164 RIDING RECOLLECTIONS. 



saying among sportsmen, and there arc daily instances 

 of some high-born steed who can boast 



"His sire from the desert, his dam from the north," 



galloping steadily on, calm and vigorous, when the 

 country behind him is dotted for miles with hunters 

 standing still in every field. 



It is obvious that a breed, reared expressly for racing 

 purposes, must be the fastest of its kind. A colt 

 considered good enough to be " put through the mill " 

 on Newmarket Heath, or Middleham Moor, whatever 

 may be his shortcomings in the select company he finds 

 at school, cannot but seem " a flyer," when in after-life 

 he meets horses, however good, that have neither been 

 bred nor trained for the purpose of galloping a single 

 mile at the rate of an express train. While these 

 are at speed he is only cantering, and we need not 

 therefore be surprised that he can keep cantering on 

 after they are reduced to a walk. 



In the hunting-field, "what kills is the pace." When 

 hounds can make it good enough they kill their fox, 

 when horses cannot it kills them, and for this reason 

 alone, if for no other, I would always prefer that my 

 hunters should be quite thorough-bred. 



Though undoubtedly the best, I cannot affirm, how- 

 ever, that they are always the pleasantest mounts ; far 



