ENGLISH BREEDS 117 



exceeding 15 '2 hands, but nevertheless the fact remains that the stature 

 of the Hackney is steadily increasing. 



Eeverting, however, to the palmy days of this breed of horse, which 

 may be taken to have been at the commencement of the nineteenth 

 century, at which time the variety was well established and vastly ^Dopular 

 amongst farmers generally, some allusion may be made to the speed and 

 stamina of the Hackney of those days. For instance, the doings of a grand- 

 daughter, by Driver, of old Shales, the fountain-head of many a famous 

 modern strain of Hackney, is credited with the negotiation of 15 miles 

 within the hour carrying 15 stone upon her back. This is smart trotting 

 certainly, but the old horse himself possessed a record of 17 miles within 

 the 60 minutes — an altogether extraordinary performance when the con- 

 ditions under which the feat was performed are considered, as the state 

 of the roads was doubtless inferior to that met with now by equestrians 

 in the country. So far back as the year 1800 a 14 '2 hands, twelve 

 years' old mare, named Phenomena, negotiated 17 miles on the Hunt- 

 ingdon Road in 4 minutes under the hour, and was afterwards backed 

 to trot 19-|^ miles within the 60 minutes, but the match fell through on 

 account of the supporter of time paying forfeit when he learned that 

 Phenomena had covered 4 miles in under 1 1 minutes in a trial. Of course 

 this little mare was an altogether exceptionally speedy trotter — in fact, the 

 Duke of Leeds cheerfully paid 1800 guineas for her at one period of her 

 career — but at the same time a number of the Hackneys which existed 

 about that period were very fast. A case in point is Read's Fireaway, 

 which, after he had carried off the second prize offered at the Agri- 

 cultural Society's meeting, was again brought out, and trotted his mile 

 in 2 minutes 49 seconds, though the weight he carried is not recorded, 

 an omission that is certainly to be regretted in the interests of sport. It 

 is probable, of course, that the accuracy of such performances as those 

 quoted above may be questioned by some who read these lines; but the 

 fact remains that in each case there was a backer of time who i3aid his 

 money over them, and he at all events would scarcely have been weak 

 enough to do so unless fully satisfied that he had lost his wager. Moreover, 

 the announcement that the party behind time in the last of Phenomena's 

 matches referred to above — which was for 2000 guineas — was content to 

 pay forfeit affords ample proof that the correctness of the time test was 

 then accepted, and attention paid to it. Consequently, therefore, there 

 appears to be but very little justification for traversing the accuracy of the 

 old records, and more especially so as the then watch-holder was confining 

 his calculations to fractions of minutes, and not of seconds, as is now the 

 case on trotting tracks. It is therefore highly probable that had the sport 



