32 THE HACKNEY OR HARNESS HORSE. 



latter begat Phenomenon, foaled in 1835, ^ri<i irom 

 this horse was derived Performer, born 1840. The 

 last-named was the sire of Sir Charles, bom 1843, 

 followed by a son of the latter, called Denmark, 

 foaled in 1862 ; and from Denmark came the famous 

 Danegelt, foaled in 1879, and sold to Sir Walter 

 Gilbey for many thousands, and a cheap horse he 

 was at the price. 



Both Danegelt and Denmark were bred by the 

 late Mr. Bourdass, veterinary surgeon, of Hun- 

 manby, Yorkshire. 



From the foregoing it will be seen that the 

 ** Hackney " owes most of its qualities to the Arab 

 sire ; but, through a long period of careful selection, 

 of the best class of light horses, many improvements 

 in the breed have been brought about. As a 

 general utility horse, the " Hackney " has no 

 superior ; although the axiom that " a hack is a 

 horse to ride, but a Hackney is a horse you should 

 not ride," often does apply, it is hardly applicable 

 to the present type of Hackney ; in fact, many of 

 these horses make the best hacks which one could 

 possibly obtain. Most of the present day Hack- 

 neys are much bigger horses than the Norfolk trotter 

 was, the average height for the latter being about- 

 fifteen hands, or a trille under this ; but many 



