54 UNASKED ADVICE. 



pleasant mouth ; so this is important. Make and shape, 

 in perfection, are much the same in all sorts of horses ; 

 so the same sort of shoulders, back, loins, and hocks, 

 which have been already insisted on as necessaries for 

 almost every horse, are equally needful for the cob. A 

 cob who is not a good walker is of about as much use as a 

 young lady who does not valse ! 



He must be particularly safe in his trot, and he is none 

 the worse for being fast in this pace, though if a really 

 fast trotter (that is, fast enough to be matched) he will 

 be most likely unpleasant to ride. The canter, as in all 

 hacks, must be even, and well balanced. The gallop 

 matters but little, as it is a pace not much affected by 

 the majority of riders of cobs. To be perfect in the 

 country, a cob should let his rider kill a brace of birds 

 right and left off his back without winking. Even if he 

 be not wanted as a shooting pony, his nerves must defy 

 alarm or excitement at any unexpected sight or sound, 

 especially connected with gunpowder ; for in these days 

 of revolvers and rifle practice a quiet gentleman who 

 never goes near a battue may, in the course of his ride, 

 whether in town or country, find himself almost at any 

 moment in a " warm corner/' as far as numberless dis- 

 charges of firearms can constitute one. Therefore the 

 points most important in a good cob are strength, good 

 mouth and slow paces, soundness (of course), good temper, 

 moderate height, say 14 hands, and perfect steadiness 

 and tractability. If anyone who may do me the honour 

 to read these lines possesses a cob up to 16 stone, who 

 can walk four miles an hour and trot twelve, with a good 

 mouth and amiable disposition, who fears nothing, and 

 never stumbles, let him, if a rich man, keep him he will 

 not get another such in a hurry ; if a poor one, let him r 



