ENGLISH BREEDS U5 



shap't or ill shap't, if he have any imperfection in his leggs, he must be 

 hard on the hand." The secondary importance which was attached by the 

 Duke of Newcastle to the head of a Hunter will scarcely be in accordance 

 with the opinions of modern experts, who for the most part are greatly 

 influenced in their selection of an animal by the opinion they form of this 

 jjortion of his anatomy, a refined-looking intelligent head being regarded 

 by most hunting men as a sine qua non in the composition of the horse 

 that has to carry them. The subjoined description of a Hunter that may 

 be expected to find favour Avith hunting men of all degrees may be oftered 

 for the guidance of the reader. 



The head should be small, lean, and bear an intelligent expression; it 

 should be fairly wide at the jowl, and taper gradually towards the muzzle, 

 which should be of a good size. The forehead is broad, the eyes rather full 

 and soft, and the ears small and nicely carried. The setting on of the neck 

 is an important point, for if the head meets it at a sharp angle, not only is 

 an awkward appearance the result, but the horse loses a considerable 

 amount of his natural power to recover himself if he makes a mistake; 

 whereas if he possesses a head set gracefully on his neck in a gentle curve 

 in the throat, he is capable of greater activity in moving it suddenly upon 

 an emergency, and thereby may save his rider a fall. The neck itself 

 should be lean, though muscular, quite free from lumber, slightly arched 

 and increasing in size until it reaches the shoulders, a coarse heavy neck 

 being a very bad fault in a Hunter. The shoulders themselves should be 

 long and sloping, well laid back at the withers, which in turn should be 

 well raised but fine, most judges, though not all, being opposed to wide 

 withers. His chest should be both broad, fiat, and deep, so that the girths 

 are well behind the forearms, w^hilst the forearms should be long and 

 muscular, with big deep knees, and plenty of good sound flat bone and 

 wiry sinews below them. The canons should be short from knee to fet- 

 lock, and the pasterns of fair length and sloping. The middle piece must 

 be very powerful, with well-sprung ribs, strong loins, and a l)ig fiat back. 

 The hips should be wide, and the quarters very long, level, and powerful, 

 with deep and very muscular thighs, big clean hocks, and a considerable 

 amount of vein below them. The tail must not be set on too low, or else 

 the horse will present a goose-rumped appearance, which, in addition to 

 being an eyesore, will convey to many minds the impression that the 

 animal is descended from common stock. The feet should be large, and of 

 course perfectly sound and symmetrical, dark in colour, with a rather high 

 heel, healthy frog, and thick soles. In general appearance, therefore, the 

 Hunter may be described as being an intelligent-looking, short-legged 

 horse, possessed of great power behind, and an ability to carry the weight 



Vol. I. 10 "" 



