204 RIDING FOR LADIES. 



ship ; the distances they travelled, the weights they carried, 

 the amount of endurance they displayed, would be deemed 

 marvellous in the present century, and cruel if put to the 

 test. Such animals — and they are very rare — are only now 

 to be met with in the stables of stirrino; farmers of the 

 wealthy class, who go over their lands before breakfast, and 

 overlook hundreds of acres on the backs of these useful 

 creatures. Occasionally, too, they are to be found with 

 country doctors, well-to-do parsons, and others whose daily 

 work cannot be accomplished on animals less enduring 

 or strong ; but the ordinary seeker looks for them almost 

 in vain. 



A good hack is a most trustworthy companion. His 

 rider may drop the reins to him on the very worst roads, 

 and yet feel certain that he will put his feet in precisely the 

 right places, and make no mistakes. His fore-feet are 

 always well formed, and whatever the pace may be they 

 fall straight, and flat, and even upon the ground. His 

 action when trotting is from the shoulders, his fore-legs 

 working strictly from them, and just sufficiently bent to 

 enable the rider to see his knees as they are raised, but not 

 to see under them. Chin-knocking action may do for a 

 park hack, but not for a roadster ; indeed, I don't admire 

 it myself in any class of horse, but in a covert-hack it is 

 decidedly objectionable. The wonder of my life is how 

 so many extraordinary goers, such as one sees throughout 

 every hunting season, contrive to jig along, or jog, or 

 pound, as the case may be, without coming down like 

 logs upon the ground ; but they do : just as drunken 



