BREEDING OF HUNTERS. 315 



somest possible hind- quarters, and " flags" which 

 they invariably carry away naturally, without that 

 abominable " spice." As we once heard a Yorkshire 

 dealer say of them, " They save a man 1 a-year 

 in ginger I" If his colts had a fault, it was that they 

 were a little apt to be pigeon-toed, and their hocks 

 stood rather far behind them ; but, take him for all 

 and all, Suffolk can never supply his place with a 

 better. 



The farmers have still a lingering love for the 

 cocktail stallion, with the Rainbow neck and flow- 

 ing inane; and if such a Eireaway should pass 

 their gate, they will be sure to use him, rather than 

 send a mile or two to a better horse. Generally 

 speaking, they dislike breeding " riders/' as they call 

 them ; and when we consider the great prices they 

 have made lately of their Suffolk cart stock, as foals, 

 yearlings, and two-year-olds, while they must keep 

 their fr riders" till four years old, this prejudice is 

 not to be wondered at. Suffolk farms, too, are mostly 

 small, and conveniences for keeping riding colts till 

 four or five years old very limited ; besides, looking 

 at the half-bred stallions they have bred from, it is 

 not surprising they should be disgusted with the re- 

 sult. They might, with care, surely shine as much 

 in riding-horses as in cart-horses, and they certainly 

 are improving. Still, their young things do not seem 

 to get the size their Northern brethren do, perhaps 

 owing in a manner to the dry soil and air of the East 

 of England. Their cart stock are small, compact, 

 and hardy ; and any recruiting sergeant will say that 

 the Suffolk lads are proverbially small, though strong. 

 The "riders" bred are mostly wiry and good, and when 

 ridden over this cramped and thickly-fenced country 

 become very clever, and sought after accordingly by 

 the dealers (Mr.Collins especially), who are almost the 

 only customers, at all prices from 75 to 200. Still 

 there has been no particular breeder of hunters since 



