206 RIDING 



loose head or ride with their hands close up to the bit on 

 either side, an attitude which is certainly not graceful, but in 

 which they seem able to maintain an exceptionally firm seat. 

 This firmness of seat is the great aim which they have in view ; 

 if a horse falls, instead of falling clear of him, without, if 

 possible, letting go of the reins, a colonial rider endeavours to 

 part company only at the last possible moment. The knee- 

 pads of the colonial saddle are an assistance in attaining this 

 object, besides affording support when descending a steep hill, 

 But many experienced riders are discarding the knee-pads in 

 favour of saddles made after the English pattern. 



Of cart-horses the Clydesdale is the most popular breed in 

 Australasia, and it is probable that the number in New Zealand 

 does not fall far short of that in Scotland itself. At a small 

 country show held in a very fertile district, inhabited principally 

 by Scotchmen, I have seen in the cart-horse classes over sixty 

 entries, of which forty-four were mares or fillies, seven geldings 

 and ten stallions, the whole being a collection which few 

 country shows in Scotland could have approached. 



For the last thirty years the New Zealand farmer has been 

 breeding draught-horses of a superior quality. At that time 

 a number of Shire horses were imported. These have been 

 constantly crossed with the Clydesdale with excellent results, 

 and though there are a certain number of pure Clydesdales, the 

 bulk of the so-called Clydesdales in the colony have some of 

 the Shire strain in them. 



The causes which combine to give a tendency to weediness 

 among the horses of Australia seem to operate to some extent 

 in the draught-horses also. After a few generations there is a 

 tendency in that warm dry climate for cart-horses to get lighter, 

 with less hair on their legs, and finer. 



Some of the pure-bred Clydesdales are quite equal to those 

 which may be seen in Scotland. Yet the prices which they 

 command are trifling compared with those which would be 

 obtained at home. The very best are bred from horses which 

 have been noted prize-winners in England, but will not fetch 



