THE GERMAN HORSE 57 



races take j^lace between them without riders. These are managed by 

 goading them in the only direction which they can take by suspending 

 balls covered with sharp points from a surcingle passed round the body, 

 in such a way that at every stride they rebound against the sides of 

 the animal and prick him severely. A street is chosen for the purpose, 

 and in one end of this they are confined by a rope drawn across it till 

 the moment of starting, when it is dropped, and the whole lot getting 

 away gallop to the other end, where again they are stopped by an im- 

 passable barrier. The horses employed for this purpose are called 

 Berberi, though none of them in the present day are pure Barbs, 

 but they retain the appellation as indicative of their Oriental origin. 

 The Italian hoi'se seldom attains the height of 15 hands, the average 

 probably being little more than 14. He is thick in the shoulder and 

 wide in the bosom, but has a tolerably light forehead, good legs and 

 feet, and short drooping hind-quarters. 



THE GERMAN HORSE 



In Austria Proper, Hungary and Prussia, horses are bred in ex- 

 tensive studs for military purposes, and of late j^ears the rulers of those 

 countries have been largely indebted to English blood for the improve- 

 ment which has been made in the horses of the respective countries. 

 The Emperors of Austria have also caused races to be established at 

 Vienna, Pesth, Buda, Breslau, etc. Some idea may be formed of the 

 extent to which the sport is carried on at these meetings, when it is 

 stated that at the meeting at Vienna, in May 1860, nine races were 

 run, the value of the stakes being more than 2000 sovereigns, while 

 at Pesth they amounted to .£3320. Even the latter of these is a poor 

 sum when contrasted with our own Epsom, Newmarket, and Doncaster 

 meetings, where five times the amount are won by the horses engaged 

 in them ; but as compared with foreign races of an older date, it is a 

 magnificent one, and the spirit which has been displayed shows that 

 the present state of things is doubtless a forerunner of still greater 

 successes in turf proceedings. The plan of breeding stallions for the 

 supply of the provinces, adopted by the Austrian Government, is ex- 

 cellent, and I should much like to see a similar one introduced into 

 this country. From 100 to 200 stallions are annually bred for this 

 purpose, and sold for about 100 guineas apiece, which price is quite 

 sufficient to cover all expenses, and leave a slight surplus to the 

 imperial treasury towards lowering the cost of the cavalry horses, bred 

 at the same studs. 



There is a considerable vai'iety in the native breeds of the three 

 countries mentioned, but they are all useful in their several ways.^ In 

 speed and stoutness they cannot compete with our thoroughbreds, nur 

 with our " half-bred " hunters, many of which have at least seven-eighths 

 of pure blood. They are generally light in the middlepiece, with 



1 Since the above words were written, we have become largely dependent on carricage- 

 horses of German and Hungarian origin. The majoi'ity of matched pairs seen in London 

 liave crossed the silver streak. 



