184 HOESES AND EIDIXG. 



run well wlien mixed with almost any other strain 

 or family. 



The consequence of this is that his descendants 

 at the stud are more numerous than those of any 

 other horse, so much so that it is difficult at the 

 present time to find many strains of blood which 

 are celebrated and which are not descended from 

 Touchstone. 



Now Touchstone was, in my opinion, a decidedly 

 faulty horse in shape for hunting purjDOses, owing 

 to his shoulders being upright, and he also possessed 

 to a remarkable extent the power of transmitting his 

 shape to his progeny, and from this cause a faulty or 

 upright shoulder is spread as it were broadcast among 

 the well-bred horses of England. 



Another horse who was equally famous at the 

 same time was Irish Birdcatcher, whose stock, prin- 

 cipally through one of his grandsons, Stockwell, 

 have won as many races, I should suppose, as Touch- 

 stone's. Irish Birdcatcher's shape, judging from 

 his immediate descendants, was much more suitable 

 for hunting purposes, and his descendants, where 

 they are not also descended from Touchstone, would 

 probably be as desirable for hunting purposes as 

 any strain of blood we are likely to find. 



Another horse from whom a numerous tribe 

 have descended is Blacklock, whose blood his grand- 

 son Voltigeur has chiefly brought into notice. 



One of Blacklock's grandsons, the Cure, was a 



