LUCK. 187 



If a man wishes to breed hacks, there are two sorts 

 to breed the blood-like galloping hack, and the 

 trotting hack. By the first, I should say, a man 

 must lose money, because there is seldom merit 

 enough in them to command remunerating prices ; 

 for the really clever galloping hack seldom has high 

 action, and most people (be it right or be it wrong) 

 prefer those which have ; consequently, the latter are 

 the safest to breed for market. Good action in a hack 

 will always sell him ; and we certainly run a much 

 greater chance of getting this if we breed from 

 trotting stock, independent of sometimes getting some- 

 thing uncommon as to pace, when of course he will bring 

 a very long figure, and is a trump card. We must 

 also consider that if the trotting bred colt has good 

 action, his pace is to be wonderfully improved by 

 practice ; and, provided we do not deteriorate that 

 action, the more we increase his speed the more valu- 

 able he becomes. This is not the case with the gal- 

 loping hack ; if he goes smoothly, safely, and hand- 

 somely, we can make him no better : he is fast enough 

 for a hack ; and if by training we increased his speed, 

 he would be worth no more, nineteen times in twenty 

 not half so much ; for we should spoil him as a hack, 

 and as a hack only we want him. To breed hacks I 

 should select a low compact very highly-bred mare, a 

 trotter herself, and put her to a regular trotting sire ; 

 not that we insure a trotter by this, but we put our- 

 selves in the way of it, and must then trust to our 

 good luck ; and I am quite clear that good luck and 

 chance have much more to do with getting goers in 

 any pace than is generally supposed : I am sure they 

 have with race-horses ; in proof of which how many 

 scores are bred where every care and judgment has 



