THE HALF-BRED HUNTER. $7 
stil) many admirers, and, on the average, nine-tenths at least of the horses 
which appear at the covert side throughout the kingdom must be included 
in this class. Many have fully seven-eighths of pure blood, and perhaps 
few have less than that proportion, but there is a distinct stain in the 
third or fourth generation which entitles them to affix h.b. to their names 
if they are entered-for any race where there is an allowance for half-breds. 
There is always great difficulty in obtaining the bones and joints in a 
thoroughbred of sufficient size to stand the shocks of the hunting field, 
and for weeds of this class there is a very limited sale. Hence, the 
breeder naturally avoids the risk, especially as he must go to a very high 
price for his mares if he is to obtain them of such a size and substance as 
he will desire. A half-bred mare may be purchased for 200. or 30/. with 
big legs and joints, and she therefore is chosen, often without knowing 
her pedigree or even where she was foaled. The consequence is that the 
country is deluged with colts of all shapes and characters, some of which 
may be thoroughbred without the knowledge of their breeders, but most 
are really what they are said to be, namely, half-bred, which I have 
explained as meaning the possession of more or less stain of nondescript 
blood. JI have described the shape and characteristics of the thoroughbred 
horse so fully thatit is needless for me to return to the subject ; but as far 
as his powers for hunting purposes are concerned, it was necessary to 
allude to them here as I have done. 
In cHoosine the half-bred hunter, regard must be had to the weight he 
has to carry and the country he has to cross—for the lighter the weight 
and the more open the country, the more highly bred should he be. 
A man of eighteen stone must generally be contented with an active 
cart-horse, but sometimes a remarkably strong colt is reared possessing a 
good deal of blood, for his shape, and he is worth a large sum, when 
taught the trade which he has to carry on. In any case, however, the 
hunter should have the free use of his legs, and should be able to gallop 
over rough ground without a mistake. It is here that the training for the 
race-course so often tells unfavourably, for every training-gr ound is kept 
as level as possible, and the racing colt has had no necessity for picking 
his way. From his earliest days he has been either turned out in a level 
paddock or he has been in a loose box, and hence he has had little occa- 
sion to look where he is going. On the other hand, the half-bred is turned 
out till he is four years old, and the fields which he runs over are com- 
posed of every variety of ground, often crossed by roads with deep ruts, or 
containing such other inequalities of surface, that if he does not take care 
he will fall over them. ‘The breaker, likewise, if he knows his business, 
takes him over undulating ground, and thus he learns to avoid mistakes 
which might break his own or his rider’s neck in the hunting field. No 
fall is so dangerous as one occurring from the horse putting his foot into 
a blind drain, which a clever animal will seldom do, while a racehorse 
will rarely avoid it for any length of time if ridden over ground con- 
taining these dangerous traps without great care on the part of the rider. 
THE POINTS ESSENTIAL to the hunter are chiefly the following :—First 
and foremost, he must have a good shoulder-blade, placed obliquely to 
sustain casily the shock of falling from a height, and enable the horse to 
get away again quickly from it. It should also be particularly well 
clothed with muscles, or the part will soon tire, and after getting over the 
first few fences in good style a fall will occur. The muscularity of the 
fore arm is likewise of great importance for the same reason, for this part 
also soon tires if not sufliciently powerful Next to the shouldet aud arm 
E, 
