HACKS AND HUNTERS. 209 



I may here say that, for country or covert riding, I do 

 not at all approve of the ordinary half-bred cobs, which 

 so many sportsmen, and some sporting ladies also, are 

 prone to affect. No doubt they are strong : it is their only 

 recommendation ; but even this very strength is in one 

 way an objection to them, for it is in many instances 

 derived from a close connection with cart-horse blood, and 

 on this account they very soon tire when trotting, and 

 begin to step short, which occasions them to trip, and very 

 often to come down. Besides, it is almost a matter of 

 course that their shoulders are straight, and their fore-feet 

 carried too far under them. In every way, therefore, I 

 object to these animals for saddle use — especially where 

 ladies are concerned. 



Scarce as riding horses of endurance are in this country, 

 there is no doubt whatever that we have the breed, and 

 that it only requires careful cultivation — by which I mean 

 select — in distant Colonies, where our road and rail luxuries 

 are not, for love or money, to be obtained. In Southern 

 Africa and distant Australia this has been proved, as also 

 in the crosses of our horses with Continental ones, in Italy, 

 Germany, and Spain. 



I now come to speak about hunters. In choosing these, 

 do not go in for outward beauty of form, for it will not 

 stand you in any stead. I am compelled to impress this 

 upon ladies — especially very young ones — because they 

 usually select their horses (as they do their husbands !) for 

 appearance more than for genuine worth. It is such a 

 perfectly natural weakness that nobody can be blamed for 



P 



