THE HUNTER. 421 



namely, that he seldom or never will shy at any object on 

 the road ; two things of valuable consideration to the rider. 



Thoroughbred is a term employed in Britain to indicate 

 the descent of a horse from a South-Eastern courser. The 

 English racer has therefore been the progressively improved 

 breed, from a commixture of our own horses with those of 

 Asia. The horses of the first blood, or such as are the 

 nearest possible to the Eastern stock, are those immediately 

 produced from the Arabian, or Barb ; any stallion with an 

 English mare, which has been already crossed with a Barb 

 or Arabian steed, in the first degree ; or that which has 

 sprung from two crossings in the same degree. In its 

 action the English race-horse is somewhat like that of the 

 Arabian, but differs from the Spanish horse in carrying the 

 whole of his frame forward with an energetic power, while 

 the motions of the latter are measured with more of a 

 graceful motion and shorter step. 



In breeding, a mare should be chosen with as great a 

 proportion of the blood of King Herod as possible. She 

 should be deep in the girth, long and full in the fore-arm 

 and thigh, short in the leg, standing clean and even upon 

 the feet, and wide and spreading in the hind-quarters. It 

 is a curious fact that the produce of our first-rate mares and 

 an Asiatic horse seldom or never are good racers ; and they 

 must be one remove at least from the foreign stock before 

 they can be depended upon. 



THE HUNTER 



Is a combination of the thoroughbred race-horse and half- 

 bred horses of greater strength, and less lengthy in their 

 carcase. He should be from fifteen to sixteen hands in 

 height. The points most likely to discover a horse of good 

 proportions as a hunter, are a sanguine and healthy colour. 



