144 VARIETIES OF THE HORSE 



a weight-carrier. Still, tlie produce of really good mares is usually good 

 in turn, but unfortunately the supply of high-class matrons is limited 

 and with difficulty obtained. 



There is yet another point in connection with the breeding of Hunters 

 which must be considered, and this is that the same class of horse is not 

 required for every hunting county in England. This circumstance is a 

 very fortunate one both for breeders and sportsmen, as in the first case 

 there is a more elastic market in which to dispose of their horses, and in 

 the second the demand for any particular class of animal is restricted to 

 those who hunt in a particular district. At the same time it is essential 

 that every Hunter should gallop and be safe and C|uick at his fences. Size, 

 as has already been pointed out, is a most important quality, and so of 

 course is action, but there are men who, provided their mount possesses the 

 other attributes of a good Hunter, are so happily constituted as to be dis- 

 posed to give way a little on the subject of action if only they feel satisfied 

 that their horse will carry them to the end of a run. It must not, how- 

 ever, be imagined that action is not a great point in the Hunter, for it 

 is, and a horse that is deficient in this I'espect is never likely to command 

 a high figure. He must possess freedom at the shoulder and a knack of 

 bending his hocks above all things, as, if he fiiils in these points, it will 

 not be at all likely that he can see the end of a long run beneath a welter 

 weight, whilst, so far as his rider's comfort is concerned, a good shoulder 

 action in his mount is a blessing which all horsemen must appreciate. 



The appearance of a Hunter must naturally conform to the work that he 

 is expected to perform, and the animal that is expected to carry a welter 

 weight over a stiff country is, of course, different in shape and make from 

 the horse which is required to galloji under a less severe burden. At the 

 same time there are several points which all Hunters must possess in com- 

 mon, for they are all required to stay and jump, and therefore the chest 

 should be deep enough and wide enough to provide ample accommodation 

 for the heart and lungs, whilst the cjuarters and thighs must be big and 

 powerful. Nor can the importance of good legs and feet be overestimated. 

 An animal that is bad upon his fore-legs is always an unreliable mount. 

 This fact has been recognized by most people from time immemorial, and 

 amongst the older writers none was more emphatic in his denunciations 

 of indifferent fore-legs than the Duke of Newcastle, who wrote in 1667. 

 He states as follows: "Some say if a horse have a great head, and thick 

 neck and fleshy shoulders, that he is hard on the hand. You must know, 

 that if he have any imperfection in his leggs or feet, but especiall before, 

 the horse must be hard on hand ; for he leans on the hand to ease the 

 grief of his leggs, as gouty man doth use his staff. And let him be finely 



