460 



THE MODERN SYSTEM 



dry straw-yards and sheds abroad, their con- 

 stitutions being sound, will be in the best pos- 

 sible state for breeding in the spring. The 

 exception above, refers to draught horses of 

 the fust size and class, such mares are sel- 

 dom seen in London ; but must be sought for 

 in the midland counties and Lincolnshire. 



Our readers will recollect the account we 

 gave of some yearlings whicli belonged to Mr. 

 Thornhill, of Riddlesworth. The sole object 

 of Mr. Thornhill being the breeding and rear- 

 ing of stock exclusively designed for racing, it 

 is of course by mere accident that any thing 

 suited for the field, or rather hinted at is 

 to be found in his paddocks. The writer who 

 advocates the breed of thorough-bred Horses 

 for the purpose of hunting, says : — 



" I saw a four-year-old colt in one of the 

 boxes, vhich from some cause that I did not 

 investigate, had never been trained, then on 

 sale, and described as ' likely to make a 

 hunter,' his price being two hundred guineas. 

 He was a fine powerful bay, with four rare 

 black legs, and substance to the eye for four- 

 teen stone over any country with any hounds ; 

 in fact, he was just such a four-year-old as all 

 the yearlings 1 saw ought to make ; and when 

 I state that he never was put into training, it 

 is because I shall offer him as an example of 

 the theory (which I am more and more be- 

 coming convinced experience is destined to 

 prove no speculative imagination) that in our 

 blood stock is existent the seed, which only 

 requires a system of treatment suitable to the 

 object to supply the class of Horse fitted to 

 the present condition of British fox-hunting." 



We shall see how this accusation, so un- 

 sparingly brought against the men of the 

 nineteenth century, of breeding weeds for the 

 turf, is supported by the testimony of com- 



petent and unprejudiced witnesses. The writer 

 says : — 



" The father of Mr. Thomas Hindly, the 

 stud-groom at Euston (old Charles Hindly,) 

 rode for the first two-year-old plate that was 

 ever run for at Newmarket. Now what opi- 

 nion did he hold for the last score years ? 

 Why, that we have been gradually breeding 

 with more size and substance every year 

 within his memory. What said old Tyler 

 when I questioned him upon this subject? 

 " that at Riddlesworth they were con- 

 tinually getting their stock with increased 

 power and size ; and that nothing ever bred 

 by the late Duke of Grafton could compare 

 with the bone and strength now to be found 

 in the paddocks of Euston I' J attach more 

 importance to the opinions of these men, be- 

 cause the force of prejudice would naturally 

 lead them to lean to the side of ' lang syne !' 

 Enough has been said, I think, to shew that 

 the character of weediness, which I admit 

 attaches to too many of our race-horses, is not 

 a defect originating with, or derived from, 

 blood. If, as I believe to be the case, the 

 average height of thorough- bred yearlings 

 at all the great breeding establishments is 

 little under fifteen hands high, it is a natural 

 consequence, that, unless by unnatural means 

 the stamina be destroyed, when at maturity a 

 corresponding substance would be added to 

 the growth, and the symmetry of frame be 

 completed by a just assimilation of size and 

 power." 



The writer now sums up his conclusions as 

 to the probable result of making hunters from 

 thoroughbred stock, and the profits likely to 

 accrue from it. He says : — 



" I am convinced that the quality of the 

 thorough-bred Horse never before reached the 



