THE FARMER'S MAGAZII^'E. 



FEBRUARY, 1860. 



PLATE I. 

 WEATHERBIT; A Thoroughbred Stallion. 



THE PROPERTY OF R. M. JAftUES, ESQ., OF EASBY ABBEY, RICHMOND, YORKSHIRE. 



Weatherbit, bred by the late Mr. Orde Powlett, 

 in 1842, is by Sheet Anchor, out of Miss Letty, by 

 Prif.m, her dam by Orville — Buzzard — Hornpipe, 

 by Trumpator. 



Sheet Anchor, bred by Mr. Golden, in 1832, was 

 by Lottery out of Morgiana, by Muley, her dam 

 Miss Stephenson, by Scud or Sorcerer, sister to 

 Petworth, by Precipitate. Sheet Anchor was one 

 of the finest and altogether the most promising 

 colts of his time, although he hardly fulfilled this 

 as a race-horse ; but he got such stock as Kedge, 

 Sally, Sequidilla, Arcanus, Wee Pet, Egidia, Cable, 

 Britannia, CoUingwood, Lightning, The Admiral, 

 Malton, and Weatherbit, and a number of other 

 winners. The country, however, gave him up at 

 the end of his eighth season, and in the autumn of 

 'forty-four Sheet Anchor was sold to go to 

 Brunswick, leaving some very useful blood behind 

 him. 



Miss Letty, a great fine mare, bred by Mr. Orde 

 Powlett, in 1834, ranks as an Oaks winner in the 

 Calendar, and in the Stud Book as the dam of Wee 

 Pet, Weatherbit, lole, and some half-adozen 

 others. On the decease of Mr. Powlett she was 

 sold for 500 gs. to Mr. Sidney Herbert, in whose 

 possession she died from breaking a blood vessel 

 in the Spring of 1851. 



Weatherbit is a beautiful dark-brown horse, 

 standing about fifteen hands three inches high. He 

 has a very expressive young-looking head, but 

 rather short stiff ears. He has a heavy crest, 

 a good shoulder, and muscular arms. He is a little 

 light in the girth, and this shows more as the horse 

 ages, from the back and abdomen dropping. He 

 has a good back, famous lengthy, powerful quar- 

 ters, strong thighs, and capital hocks and feet. He 



OLD SERIES] 



stands on short legs, which are now as clean and 

 straight as when he was a foal. He has no white 

 beyond a small star on the forehead, and a few 

 saddle-marks; and, in fact, evinces every sign of 

 what he really has, a hardy good constitution. 

 Weatherbit has an excellent temper, stands over a 

 deal of ground, and is full of life and vigour — 

 looking fit to carry a Saladin to the wars, or Dick 

 Turpin in his ride from London to York, and to 

 get half-a-dozen more Derby winners. He was 

 painted by Mr. Corbet, at Easby Abbey, towards 

 the close of last year, and the portrait is generally 

 allowed to be a very faithful one. 



Weatherbit stood at Newmarket in 1848, at 5 

 gs. a mare. Subsequently, Sir Edward Gooch, on 

 Admiral Rous' recommendation, gave the Duke of 

 Bedford two hundred for him, and the horse was 

 removed to his new owner's seat, Benacre Hall in 

 Suffolk, In the course, however, of another sea- 

 son or two Mr. Parr effected that wonderful meta- 

 morphosis of Weathergage, and the Duke's people 

 were mad to get his sire back again. It was said 

 a thousand outright would have been given, but 

 ultimately the horse went back to Newmarket 

 for two years, at a rental of a hundred per annum, 

 and the use of Oakley, just returned from the Duke 

 of Buccleuch's, thrown into Sir Edward. But 

 nothing very brilliant followed immediately on 

 Weathergage, which Newmarket began to con- 

 sider but a " chance" horse after all ; and Weather- 

 bit's lease out, he reappeared in Suffolk. The fol- 

 lowing year Sir Edward Gooch died, and in the 

 February of 1857 Weatherbit once more came to 

 the hammer. Mr. Jaques got him for four hun- 

 dred ; avery cheap horse at the money, as it turned 

 out. He went at once to Easby, where he has 

 I [VOL. LII.— No. 2. 



