56 RIDING 



process of suppling, and seems to fulfil all his wishes as soon 

 as they are indicated : in other words, his manners are of the 

 best, and the chief requisites in the saddle-horse are manners to 

 gether with make and shape, for unless the latter points are 

 deceptive, they may be held to imply sufficient speed, action 

 and stamina for all practical purposes. Whether or not a hack 

 should be thorough-bred depends, it may be said, upon the in- 

 dividual animal. As a rule the routine of a racehorse's life unfits 

 him for the simple and less exciting duties of the hack, and 

 the chances are that his disposition is marked by a mixture 

 of nervousness and courage, which renders him unsuited for a 

 more humdrum career. But it often happens that coarse-bred 

 animals are found of the worst possible disposition, either 

 vicious or sulky or both, eager to find an opportunity of doing 

 mischief ; while, on the other hand, there are thorough-breds 

 of an exceptionally good and amiable character, even when in 

 training. When his career on the turf is over, a thorough-bred 

 sometimes makes a particularly excellent hack. The present 

 writer has never ridden a better and for the most part more 

 1 confidential ' animal than old Duke of Parma, who won the 

 Cesarewitch as a three-year-old in 1875. The old horse at the 

 time of writing knows precisely what is required of him and 

 does it ; he is an excellent hunter, will go as straight as any- 

 body can desire, or he will stand placidly while horses at exer- 

 cise gallop past, so that his rider may devote all his attention 

 to the business around him. The writer has now and then 

 come across horses in training that were equally amiable, 

 but these latter are the exception, though at the same time 

 few men would be likely to search for a hack while it was in 

 preparation for the racecourse. It is rarely, again, that the 

 thorough-bred, whose business it is to gallop, has the action 

 which is desirable in a hack. The stepper is an artificial pro- 

 duct, whose formal method of progression certainly cannot be 

 good for his legs and joints, whether in the saddle or in har- 

 ness, and tastes may differ as to the beauty of high action ; 

 the daisy-cutter, however and many thorough-breds have a 



