and jump any- thing, and were by no means " carty." Then again, Mr. Merthyr Guest, Master of the Blackmore Vale Hounds, and Mr. Hey wood Lonsdale, Master of the Shropshire, ride horses Hunter. THB HUNTER. II3 showing a wonderful amount of quality for the weight they have to carry ; but all these horses we believe to be chance- bred ones. We have only to go to horse shows to find out how rare are weight-carriers with quality. Out of about a couple of dozen entries, at least one quarter will be voted not up to the mini- mum weight ; about the same number will be common, and only fit to follow harriers in a sticky, slow country ; it will be possible to find faults more or less serious with some of the remainder, and when the judges come to make up their minds how the prizes shall be awarded, their choice will probably be limited to three or four. It will be observed, too, that as the limitations as to weight decrease, the classes grow very much larger. This has been less observable lately than it was a few years ago, for latterly, the tendency at horse shows has been to diminish the number of classes assigned to horses capable of carrying various weights. In connection with this question, the following extract from an Irish newspaper of 1886 may not be without interest : — " That our horse-breeding has changed within the last twenty-five years is evident by the great present scarcity of horses to carry over 14 stone, and the increase of those who can carry 12 stone. In last year's show (1885), although most substantial prizes were offered by the Royal Dublin Society, the proportion of classes were as fol- lows : — For weight-carrying hunters up to 15 stone, five years' old, 64 entries ; hunters from 13 stone 7 lbs. to 15 stone, five years' old, 97 entries ; while for the class for hunters up to from 12 stone to 13 stone 7 lbs., five years old, there were 143 competitors. Now, comparing this with the show held in 1876, exactly ten years since, the entries in the then respective classes were, 15 stone class, 25 ; 13 stone 7 lbs. class, 46 ; 12 stone class, 30." Reference to the catalogues of our English horse shows give very similar results. For example, when the Royal was held at Nottingham in 1888, there were a dozen heavy weight hunters and seventeen 12 stone horses; at Hull, in 1889, 8 114 light horses: breeds and management. there were eleven heavy weights and 2* light weights. At Islington, in 1889, there were 21 horses in the class to carry a minimum of 15 stone ; 28 in the middle weight class, and 25 in the light weight class. The moral of all this is, that while hunters up to weight are difficult to rear, it is comparatively easy to breed light weight horses, and that these should exist in such large numbers proves that the breeding of weight carrying hunters of high class is chance work. As already stated, no breeder possess- ing common sense would lay himself out to breed light weight horses in preference to weight carriers, because experience has shown that the ranks of light weight hunters are very largely recruited from failures. A man who rides from 12 stone to 12 stone 7lbs can mount himself cheaply enough, since he may ride either a weed or an under- sized horse. In every country in England are light men who get along and maintain a good place on something not ex- ceeding 15 hands ; and if one goes to Tattersall's, Aldridge's or to any other repository, it is possible to see plenty of com- petent light weight hunters knocked down at sums not ex- ceeding ^"70, while a great many bring no more than ^"30 or ^"40, or more properly speaking, guineas, while some are obtainable at still lower prices. In the matter of general rules, therefore, we can get no further than saying that the hunter brood-mare should possess both size, strength, and breeding; and when we have all these three requisites we must still be indebted largely to chance. This brings us to the consideration of the question what is a saleable horse ? To a certain extent we have discussed this question already. He must have size, breeding and quality, and, of course, jumping abilities of a high order. The " horse for Leicestershire " is, in short, the horse to bring the most money ; and whatever the theory of individuals may be, in practice every one who can afford it buys a horse of this type, no matter in what country he may hunt. Go to Northum- Hunter Mare, Surprise. Winner of First and other prizes. Owner : Sir Merrick R. Burrell, Bart. Hunter Gelding, Broadwood. Winner of Champion and other prizes. Owner: Mr. W. A. Simpson-Hinchliffe. THE HUNTER. H5 berland in the north, Sussex in the south, Lincolnshire and Essex in the east and Devon in the west, and you will find that men who have the money — or the credit — will mount themselves on well bred, upstanding horses able to gallop and jump. Of course on Exmoor and Dartmoor where there is no jumping, in Kent and Sussex where big woodlands are met with sufficiently often to cause checks, and in close, rugged countries wherein climbing and creeping are more the rule than galloping and jumping flippantly from field to field, a good deal of sport can be seen from the back of a horse which would be of no earthly use in a grass country in which are small coverts. But a few times in a season hounds run hard in the worst of countries, and then it is that the value of a good horse is seen. To put the matter shortly, no man rides a worse horse if he can afford a better. Jumping a country is merely a matter of local practice, and there is no reason whatever why a horse which can get over a grass country should not, after a little practice, be an equally brilliant performer over the wide Roothing ditches of Essex, the banks of Dorsetshire, the stone walls of Gloucestershire, or the formidable ramparts of Devon. In every country in England horses are seen which would not disgrace themselves on the grass anywhere. These well bred, strong horses, then, are the ones the breeder wants to produce if he can, as they bring the most money. In the majority of years each individual will have to remain content with a lower standard and consequently a lower price, and what he fondly hoped would turn out a high class hunter may eventually have to be sold as a harness horse. The writer has always advocated that at horse shows the brood-mares should be divided into two classes. When numbers of mares of all sorts and sizes are shown together, the prizes naturally go to those showing most quality. It would be well, therefore, to have one class for mares them- selves up to 14 stone, at least, with hounds, and the other for ub light horses: breeds and management. mares up to not more than 14 stone. In this way the heavier mares, which may be the better calculated to breed weight carriers, would have more chances of gaining prizes than they have at present. It would also be a move in the right direc- tion if greater rewards could be given in the classes for farmers' brood-mares. If a farmer with a decent mare could nearly make sure of picking up £25 or ^30 a year at small shows there would be forthcoming proof positive that keeping a better mare paid best, not only because she could win prizes where a worn-out thing could not, but also because better voung stock could be bred. Hunter Sires. In an article on "Hunter Sires," the late Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart., made some suggestions calculated to render the breeding of hunters more reliable than it has hitherto been He wrote as follows : — "It is strange to observe how satisfied many people con- tinue to be with the present system of breeding general-pur- pose horses. This condition of mind affords a striking instance of the influence which deep-rooted prejudice, and a determination to adhere to fashion, can exert upon the intelli- gence of men. The idea has prevailed too long that weight- carriers — or useful riding and driving horses — can only be bred by using thoroughbred sires ; and this belief has proved the chief obstacle in the way of every suggestion for a better system of breeding strong and sizeable animals. " There is no doubt that the thoroughbred of to-day is, for racing and for reproducing speedy animals, better than he ever was before ; yet the fact that there has been great change in rules and customs of the Turf has made him, of necessity, less suitable as a sire for getting horses for weight-carrying, for harness, or for military purposes. The altered system of rac- ing and modified Turf arrangements have combined to produce Ml THE HUNTER. 117 a class of racehorse which is quite distinct from the thorough- breds of last century. We have now horses that come quickly to perfection, and as quickly pass from the Turf. At the present time there are not a dozen races of any importance which are run upon courses above two miles. The ordinary distance is from six furlongs to one and a^half miles, and the exceptions are a few welter races, which are still contested for by the better class of horse. " The average weight which is carried, ranges from 8 stone to 9 stone. In very few cases is the higher of the two limits exceeded. This arrangement gives the good, bad and indif- ferent horse a chance of winning ; and speed has been preferred to substance. Horses are tried at two years old, and if they appear to be slow they are at once cast, in order that the ex- pense of further training may be saved. " In a controversy (which has been going on for many years) it has been proved that no plan, for improvement of the stock of general-utility horses, can be long maintained by using, exclusively, sires reared for the Turf. Even many racing men now share this conviction ; which has been to some extent brought about by the fact that several of our best four-mile steeplechase horses are not clean-bred ; but have other blood running through their veins besides that of the thoroughbred. This is the case with the following steeplechase horses of high repute : — Roman Oak, New Oswestry, Zoedone, St. Galmier, Heather, and Marienbad. The first-named won many races in 1 89 1, and the big race (^*2,ooo), at Manchester, in 1892. In the list of Grand National winners, a large percentage will be found to have what is considered to be a stain in their pedi- gree. This is the case with Pathfinder (who won in 1875), with Zoedone (1883), Old Fox (1886), Gamecock (1887), Frigate (1889), Ilex (1890), and Come Away (1891). The Colonel (who won twice f jr., 1869 and 1870) and The Lamb (who won in 1868 and 1871) both belonged to the same class. " At the commencement of this century, competition in racing all over England, was carried out on quite different Il8 light horses: breeds and management. terms to those which are observed to-day. Then it was for four-year-old horses carrying 10 stone 4 lbs.; for five-year- olds with 11 stone 6 lbs. ; and for a few aged horses with 12 stone, and it was decided in four-mile heats. Such races were a great inducement to breeders to endeavour to get horses of size and substance ; and so long as these prizes and the Queen's Plates were given to horses carrying heavy weights, strong thoroughbred horses continued to be bred and kept upon the Turf. " For many years past our stock of really sizeable riding horses, and of true-actioned, well-matched driving horses, has been notoriously deficient. To make up for this de- ficiency, large numbers are imported from abroad, and we are sending away vast sums of money which ought to go into the pockets of British farmers and breeders. The Govern- ment returns — for the six months ending June, 1892 — show that there were 3,932 horses more imported than in the cor- responding six months of the previous year ; viz., 12,343 for the six months of 1892, as against 8,411 in the six months, January to June, 1891. 4 * It is curious to learn that we have been doing in the im- mediate past exactly what was done in this country between the years 11 54 and 1702. In order to prove this, an interest- ing article, headed ' Antiquity and Progress of Horse Racing,' should be examined, which appears in one of the volumes of the Sporting Magazine, published in 1810. In this is briefly described the commencement of English horse racing. The article states that it was — " * Only after the reign of Henry II. (1154) that gentlemen began, among other feats of sporting, to try the fleetness of their horses against one another. . . . Gentlemen went on breeding their horses so fine, for the sake of shape and speed only. Those animals which were only second, third, or fourth-rates in speed, were considered to be quite useless. This custom continued until the reign of Queen THE HUNTER. Iig Anne (17&2), when a public- spirited gentleman (oDserving inconvenience arising from this exclusiveness) left thirteen plates, or purses, to be run for at such places as the Crown should appoint.* Hence they are called the King's or Queen's Plates, or guineas. They were given upon the condition that each horse, mare, or gelding, should carry 12 stone weight : the best of three heats over a four-mile course. By this method, a stronger and more useful breed were soon raised, and if the horse did not win the guineas, he was yet strong enough to make a good hunter. By these crossings — as the jockeys term it — we have horses of full blood, three-quarters blood, or half-bred, suitable to carry any burthens ; by which means the English breed of horses is allowed to be the best, and is greatly esteemed by foreigners.' " In the face of all that may now be seen and read, no one can deny the importance of this subject to the nation. Indeed, the question has for more than fifty years occupied at intervals the attention of Parliament, of the press, and of a large percentage of the horse-loving people of the country. In no age has the idea of perfection been placed higher than it is in this. It is admitted that the object of all should be to combine usefulness with beauty, and that there is, or should be, some visible standard of what is being aimed at. In the breeding of general-purpose horses, men should have before them some type or model of what they are seeking to obtain. Now, it will be found that there are in existence — to guide us — many old pictures of celebrated sires other than thoroughbred, who, in the early and middle part of this century, did good service by begetting progeny of the desired character, and who were freely used for breeding horses suitable for carrying heavy weights and coaching horses. And, what is more, there exist (in the old Sporting Magazine and other contemporary publications), the written records <* * If this be a true statement it may be seen from what source the money came which originally supplied what — from Queen Anne being on the throne — were termed the Queen's Plates. 120 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. and particulars of this useful type of horse. At the period to which I refer sons of these weight-carrying sires were themselves continued as sires. Thus a course of line breed- ing was established, so that there came to be a breed of light horses quite distinct from the thoroughbred. Why men should not have persisted with this line-bred stock of horses it is difficult to understand. It can only have been through the craze for speed, without regard to other important attri- butes, such as size, bone, and usefulness generally. " Among many other pictures of old hunter sires to which we might have made reference, there is one of * Pantomime ' in the Sporting Magazine of the year 1836. This is called «a favourite hunter, the property of David Marjoribanks Robertson, Esq.' The dam is described as * not thorough- bred.' And in the article appended it is stated that 4 the sire of Pantomime was Grimaldi, a race of hunters nearly extinct, and justly celebrated for their high courage, honestyr and stoutness.' What, it may be asked, became of that 1 race of hunters ? ' "With cattle and sheep it is fortunate that the practice has been different. We have had men whose enlightened minds led them to persevere throughout on the lines that their forefathers adopted, and the success which has thus been achieved proves line-breeding to be right. Bakewell, in the last century — the great pioneer in improving nearly all descriptions of stock — bred from animals which were on both sides of exactly the same character. He had no intake of fresh blood for upwards of twenty-five years, and the- merits of his method are recognised by herd and flock-owners down to the present time. " But in our attempts to breed hunters and heavy weight- carrying horses the idea has prevailed that with these no distinct type can be fixed in the same way, because no relationship should exist between the sire and dam. This arose from fear that the progeny would be too near akin, and that if mares of a good line-bred sizeable sort were put THE HUNTER. 121 to a sire bred in the same way and of the same character as the dam, it would be doing [wrong. In real fact, there is no danger in breeding by the nearest affinities, provided they have developed no unhealthiness, and provided the animals to be mated are both possessed, in a superior degree, of the qualities which are sought to be established. "It is impossible to imagine why we should have post- poned so long the breeding of weight -carriers on both sides from animals of a type that would reproduce itself. For we have acknowledged breeds in the thoroughbred, the Hackney, and the Shetland. In heavier breeds we have the Shire, Clydesdale, Suffolk, and Cleveland, all of which varieties reproduce themselves without recourse to any out- side alliances, and there seems to be no reason why a breed — to be hereafter called the * hunter sires ' or * weight-carrier sires,' or by any other name — should not be established in the same way. " The haphazard system of continually using thoroughbred sires, and this to mares which already have a large pro- portion of thoroughbred blood, has not proved successful. Those who have expended large sums of money in trying to breed in this way weight-carrying hunters and sizeable horses have acknowledged their failure. "To realise this truth, it is only necessary to read what Lord Cathcart has written in the nineteenth volume of the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal. The article occupies fifty-five pages, and gives, with much information, the opinion of numerous practical breeders. " If my opinion were to be asked, and I had to advise briefly what should be done I would say, ' breed from a stallion, other than a thoroughbred one, which has a strain of hunter blood in his pedigree,' or select a thoroughbred stallion that possesses the shape and make of a hunter, and is capable of carrying a 14 stone man to hounds. If he be mated with a hunter-mare of known descent — one that has carried not less than 14 stone to hounds, has won hunter 122 LIGHT HORSES: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. or point-to-point races, or that has won premiums at the Spring Shows of the Hunters' Improvement Society — then the progeny of such mating will be a commencement of establishing a heavy-weight line of hunters. There is no animal better for coach or carriage purposes or for work requiring powers of endurance, such as doing long journeys by road, than a horse of the hunter class. The result of such an experiment would be sizeable animals, which if not suitable for one purpose would be for another. Here the remark of a writer (Mr. Chas. W. Tindall) is much to the point when he says : * We can make a hunter a harness horse, but all the Acts of Parliament cannot make a harness horse a hunter, and it is a fact beyond dispute that horses of the hunter type are more in demand than any other for general-purpose work.' " Young Half-bred Stock. It is well that those who undertake the breeding of half-bred stock should thoroughly understand that it is a risky business, and that a great deal of knowledge of one kind and another is required before it can be made to pay. It is also necessary to understand that where no more than two or three foals are bred annually, a loss must inevitably result if the breeder has to pay for labour, or rent of premises. If a man has the convenience for breeding, he may do fairly well in a small way with luck and good management. Attention is drawn to these matters, because they are not without their bearing on the case when the time comes to ask what is to be done with the young horse ? Clearly it will not do to pay to have him broken and made into a hunter by any one else, or all the profit (if any) will be swallowed up. All young horses should be handled from the day of their birth, it saves a world of time and trouble afterwards — in fact, if a foal be constantly handled, and be early fitted with a head THE HUNTER. I23 collar, and then with a colt bit, or better still, the ring bit, such as is generally seen in the mouths of yearlings at sales, and if a little rug be put over him at times, and if the attend- ant occasionally bear a little on him, breaking to harness or saddle will generally be attended with no difficulty whatever. At this stage of the proceedings some very important con- siderations come in. The breeder may be an excellent man for breeding, i.e., he may be a good judge of mares and stal- lions ; he may be thoroughly up to the work of treating his mare properly while she is in foal, and he may know all about handling and taking care of young stock ; but he may be no horseman, and may be by nature unfitted to undertake the task of breaking or making a hunter. In such cases, it is submitted, the breeder would do well to sell his youngster to the first person who will pay him a sum which represents a fair working profit. It may be urged that by-and-by this horse may be sold for ^"200, ^300, or ^"400 ; so he may, but let not this consideration trouble the mind of the breeder. By selling young he has the minimum of risk, and possesses that bird in the hand which is proverbially said to be worth two in the bush. We have somehow come to regard breeding and breaking and making as one man's work, whereas it is really the task of two men, though of course some have the gift of doubling the parts ; but when a horse is old enough to be sold as a hunter, the price paid for him depends upon something more than good looks : his manners and performances must be good if a large sum is to be given for him, unless, of course, he is good looking enough to be bought for show purposes. Unless, therefore, the breeder or one of his family be a suf- ficiently good horseman to undertake the breaking and making of a hunter, the breeder is best out of his colt as soon as he can dispose of him at a profit, as if he does not carry himself well, move in good form, and jump freely, cleverly, and temperately, he will never pay the breeder for keeping till he is four or five years old. It may, however, be necessary to adopt a middle course, that is to say, the breeder may, through lack of offers, 124 LIGHT HORSES: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. be unable to dispose of his youngster as a yearling or a two- year old, yet he may find a buyer before the colt is old enough to be ridden as a hunter. In this event some progress will have to be made in his education. At two years old he may be taught to jump, on the plan recommended by Whyte Melville, that is to say, he may have to jump a low rail and little ditch to get to his feed of corn, which he should have once or twice a day ; at two years old he may be ridden by a light weight, and at this early stage he should be taught to stand quietly while being mounted ; to walk well, without breaking into that uncomfortable jog at which some horses will persist in travelling, and not to start with a jump. Directly a horse is found to be deficient in any one of these points his value falls ; but a very moderate horse- man should be equal to guaranteeing that his steed does not fail in these elementary particulars. During the preliminary lessons the colt will be held by an assistant while the trainer mounts ; but as the colt grows accustomed to being mounted, the assistant will hold him less ; but he should never be suf- fered to move till the rider has both feet in the stirrups, has gathered up his reins, and has given the signal to start. The more a horse knows of jumping the better, and if he has been accustomed to jump his little rail and ditch for his food, he will have done something to develop the muscles which come into play when taking a fence, and he will have learned something of the art of balancing himself when taking off and landing. People are not all agreed as to the best method to be adopted to teach a horse to jump a "natural country," that is to say, hedges and ditches, water, &c. ; but the writer is of the number of those who have implicit faith in the efficacy of a leading rein. He believes in it for two reasons. In the first place, the horse can have his initiatory lessons before he is old enough to carry a weight upon his back without danger to his legs ; and secondly, he will get accus- tomed to banks, ditches, and other obstacles, without being incommoded by a rider who may possibly pull at his head at THE HUNTER. 125 a critical moment, and so give him his first lesson in " sticki- ness " — a great fault in a hunter. At the outset, the leading rein — fastened to a caveson — is to be preferred to driving the horse over fences with long double reins. It is important that only small places be selected until the colt will trot up and jump them readily. The trainer will at first be accompanied by an assistant, who may lightly hold the horse while the trainer gets over the first little ditch or hedge ; and here the trainer may be advised not to turn round and stare the pupil full in the face when asking him to jump. He should stand sideways to the obstacle, so that he can see all that the colt is doing without frightening him. The same rule holds good when taking a horse into a horse-box for the first time. The person in charge should never turn round and look the horse in the face, but should precede the horse by a foot or two, and keep his back towards him. The assistant should be provided with a whip, but it is to be used sparingly, and not at all if possible — a slight cracking of it will nearly always suffice — and, above all, the trainer must not be in a hurry. If he set about his work properly, nineteen colts out of twenty will give no trouble whatever, especially if they have been in the habit of jumping the rail to get their food. Nor must the trainer be in too great a hurry to increase the size of the fences he selects ; small places only should be picked out till the pupil jumps them without hanging at them. It would be beyond the scope of these remarks — which are intended for beginners — to deal with the advanced education of a hunter. The person who undertakes to ride a young horse over a country should be a man of experience. If, however, the breeder be not a good horseman, and if he will educate his young stock on the lines here laid down, he may feel sure of being able to realise the best price for what is little more than raw material. The buyer will see that he rias a good foundation to work upon, and will not have to spend a long time in unlearning several bad habits, which he would certainly have to do had some unfinished horse- man undertaken the education of the colt. 126 light horses! breeds and management. Horses for the Army. The question of horse breeding for army purposes has long occupied attention, but it became an urgent matter on the outbreak of the Great European War in the autumn of 1914. To the call of " King and Country " there was a prompt and loyal response from the Hunts of the country both with horses and men. Over 15,000 hunters of breeding and stamina and in condition were immediately available, ready to step from the hunting field to the field of war and forming perhaps the finest cavalry horses in the world. The horses were willingly given and the War Office, through the Masters of Hounds, expressed its thanks for the fine patriotism of the Hunts in so promptly responding to their country's call. The number of horses purchased in the United Kingdom on mobilisation in August 1914 amounted to 36,000 splendid horses for the Expeditionary Force; 80,000 for the Territorial Force, and 18,000 for the Reserve formations. These were obtained within twelve days of the order to mobilise. After mobilisation was completed, some 60,000 more horses were purchased for drafts and new formations. It is also stated that 20,000 horses were despatched from Canada to this country, and that a large weekly supply was to be landed from the Dominion during the War. The wastage of horses in the War has been enormous and at its close there is now a considerable shortage, so that special efforts must be made to fill up the gaps in the supply of riding horses. THE HACK, 12} CHAPTER VII THE HACK. Sir Francis Head tells us that " to metamorphose a hack into a hunter is chiefly effected by the bridle ; " and it may be equally true that the bridle has not a little to do with changing the hunter into a hack. At any rate the majority of hunting men prefer as a hack a horse built on the lines of a hunter. After being accustomed to plenty of length in front of the saddle, to good sloping shoulders, and the swinging action of: the hunter, it is scarcely possible to bring one's self to ride a little roly-poly cob, short in front, and with high quick action. For quiet riding on the roads one does not, of course, require a horse up to as much weight as the hunter ridden in the winter ; but for most tastes the hack must be on hunter lines, even though we come down to the 14-hand polo pony. For park work we may desire more action than we should care about in the hunting field ; but if anyone will visit the Row day after day during the London season he will see that high-stepping hacks are by no means common. The horse show hack is frequently an animal quite sui generis — he com- monly bears about as much resemblance to the working hack as does the English nobleman in the opera " Marta " to mem- bers of the peerage as seen in ordinary life. The cob appears to be, now-a-days, a nondescript sort of animal ; and it is only here and there that one is seen which conforms to the requirements of a perfect hack. Even at the- best of the horse shows nearly all the cobs are wide-chested. 128 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. thick-shouldered, very short of quality, and with rough, un- comfortable action ; yet so long as they can bring their knees sufficiently near their noses their owners think them fit to exhibit. Some years ago, in writing about cobs, an acknow- ledged judge of horses remarked that the requisites for this sort of hack were perfect quietness, good shoulders, a reason- able amount of length, manners and quality, and he con- tinued, " If the cob can walk four miles an hour, trot with equal ease six or ten miles an hour, canter as slow as five miles an hour, then let the owner, if a rich man, cling to him, for he will not get such another in a hurry ; if a poor man, let him not hesitate to open his mouth, and demand for his cob a sum which shall make an appreciable difference in his year's income." It has often been said that a park hack should be highly trained to answer more readily than the hunter to aids and indications. No possible exception can be taken to this doctrine, provided only that the rider is likewise educated up to the higher development of equestrianism. A hack that suddenly stops, traverses, passages, or does something else on receiving an unintentional hint, would be nothing short of a nuisance to a rider who is not fairly well up in the details of la haute ecole. In common parlance, a hack may be too well broken ; but above all things he should be docility itself. A man who is making a young horse may naturally expect his steed to sit up with him now and then ; or in consideration of brilliant performances in the field a hunter which will not go quietly to covert may be tolerated ; but for park work or for quiet road riding, lamblike placidity is a sine qua non. It is seldom or never that the hack — not being a covert hack — or some useful slave kept for the sole purpose of " supplying a want," and getting over the ground as quickly as possitle, is required to travel fast; consequently pace is a superfluous quality in a horse required for the park. But a hack should be a good walker, and no pains should be spared to make him excel in this mode of progression. In teaching a horse to walk C 1^ as r^Z m ^ H c/3 z o Oh O hJ O ■u C/2 a; c O § » i_] N C O a, a _c U C — a; c c ■m PONIES. 139 adapted. In the first instance, it is obvious that the splendid game of polo would become an impossibility, were no minia- ture steeds available and to hand for the accommodation of the players. Nor could children learn to ride, or old gentlemen be safely carried in the park or on the moors, if something up to weight and steady, and near to the ground, were not provided to do their will. Then there is the legion of timid individuals and invalids, who would shudder at the bare idea of finding themselves on two wheels behind a horse, but to whom the pony is quite a thing of joy and com- fort, in which implicit reliance may be placed. Here, indeed, is to be found a market, which it is impossible to believe that an increased supply of the proper sort of pony — not the goose- rumped Russian specimens, or the cow-hocked productions of some districts of England — could possibly glut ; and more- over, it may reasonably be anticipated that the popularity of ponies would extend, as a knowledge of their value became more widely recognised. Finally, some allusion must be made to the highest class pony of all, and the most valuable, the trapper, with all round action and good looks to attract the attention of the un- initiated and horsey men alike. How these little animals are appreciated may best be gauged by the infallible test, the money one, for the way that heads go nodding when a top- sawyer comes up under the hammer, shows how difficult they are to procure, and how highly prized they are when come across. Any breeder who could turn out goers of about 13.2, and good-looking to boot, would never be likely to receive an unpleasant communication from his bankers regarding the state of his balance, and with reasonable luck and judgment would be a rich man in the course of a few years. Yet with the knowledge of this fact before them, British horse breeders have contented themselves with confining their attention to the bigger breeds, with the result that the appearance of a new pony at an Islington or Agricultural Show, is regarded as an event in the annals of the equine year. I40 LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. The second advantage which may be assigned to the pony over heavier horses, is the smallness of his appetite, and this should prove no small attraction in the eyes of would-be equestrians, afflicted, alas ! as so many of them are, by ill-lined purses. Whether the pony is naturally so small a feeder as he usually is, is, however, questionable, as there can be little room for doubting that the early treatment which the majority of equine bantams experience has provided them with a facility for thriving upon very little. All excess in eating and drink- ing is due to the inordinate encouragement of a natural appetite, and if this is rigorously checked it is marvellous in how short a time the craving will disappear. Ponies, usually, owing to the mere fact of their existence and their earliest surroundings, are well acquainted with the art of going upon short commons, and thriving on the same. This circumstance in unquestionably due to the belief — and it is a true one — that young stock that are well fed grow, and that those whose dietary is limited do not. Consequently, from his earliest infancy a pony finds himself compelled to try and get as fat as possible upon an amount of food per diem which animals more happily circumstanced could dispose of in half the time, or less. It is hard work, too, for many of the little colts and fillies to rub along during their most youthful days, as the majority of their breeders very sensibly endeavour to arrange so that their mares foal late, in order that the youngsters should derive just as much nourishment, first from their dams, and then from the grass, as will enable them to live and move and make as little growth as possible. Doubtless, therefore, the natural appetite of a healthy pony becomes reduced by habit, with the result that, when he reaches his full stature, he flourishes upon, and is contented with, a far smaller allowance of food than he would otherwise require. This faculty for going upon short commons must surely be regarded as an additional recommendation, which should never be lost sight of by those who are hesitating be- tween investing in a horse or pony for purposes of pleasure, and who may not be blessed with ample means. Polo Pony Stallion, Sandiway. A celebrated sire. Owner : Sir John Barker, Bart. Polo Pony Mare, Redstone. Winner of First and other prizes. Owner: Mr. Tresham Gilbey PONIES. I4I Having been accustomed all their lives to rough it, the majority of ponies readily adapt themselves to circumstances which would be objectionable, and prejudicial to the health of other horses. Of course no animal can be expected to thrive or do well in an ill-ventilated, stuffy stable, but a pony can stand fresh air better than any other horse, and in this respect should prove attractive to a buyer. This hardiness cannot, however, be received as a proof that the little ones are not benefited by care and attention in their stables, for no living creature ever flourishes if neglected. No owner need expect that his animals will show good coats if left unattended to, and it is only natural that the spirits of a pony that gets good corn will be higher than his neighbour who gets none. In the case of a pony breeder, it is one perpetual war against an increase of size on the part of his stock, and toward against this he has to see that they are inbred, foaled late, kept on short commons and not pampered. In offering this opinion the writer most certainly has no intention of implying that the animals should be starved, or subject to any sort of cruelty. In the first place, the nature of any right-minded man would shrink from either proposing or adopting such advice; and secondly, it would be extremely bad policy were they to do anything of the kind. At the same time, all stuffing and coddling must be rigorously tabooed, or the ponies will soon become horses, and disappointment will ensue. In order to emphasise this opinion, which has been founded not only upon personal examination and experience, but also upon the ideas of many leading breeders who have been consulted upon the point, the writer may so far enter upon a digression as to invite his readers to consider for one moment whether the steady increase in stature which is so obvious in most, if not all, breeds of English horses, is not directly the result of high feeding and scrupulous attention ? It may also be remarked that ponies are always commoner in sterile districts than are horses, and this circumstance is most unquestionably due to the fact that their food, and that of their ancestors, does not I42 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. contain the nutritious elements that are to be found in rich pastures and luxurious lowlands. The little ones are unques- tionably the children of the mountain and the uplands, and it therefore must assuredly become the bounden duty of a breeder to endeavour to imitate the teachings of Dame Nature, and not oppose her by stuffing his youngsters with food which no mountainous district could by any possibility supply. In making the assertion that ponies are the " children of the mountain," the writer desires it to be clearly understood that he does not imply that they cannot be bred on, or may not be indigenous to, the lowlands of any country. At the same time no dwarf breed of animal will retain the smallness of its stature if raised for generations on a fertile soil and under a genial climate. A 16-hands Arab, or anything like it, would be a lusus natuvce^ but it is a certainty that these desert- created steeds are steadily increasing their height at shou lder so far as the English-born animals are concerned. It has been observed before in this chapter, that in-breeding has to be practised in order to maintain the desired smallness of a pony, and there is not much chance of the truth of this assertion being combated by practical breeders. The very history of the most famous varieties, be they Dartmoor or Exmoor, New Forest or any other, confirms the accuracy of the statement, and it usually occurs that a change of blood at once has the result of raising the height and increasing the substance of a strain, and continues to do so until by syste- matic " sibbing" the effect of the new blood has worn itself out in this respect. Considerable differences of opinion exist as to how these in-breeding operations should be conducted, but speaking generally, it is more advisable to breed father to daughter and mother to son, than to adopt the cross of brother and sister. Unquestionably most of the recognised varieties of pony — such as those raised on Dartmoor — are very much in-bred, and doubtless the juveniles would be of a far better class than they are if some rational method of management were adopted. It is no use to emasculate the most ill-favoured 0 — — c 5: o €1 c c • — £ . 141 00 o r» r^ 1> hi • i— 1 a co c o c w O c o Oi en ^ tn CO >. > £ on o Pll contagious, however, so that all horses are liable to become infected. It is caused by a microscopic insect, of which there are three kinds : one that infests the body more particularly, another that inhabits the neck and root of the mane and tail, and a third that confines itself usually to the legs. That which is far more frequently observed on light horses, is the one infesting the body. All cause intense itching, which impels the animals to bite and rub themselves almost con- tinuously. The insect that burrows into the skin of the body, also produces shedding of the hair, and gives rise to the formation of crusts and raw places on the skin. Mange is very contagious, and the parasites pass directly from affected to healthy horses, as well as through the medium of harness, clothing, litter, &c. Treatment. — Cleanliness is a great obstacle to the extension of mange. Affected horses should be well washed with warm water and soft soap, applied by means of a scrubbing-brush; then when dry, the skin must be dressed with some agent that will kill the parasites. Before this is done, however, it is often found advantageous to soak the skin for some hours with a solution of carbonate of potass and oil. Afterwards an oint- ment composed of one part of tar oil and six parts of palm oil, will generally suffice to cure the disease ; the ointment may be washed off in two or three days. In some obstinate cases the treatment may require to be repeated. In addition to treating the animals, it is essential that clothing, harness, stable fittings, grooming tools, and every- thing else with which mangey horses may have been in con* tact, should be cleaned and dressed with a solution of carbolic acid, one part to five or ten of water. DISEASES AND INJURIES. 221 Ringworm. Ringworm is due to the presence of a microscopic vegetable parasite, which grows on the skin in such a manner as to pro- duce more or less circular bare patches covered by a thin crust. It does not cause so much itching as the mange insect, though there is some ; but it renders the skin unsightly, and may lead to considerable disfigurement if it is allowed to ex- tend over the body. It most frequently affects young horses, and is very contagious. Treatment. — This may be the same as that prescribed for mange, but it may be limited to the affected parts, and a little distance beyond them. An ointment composed of Stockholm tar one part, and lard three parts, answers very well. Shoeing. The management of horses' feet with the object of keeping them strong and healthy, is most important, and demands the constant attention of every horseman. The following rules should therefore be strictly observed, if horses are to be kept free from lameness and remain serviceable to a good old age, so far as shoeing is concerned : — (i) Horses should be newly shod, or the old shoes removed and replaced, at least once a month. (2) When being shod, the hoofs should be reduced to a proper length and evenly levelled, so that the toe will not be too long, nor one side higher than the other. (3) The frog and sole should not be pared, interference with them being limited to removal of any loose portions. (4) The shoe should not be heavier than is necessary to withstand wear for a certain period — say a month. (5) The shoe should be made to fit the hoof — that is, be the full size of the circumference of the latter. ( (6) The shoe should be attached to the hoof with as small and as few nails as may be necessary to keep it securely on the hoof. 222 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. (7) The nails should not be driven higher in the hoof than is needed to obtain a sound and firm hold. (8) When the shoe is nailed on and the clenches laid down, the front of the wall should not be rasped, but left with its natural polish, and in all its strength. (9) If possible, the frog should be allowed to come is contact with the ground. THE END INDEX. Action of Cleveland Bays, 69 Action of Hackneys, 33, 38 American Trotting Horse, 94 American Trotting Register, 103 Antiquity of the Hackney, 27 Appetites of Ponies, 140 Arab Cross with Trotters, 84 Arabian Horse, 81 Arabs as Hunters and War Horses, 87 Asses, 153 Back Action of Hackneys, 40 Bellfounder (Jary's), 97 Bog Spavin, 213 Bone of Cleveland Bays, 69 Bone Spavin, 216 Breaking Hunters, 123 Breeding Hunters, 109 Breeding Hunters from Cleveland Bays, 74 Breeding from Roarers, 22 Breeding Trotters, 98 Breeds of Light Horses : Asses, 153 Ponies, 136 The American Trotting Horse, 94 ( The Arabian Horse, 81 The Cleveland Bay, 51 The Hack, 127 Breeds of Light Horses — conti,. The Hackney, 23 The Harness Horse, 132 The Hunter, 105 The Thoroughbred, 1 The Yorkshire Coach Horse, 76' British Horse, 2 Bronchitis, 198 Byerly Turk, 9 Cadet (Hackney), 49 Candidate (Hackney), 48 Capped Hocks, 217 Care of Young Foals, 180 Catarrh, 191 Chapman Horse, 51 Cleveland Bays, 51 Cleveland Bays as Agriculturaf Horses, 62 Cleveland Bays as General Utility Horses, 71 Cleveland Bay Horse Society, 68 Clothing Horses, 172 Colic, 204 Colour of Cleveland Bays, 54, 70 Condition of Hackneys, 43 Conformation of American Trotter,. 101 Congestion of Lungs, 200 County Member (Hackney), 49 Cracked Heels, 213 224 INDEX. Crossing with Cleveland Bays, 73 Curb, 217 Danegelt (Hackney), 49 Darley Arabian, 10 Decadence of Cleveland Bays about 1823, 63 Demand for Cleveland Bays in U.S.A., 66 Denmark (Hackney), 47 Diseases of Horses, 188 Draining of Stables, 162 East Anglia and Hackneys, 29 Eastern Blood in Hackneys, 26 Eastern Blood in Thoroughbreds, 3.4 Eclipse, 11 Effect of Railways on Hackney Breeding, 34 Euren, H. F., on Hackney, 26, 31 Exercise, 173 Exmoor Ponies, 150 Families of Trotters, 97 Farcy, 196 Feeding Horses, 167, 173 Fever, 189 Fireaway (Triffit's), 26, 48 First Recorded Importations, 3 Flying Childers, 16 Foals, Care of, 180 Formation of Hunter Strains, 120 Ganymede (Hackney), 41 Gervase Markham, 5 Gilbey, Sir Walter, Bart., on Hur> ter Sires, 116 Glanders and Farcy, 196 Godolphin Arabian, 10 Grooming Horses, 171 Hackney Action, 38 Hackney Horse, 23 Hackney Horse Society, 23 Hackney Ponies, 148 Hackneys as Coach Horses. 42 Hackneys as Hunter Sires, 49 Hacks, 127 Hambletonian (American Trotter), 96 Handling Young Hunters, 122 Harness Horses, 132 Head of Hackney, 35 Height of Arabs, 83 Height of Hackneys, 31 Helmsley Turk, 6 Herod (Thoroughbred), 14 Highland Ponies, 151 Hobbies, 7 Horses at Time of Roman Occupa- tion, 2 Horses for the Army, 126 Horses Imported from Turkey, Spain, and Naples, 3 Hunter Brood Mares, no Hunter Sires, 116 Hunters, 105 Importations, Early, 3 In-breeding of Ponies, 141 Inflammation of the Bowels, 205 Inflammation of the Lungs, 201 Influenza, 164 Initiating Young Horses into Har- ness Work, 126 Injuries to the Foot, 217 Injuries of Horses, 188 Irish Ponies, 151 Jumping, Teaching, 124 King Charles II. and Horse Breed- ing, 8, 12 Knee Action of Hackneys, 39 Lamenesses, 206 INDEX. 225 Laminitis, 203 Lawrence, John, on Hackneys, 27 London Hackney Shows, 24 Mambrino, 96 Management of Hackneys, 44 Management of Half-bred Stock, 122 Management of Light Horses, 159 Management of Trotters, 103 Mange, 220 Markham Arabian, 4 Masterman, T., and Cleveland Bays, 64 Messenger, 95 Modern Hackneys, 34 Mud Fever, 214 Mules, 156 Nancy Hanks (American Trotter), 98 Navicular Disease, 210 New Forest Ponies, 151 Original Shales, 26 Origin of Cleveland Bays, 52 Origin of Hackney* 23 Origin of Thoroughbred, I Osborne, Joseph, on Thorough- breds, 10 Pacing Gait, 101 Park Hacks, 12S Paving of Stables, 162 Phenomena, 33 Pleurisy, 202 Points of American Trotters, 101 Points of Cleveland Bays, 69 Points of Hackney Brood Mare, 46 Points of Hackneys, 34 Points of Yorkshire Coach Horse, 79 Polo Ponies, 145 *5 < Ponies, 136 Pony Stud Books, I4S Queen's Premiums, 21 Reality (Hackney), 48 Redesdale, Lord, on Racehorses, 17 Revival of Cleveland Bay Breeding, 65 Rheumatism, 202 Ringworm, 221 Rous, Admiral, on Racehorses, 17, 18 Royal Mares, 9 Rufus (Hackney), 48 Saleable Horses, 114 Selection of Hackney Mares, 46 Shales, The Original, 26 Shetland Ponies, 151 Short Distance Races, 18 Shoeing, 221 Shoulders of Cleveland Bays, 73 Show Hunters, 115 Side Bone, 210 Size of Old Fashioned Hackney, 30 Soundness, 20 Speed of American Trotters, 98 Speed of Early Horses, 16 Splints, 209 Sprain of the Back Tendon, 207 Sprains, 206 Stable Fittings, 165 Stable Management, 167 Stables, 159 Standard Trotters, 104 Staying Powers of Thoroughbreds. 18 Strangles, 192 Suggested Re-Introduction of Arafc Blood, 19 226 INDEX. Sunol (American Trotter), 102 Surfeit, 215 Temper of Hackneys, 42 Thoroughbred Blood in Trotters, 100 Thoroughbred Crosses on Cleveland Bays, 59 Thoroughbred Horse, 1 Thoroughbreds as Hunters, 105 Thorough Pin, 212 Thrush, 215 Trapper, The, 139 Trotting of Hackneys, 33 iJ« of Ponies, 137 Ventilation of Stables, 160 Walking Action of Hackney, 41 Watering Horses, 170, 179 Weight Carrying Hunters, 1 12 Welsh Ponies, 152 What is a Pony ? 143 William the Conqueror's Charger, 3 Wind Galls, 213 Working Cleveland Bays, 72 Worms, 206 Wounds, 218 Yorkshire Coach Horses, 76 Young Half-bred Stock, 122 VINTON & COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. LIVE STOCK JOURNAL. Established 1874. The Breeders' Paper. Weekly, Friday, Price id., by post 3£d. ; 3 months— by post, 5s. ; 12 Months — (including Summer Number) — by post, 20s. ; Abroad— (including Summer Number) — £1 2s. 6d. per year. The only newspaper published wholly devoted to the Interests of Breeders and Owners of all varieties of British Live Stock. 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