180 THE HORSE 



7vith the chance of an occasional race-horse among them, i£ put to stout, 

 thoroughbred mares of a sort which is usually large-boned, and of good size. 

 Small-boned horses are not to be thought of for this purpose ; and hence the 

 Epirus strain is objectionable on that score, they being smaller in the bone 

 even than the Waxys, and, in addition, less lasting. All the sons of Veni- 

 son are suitable, but especially those crossed with the Orville or Whisker 

 blood — as, for instance, the Fallow Buck and Red Hart ; also Vatican, but 

 that I believe his temper is somewhat ungovernable ; and they generally 

 make good hunters, but not with very high action. The Lottery and Tramp 

 strains I have also already mentioned as being valuable for the purpose of 

 getting hunters and steeplechasers; and the following stallions descended 

 from them should be prized v^hen within reach, especially such as are also 

 crossed with Waxy or his descendants — as Birkenhead, Sir Peter Laurie, 

 Footstool, Meteor, Sweetmeat, Tearaway, and his son Kingstown. These 

 also are almost all likely to get good hacks ; but the Buzzard and Whalebone 

 blood seems to suit in this way better than most others, except in the case 

 of the Touchstones, which are by no means good in this respect. Defence, 

 on the other hand, who is similarly bred, but without the Orville cross, is 

 famous for getting good hacks, and many of his stock have been very fast 

 and fine trotters — as, for instance, Safegua-d and Rector. The former of 

 these horses, though blind, could, when in his prime, bend himself and trot 

 with any thoroughbred horse in the world ; and the latter could do his 

 sixteen miles an hour, carrying twelve stone." 



I would strongly advise the breeder to select, for the purpose of getting 

 hunters, those horses, whether thoroughbred or otherwise, whose action 

 before is unexceptionable. So many of our race-horses now are full of 

 Touchstone blood, that they are defective in this respect, and are totally 

 unfit for any other purpose. 



When Carriage Horses are bred for the special purpose to which they 

 are afterwards devoted, a particular class of stallions is used which is 

 generally only to be met with in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. These are 

 put to large mares of the same breed, or the latter are sometimes crossed 

 with the thoroughbred. Hacks and light harness horses are bred in small 

 numbers only by farmers, and are generally the result of a cross between 

 small chance mares and second or third rate thoroughbred stallions, or they 

 are the weeds culled from racing or hunting studs, being too small and light 

 for either one or the other purpose. 



THE KIND OF HORSE MOST PROFITABLE FOR 

 THE BREEDER TO CHOOSE 



When a person makes up his mind to bestow his attention on the 

 breeding of horses as a speculation, it behoves him to consider what kind is 

 best suited to the nature of his land and the length of his purse, as well as 

 to his own knowledge of horses. Unless he has plenty of fine upland grass 

 and a command of money, it is quite useless for him to think of the race- 

 horse ; nor will he do well, without these concomitants, to dabble in hunters. 

 Cart-horses, now-a-days, pay well when there is work for them to do up to 

 their third or fourth year ; and carriage-horses are likewise a good specula- 



