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animals and naturally there is a good deal of variation in the types 

 required for different classes of country, but almost without 

 exception they are characterised by a considerable proportion of 

 Thoroughbred blood, and, generally speaking, it may be said that 

 the ideal Hunter is a compact, short-legged, well-balanced Thorough- 

 bred, true in his action, bending the knee sufficiently in trotting, 

 moving freely in all his paces and sound in all respects. For ordinary 

 use the height should be from 15 hands 3 inches to 16 hands 

 2 inches, and though there are innumerable good horses under the 

 former height, there are not many which exceed the latter and at 

 the same time conform to the requirements of a first-rate hunter. 

 Very big horses are apt to be long in the leg, with a corresponding 

 lack of activity and ability to scramble through rough places or to 

 recover after a blunder. It must not, however, be forgotten that, 

 provided a horse is true in shape, well balanced and perfect in every 

 way, the bigger he is, up to a certain point, the more valuable he is. 



A Hunter must possess substance and quality with well developed 

 and strong withers, but which are not too high, for such are usually 

 narrow and weak. The shoulders must be long and sloping, the 

 upper parts of the blades not showing under the skin when the 

 animal is trotting. The back should be short, yet the horse should 

 stand over plenty of ground when poised truly on his legs. A broad, 

 level, muscular back is a great desideratum. If the back is rather 

 long, a tendency to a " roach back " with a characteristic little arch 

 at the loins is preferable, and is a conformation possessed by many a 

 first-rate fencer. The loins must be strong and the ribs well hooped, 

 though not too closely " coupled " ; unless there is sufficient room 

 between the last rib and the hip bone the hind action will be 

 cramped, and the hind leg cannot be brought forward with sufficient 

 sweep in either galloping or jumping. The quarters must be long 

 and powerful, with a well set on tail and long muscular thighs, and 

 above all it is necessary that the second thigh should be well 

 developed, the thighs running into them so imperceptibly that the 

 whole with the hocks form a sort of V. The opposite conformation, 

 in which the second thigh appears more or less as a parallelogram 

 forming a distinct connection between the hocks and the thighs, is 

 most undesirable. 



The hocks must be large and clean with prominent points, and 

 their junction with the cannon bones especially must be strong. If 

 there is weakness here, giving an appearance almost as if a little 

 piece had been cut away in front of the shins, the hocks are weak 

 both for galloping and jumping. In the front limbs the arms must 

 be long and muscular, the knees large and bony, the points of the 

 elbows clear of the body, and the cannon bones short but of good 

 girth and with large, wiry, clean tendons. The feet must be of 

 good size and, whilst the frogs must be well developed, there should 

 be plenty of horn at the heel. A horse with shallow, thin-soled feet 

 may easily be lamed when landing on stones, and cannot stand work 

 work on hard roads for any length of time. 



The head should be long and lean with good sized ears, and bright, 

 intelligent eyes, and should be well set on an arched, strong neck. 

 There must be plenty of width between the jaws for the passage of 

 the wind pipe, and also to allow the head to bend to the bit ; this 



