Hunters 45 



some fields, for a train was to be caught, and on coming to a gate 

 I found it locked. It would never do to go back, so I turned my 

 horse round and jumped it. As my friend and I were getting to 

 the end of our journey, I happened to mention a letter which had 

 appeared in one of the papers advocating the crossing of Thorough- 

 bred mares with light active Clydesdale stallions. I was criticizing 

 this letter rather freely, when my friend asked me how I liked my 

 mount. I replied, " Very well." " That is how he is bred," said he. 



" He is by ," naming a Clydesdale stallion of repute, "and his 



dam is the old mare." That was an old Thoroughbred mare of his 

 own. I was certainly surprised, for I was riding what was un- 

 questionably a good hunter, I noticed, however, that my friend 

 never tried the same cross again, or if he did, it was a failure of 

 which he would not speak. 



The many different theories about the breeding of Hunters 

 would fill a volume. There is no doubt that what a breeder should 

 aim at is to produce as much substance with as much quality as 

 possible, for the more weight a horse is up to, provided he is a 

 really fine and fast galloper, the more money he is worth. In 

 speaking of weight carriers, it is not a little curious how some 

 people think they can find a horse for a heavy man. " I have just 

 the horse for you," says a friend who considers himself a judge, 

 and he straightway shows you a big heavy-headed, probably upright- 

 shouldered cart-horse-like animal that might take half a plough, 

 but that looks rather out of place with a scarlet coat above him. 

 Now, the most erroneous idea a man can conceive is that such 

 a horse is a weight carrier, and if ever he held such an idea the 

 sooner he forgets it the better. The heavy, clumsy kind of horse 

 must be got completely out of the mind if a man would be a 

 successful Hunter breeder. It is quality, balance, and action that 

 carry weight. 



There is always a certain amount of risk in breeding from 

 a cross-bred mare, that is, it is difficult to forecast exactly what 

 sort of a horse she will breed, but some idea can generally be 

 formed. You will find occasionally that a big powerful mare will 

 breed her foals rather on the light side, whilst a light mare will 

 occasionally " breed them big ". That is a point which depends, 

 no doubt, in a considerable degree upon the breeding of the mare. 



In selecting a brood mare, care should be taken to get to know 

 as much about her antecedents as possible. Unfortunately, there 

 is not much known about the pedigrees of half-bred or Hunter 

 mares, though more is known now than there was a few years 

 ago. The breeder will find that if he wants to buy a tried mare, 



