586 THE IMPROVED ART OF FARRIERY. 



give way to strength, his pasterns should be less long 

 and oblique than those of the race-horse. The body of 

 the hunter may, with propriety, be shorter than in tne 

 racer : a short cylinder can sustain more than a long 

 one ; and there is much difference in weight between 

 the jockey of eight or nine stone, and the sportsman 

 of twelve or fourteen ; as well as between the race of a 

 few minutes and the burst of an hour. The lengthened 

 stride of the race-horse, allowed by a long body and 

 contracted belly, would exhaust the hunter, and would 

 sink him injuriously in deep soils. A shorter and 

 quicker gallop, the consequence of a shorter body, tends 

 likewise, on most occasions, to husband his resources. 

 Moderate length of body only is also favourable ir; as- 

 cending ground ; and it is equally so in easing the con- 

 cussion of descending the same, by shortening the 

 stroke. The hinder extremities, in the hunter, should 

 present all the principles of speed of the race- horse, 

 with as much additional bulk of muscle, and compact- 

 ness of joint, as are consistent with the probable velo- 

 city required, and the weight he is to carry ; for if it 

 is essential that the racer should be powerfully formed 

 behind, to propel him forward in the gallop, so it is 

 equally necessary that the hunter should be well 

 formed in his loins, and well let down in his thighs, 

 that he may have not only speed in his gallop, but that 

 he may have strength to cover his leaps, particularly 

 when they are extensive and numerous. As regards 

 the feet in the hunter, they had better be too strong 

 than too weak : a thin, weak, and shelly crust, is a 

 very bad property here, for a sudden misplacing of 

 such a foot, on an uneven surface, will often bring 

 him down as though he was shot. 



The hackney, more than any other variety of horse, 

 adds to our health and comfort ; we ride him for 



