HUNTERS. 1 31 



idea of wliat the animal described would look like. 

 The most valuable description of horse for this pur- 

 pose, to my mind, would be a horse which had the 

 outline and shape of a cob, the spirit, and blood or 

 breeding of a racehorse, the size and scope of a 

 carriage-horse, and the manners and action of a park 

 hack. A horse that answered this description would 

 in my opinion be found to be about as valuable and 

 serviceable for hunting, or indeed for any purpose 

 short of racing, as any horse that could be bred. 



Now if you put a horse of a distinct breed to a 

 mare of the same breed, you may calculate pretty 

 nearly with certainty that the produce will be of the 

 same sort, and resemble its parents both in a23pear- 

 ance and qualities. But if you match together two 

 animals of different amounts of blood, of different 

 sizes and different shapes, you may expect a very 

 great variety in the produce, and if all the produce 

 are wanted for one and the same purpose, it is easy 

 to see how it comes about that there are so many 

 failures. 



If in addition to this, neither of the parents 

 possess that particular quality or shape which is 

 most essential in the animal you wish to breed, you 

 may predict that failure will be the rule, and that 

 with as near certainty as possible. 



To begin with. The most important requisite in 

 a hunter is that he should have a good shoulder; 

 having a good shoulder means both that a horse will 



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