38 Breeds of Horses 



Undoubtedly for a very long period the Hackney was bred for 

 work and not for fancy, and primarily there is no doubt that the 

 saddle rather than harness was his metier. When trade began to 

 expand and merchants, either by themselves or by their representa- 

 tives, paid periodical visits to their customers all over the country, 

 the journeys were frequently taken on horseback. For one thing, 

 short cuts could be taken; for another, a man was a little safer from 

 highwaymen on horseback than he was in a gig. Whatever the 

 reason, a good deal of the commercial travelling in the latter part 

 of the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth was 

 done on horseback. But as time wore on and roads became better, 

 and the country became more opened out, the gig or the high dog- 

 cart in some measure took the place of the saddle. 



There is one remarkable circumstance in connection with the 

 development of the Hackney, and that is, that though here and 

 there we have a record of a horse trotting so many miles within 

 the hour, or a mile in a given number of minutes, or even ot 

 beating another horse over a certain distance of ground, trotting 

 as a sport never "caught on" in England, In England there was 

 always racing and plenty of it, and, compared with racing, trotting 

 is only slow sport. It is said, and perhaps with some show of 

 reason, that the popularity of trotting in the United States is due 

 to the fact that, whilst the original settlers were opposed to horse- 

 racing and set their faces against it as a deadly sin, they never 

 said anything against match trotting, and that in consequence 

 their descendants got rid of their superfluous energy, first in match- 

 ing their horses on the roads, and then on the trotting track. If 

 this is true it is a very amusing instance of human inconsistency. 

 Unfortunately for this theory it is a well-known fact that Crom- 

 well and other well-known Puritan leaders were partial to racing, 

 and I should think the reason why trotting caught on and became 

 as it were a national sport in America was that they had not suf- 

 ficient of the right material for racing whilst they had plenty for 

 trotting. There was some good trotting foundation to work on 

 when Mambrino and other Thoroughbreds were imported to con- 

 solidate and found the now famous American trotting breed. 



The Thoroughbred influence on the Hackney during the early 

 years of his written history is worth a passing notice. Beginning 

 with the original Shales, we find that he was by Blaze by Flying 

 Childers, who was full of English as well as Eastern blood. Mr 

 Euren suggests that as that English blood is unknown it might be 

 running, trotting, or ambling. Surely this is a question that settles 

 itself. Both Blaze and his sire, Flying Childers, were good race- 



