130 THE BKEEDING AND EEAEING OF HOESES 



" A head like a snake, and a skin like a mouse ; 

 An eve like a woman, bri^dit, gentle, and brown ; 

 With loins and a back that would carry a house, 

 And quarters to lift him smack over a tov\Ti." 



AVe must use our best endeavours to possess sucL an one for 

 the matron of our stud. The great property of a hunter is to 

 be light in hand, therefore her head must be small and her neck 

 muscular, yet thin and light at the throat, and not too loaded 

 on the crest ; jaws and nostrils wide, an eye full and bright, with 

 good long sloping shoulders ; deep through the heart, and round 

 in her ribs, her back ones especially being long, going well home 

 into her flanks ; her quarters should be long and broad yet blood- 

 like, lying well into her back, which, with oblique shoulders, 

 gives the short strong back and loins, with wide hips and great 

 length below ; strong muscular arms and thighs, broad knees and 

 hocks, the tendons standing well out from the cannon or shank 

 bone, giving the legs that clean, hardy appearance so ^vell 

 described by horsemen as " legs of iron ;" short from the knees 

 and hocks to the pastern joints, especially should legs come well 

 out and strong from knee and hock, which should be bent well 

 under her, but not too much so, otherwise curbs will be the con- 

 sequence. The pastern should possess considerable obliqueness, 

 yet not be too long, with good broad open feet, guarding against 

 very wide flat-soled ones ; thus showing blood and quality from 

 head to heel If bending her knee and going square all rounds 

 such a one will prove a mine of wealth if put to a really 

 good thorough-bred horse with like qualifications, and her 

 produce must be most valuable for either road or field. We 

 ourselves can recount very successful results from mares thus 

 formed ; one mare producing eight foals without missing a single 

 year. When sold the stock realised £1000, nearly all unbroke, 

 at ages from two to four, and at a time when horses were not 

 lialf so valuable as they now are. At Christmas 1879 we sold 

 into Yorkshire a horse unbroke, rising four, at a long figure. 

 He w^as broken by his new owner, exhibited at the Yorkshire 

 Show in the class for four-year-old hunters qualified to carry 15 

 stones, where he beat all the crack prize horses in England, and 

 had five hundred guineas offered for him. 



The most successful breeders of hackneys have pursued the 

 same principle, as indicated in the breeding of hunters, in 

 seeking the service of the thoroughbred sire or dam to impart 

 quality and action — the sine qua non in a park hack. The late 

 Mr Milward, whose annual sale of hackneys became quite a 

 red letter day at Tattersall's, commenced breeding them by 

 selecting strong ponies with good shoulders, and putting them 

 to a thoroughbred horse — his best and highest priced horses 

 having a double cross of blood in them. In September 1880 we 



