562 THE improv<:d art of farriery. 



of training, laid a very considerable wager, that she 

 bore a greater weight upon her back, without cring- 

 ing, than a certain miller's horse, which had been 

 used to carry heavy sacks all his lifetime. The 

 mare and the horse were placed side by side on the 

 even ground, and bags of different sizes, (whether of 

 corn or sand I know not, but I believe the latter,) 

 were placed on their backs with great precaution. 

 The mare never moved; but after immense weight 

 had been placed on both, the horse began to sidle, 

 and before the last bag could be put on him, he sunk 

 on his knees ; it was put on the mare, and she bore 

 it, never moving her posture until she was unloaded. 

 An immense sum of money was lost and won in 

 this trial." 



Amelia raced, I believe, about sixty or seventy years 

 ago ; was the best mare of her year, and a great winner 

 at Newmarket ; and Mr. Chafin had the above account, 

 about a week after the trial had been made, from the 

 father of the present Sir John Lade, an eye-witness. 

 The particulars are in all probability to be found in 

 one of Cheney's, that is to say, the earliest Racing 

 Calendars ; but such experiments by no means de- 

 serve the countenance of sportsmen, being in their 

 very nature barbarous, and almost unavoidably likely 

 to be productive of irreparable injury to the victims 

 of them. There is a deception in the appearance 

 of the bred horse, particularly in the bone, which, 

 from the fineness of the skin, and smoothness of the 

 hair, does not show bulk so prominently as the bone 

 of the horse of a coarser breed ; and there are many 

 cart-horses which cannot stand in competition with 

 some of our racers for size of the leg bone below the 

 knee. Sampson, the sire of Bay Malton, measured 

 eight inches and a half round the smallest part of his 



