HUNTER 



to be feared that the blanks in connection with this experi- 

 ment so far outnumber the prizes that there is not much, if 

 any, money to be made out of cart blood for hunter breeding, 

 for a heavy weight above all others must possess a heart. 



Unquestionably the efforts of the Hunters' Improvement 

 Society have been productive of good results, and there are 

 more high - class hunters produced every year than was 

 formerly the case, but still the improvement is more marked 

 in connection with the light and middle weights than it is 

 with the weight carriers, which are extremely hard to find. 

 This class of horse should possess a good, sensible head, not 

 necessarily a very small one, but not clumsy, a nice, bold eye, 

 a well-balanced neck properly set on long, sloping shoulders, 

 with withers sufficiently up to keep the saddle in its proper 

 place and prevent its slipping forward. The chest must be 

 deep to provide space for the heart and lungs, and moderately 

 broad for the same reason, but still not so broad as to inter- 

 fere with the speed of the horse. The fore -arms should 

 be big and carry plenty of muscle, the cannon bones short, 

 flat, and heavy in bone, the pasterns long, but not too long, 

 and sloping, and the feet round and fairly large. The back 

 must be short and level, the loins well ribbed up, and the . 



quarters long and level, with big, muscular thighs, nicely Jt 



bent stifles, and well-developed gaskins, so as to ensure 

 plenty of leverage behind, whilst the hocks must be clean 

 and flat, and the back cannon bones flat and heavy in bone. 

 Above all things the hunter, be he heavy, middle, or light 

 weight, must possess an easy and free action and show good 

 manners. If he is a clumsy mover he will tire himself and 

 his rider out before half a day is over, and if his manners are 

 bad he is a source of trouble to every one about him, as there 

 is no saying what injury he may cause. No doubt some 

 horses with short, upright shoulders, indifferent fore-legs, and 

 other serious defects of conformation have proved themselves 

 good ones across a country, but a real bad-mannered one can 

 never be a source of satisfaction to his rider or anybody else. 



For a middle weight, light weight, or lady's hunter a 



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