A COB NOT A WATER-CARRIER. 133 



hunting: he stood six-feet-two, and was 16 1 , st. in 

 his saddle. Much as I was accustomed to hunt big 

 horses, I should have certainly hunted this cob, but 

 with hounds he was so hasty and pulled so awfully it 

 was quite slavery to ride him. How this cob was 

 bred I could never get at the truth of: he was 

 purchased by the farmer of the stud-groom of a 

 gentleman who bred race-horses : his head and neck 

 were very like and as good as Alice Hawthorn's ; his body 

 that of a race-horse, with the exception of there being 

 but just room for a saddle on his back ; and, as if 

 what was taken from one part was given to another, 

 his bone was enormous. I dare say he was as thorough- 

 bred as Eclipse, but a dwarf; and all cobs should be 

 at least dwarf-hunters, or they are good for nothing 

 to ride or draw either, if we want to exceed five miles 

 an hour. 



It is hardly fair towards those who know what it is 

 to be carried to tell others who do not, that such cobs 

 as I have mentioned are such as they should get if 

 they wish to ride pleasantly and safely ; for there are 

 few enough of the right sort to be got, and they ought 

 to be given only to such men as would know how to 

 appreciate their value. Still, in describing what 

 will and what will not carry weight, the truth must 

 come out. If I saw a gentleman riding a kind of 

 guinea-pig pony horse, and he asked my opinion of 

 him, as a matter of courtesy I should say, "He was a 

 very nice cob indeed:" and further, as an act of 

 common prudence and justice, I should strenuously 

 advise him never to part from so desirable an animal, 

 for if he did he might by chance get hold of such a 

 one as I should wish to see in other hands, and which 

 would be thrown away in his. The same thing holds 



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