422 RACE RIDING. 



PECULIARITIES OF HORSES. 



Horses with short, upright pasterns cannot go down a hill 

 f ree ly the running of Vauban, the Two Thousand winner, 

 in the Derby, was a good example of this fact and they 

 do not act well on hard ground. Animals with sloping 

 pasterns generally like to " hear their feet rattle," and seldom 

 get their legs jarred when going down an incline. The 

 fact of a horse having heavy, straight shoulders greatly inter- 

 feres with his ability to gallop with advantage down a hill. 



The best kind of horse for going down a hill, is a light 

 moving, quick striding animal who has flat, oblique shoulders, 

 sloping pasterns and sound legs and feet ; but a long striding 

 horse, especially if he be a bit straight in front, is seldom at 

 home except on the flat. On this subject, the Sporting Times 

 remarks : " We incline to the opinion that on the Derby 

 course Iroquois would always beat Peregrine, just as Bend Or 

 beat Robert the Devil. Very big horses, like very big men, do 

 not climb hills well, and coming down shakes them all to 

 pieces. It is the light springy sort who are the best at the 

 game, and of such is Iroquois." 



Horses with rather high action and good hocks are the 

 best to climb a hill. The possession of large broad feet 

 is useful on a heavy course, from the mechanical advantage 

 they have over small hoofs. A compact, quick-striding 

 horse, like what Freeman was, is well adapted for a 

 cramped course, like the Roodee at Chester; but a big 

 long-striding animal Lord Clifden, for instance requires 

 a level course, with very gradual turns, like that at Don- 

 caster, on which to display his powers. The length and 

 height of a horse does not matter so much, provided he 

 has quick hind action and gets his hocks well under him. 

 Knight of the Garter, who was one of this sort, though 

 a very big horse, squandered his field in the Chester Cup 



