118 THE HORSE 



are well bent and the stifles forward it is almost impossible to teach a horse 

 the military manege to its full extent, and hence this point is carefully 

 insisted on by cavalry officers. Occasionally, a thoroughbred horse is met 

 with possessing this formation, but generally that breed is deficient in it, in 

 consequence of the different style of going which is adapted for racing. 

 Nearly all the chargers used in the cavalry are therefore half-bred, and a 

 large proportion of them come from Lincolnshire, where, indeed, almost all 

 of the Life Guards' troop-horses are bred specially for that purpose, being 

 the produce of the black Lincolnshire cart mare crossed with the thorough- 

 bred. These are sent up as three-year-olds to the three regiments, at 35. 

 apiece, but of late years there has been a difficulty in procuring sufficient 

 numbers to fill up the gaps made by disease and death. The troop-horses 

 of the dragoons and lancers are bought as four-year-olds, and are obtained 

 from various sources throughout England, Ireland, and Scotland. 



THE COVERT-, ROAD-, AND PARK-HACK 



BY THE WORD HACK is understood a horse specially intended for the 

 saddle, and to be used on some kind of road, which may be the cross roads 

 in the way to covert, or the ordinary turnpike, or lastly, the loose 

 gravelly roads of our parks. The same class of animal is used in all, but 

 there are some slight differences between the three kinds, as we shall 

 presently see, corresponding with the purposes for which they are severally 

 used. 



THE COVERT-HACK is required to carry his master to the meet of the 

 pack of fox-hounds to which the hunter or hunters have been sent on. 

 The object of this arrangement is to save time to the rider, and also to 

 allow the hunter to be taken quietly to the fixture by the groom, who 

 exchanges the one for the other just before the hounds are thrown into 

 covert. Hence this kind of hack must be fast as well as stout, and it is 

 expected that he shall be able to cariy any ordinary weight from twelve to 

 sixteen miles within the hour, to do which he must maintain a fast hand- 

 gallop over all sorts of ground, and occasionally " do " a little fence or two 

 to cut off a corner. In days of yore, our grandfathers breakfasted at day- 

 break, or sometimes rode ten miles on an empty stomach to the house of a 

 friend near the appointed meet ; and they were contented to do this at a 

 pace which would not turn a hair of their hunter's coat, even though that 

 was perhaps not quite so silky and short as it is expected now to be. 

 Such a practice would now be voted slow, even though the breakfast-hour 

 might easily be appointed for eight A.M., leaving an hour and a half or two 

 hours to ride quietly to covert. But, no, the fast man must ride fast, and 

 makes his appearance on his blood-hack, galloping sixteen miles an hour, 

 and with his overalls bespattered with mud. He leaves his house at half- 

 past nine or ten A.M., and reaches the meet just in time to put off his out- 

 side skin of dirt, and appear without a blemish on his boots and leathers. 1 



1 The need of covert-hacks in many hunting districts is no longer so great, as railway 

 companies seeking dividends have cast about them for new customers and discovered the 

 fact that many men can afford the money but not the time to go a-hunting unless it can be 



