EACE-HOESES.] 



THE HOESE, AND 



[eace-hoeses. 



67 



The thigh, with the os-ilium, formed a con- 

 siderable angle, whence followed a great ex- 

 tent of motion. The length of the tibia gave 

 beautiful proportion to the leg ; and the hock, 

 from its size, and perfect make, must have 

 produced the greatest possible degree of ex- 

 tension. The leg, pastern, coronet, and foot, 

 fully corresponded." 



In order to see at a glance the dimensions 

 of Eclipse, we make the following extract from 

 the same authority : — 



Height and Length of Eclipse. 



Inches. 

 Height from the withers to the ground . 66 

 Height from the top of the rump to the 



ground 



Length of the body, taken from the most 

 prominent part of the breast to the ex- 

 tremity of the buttocks 69 



Length of the Bones of the Legs. 

 Fore-Legs. 



Shoulder-blade 18 



Humerus, or arm ........ 12 



Cubitus 16 



Canon shank 22 



Pastern, coronet, and hoof 8 



Hind- Legs. 



Os-ilium 12 



Femur, or thigh 15 



Tibia 12 



Shank or leg 14 



Pastern, coronet, and hoof 9 



The skeleton of this splendid animal, after 

 passing through various hands, is now kept 

 in the New Veterinary College, at Edinburgh, 



for which it was purchased for one hundred 



guineas from Mr. Bracy Clark, by Professor 



Gamgee. 



BAY M ALTON, 



This horse was the property of the Marquis 

 of Eockiiigham, and ran the four mile course 

 at York, in seven minutes and forty-three 

 seconds, a feat which had never been accom- 

 plished before in so short a time, by seven 

 Beconds. He combined great speed with con- 

 siderable stoutness. 



One of the severest plate-races on record, 

 was run at Carlisle, in 1761, and in which there 

 were no fewer than six heats, and two of them 

 were dead heats, each of which was contested 

 by the winner of the plate. The winning 

 horse, therefore, ran twenty -four miles, and 

 yet did not break down ■ 

 78 



In 17G3, at Salisbury, and over a four mile 

 course, there were four heats between two 

 horses — the Duke of Grafton's Havannah, 

 and Mr. Wildman's Pam. Yet there was no 

 breaking down. 



One or two more instances of the combined 

 speed and stoutness of former racers, are 

 worthy of being placed on record. 



In October 17'il, at the Curragh meeting, 

 in Ireland, Mr. Wilde engaged to ride one 

 hundred and twenty-seven miles in nine hours. 

 He performed it in six hours and twenty-one 

 minutes, and employed ten horses. Allowing, 

 therefore, for mounting and dismounting, and 

 a moment for refreshment, he rode for six 

 hours, at the rate of twenty miles an hour. 



In 1745, Mr. Thornhill exceeded this, for 

 he rode from Stilton to London, two hundred 

 and thirteen miles, in eleven hours and thirty- 

 four minutes ; which is, after allowing the least 

 possible time for changing horses, twenty miles 

 an hour for eleven hours, and on the uneven 

 ground of the turnpike-road. 



In 1762, Mr. Shaftoe, with ten horses, and 

 five of them ridden twice, accomplished fifty 

 miles and a quarter, in one hour and forty- 

 nine minutes. In 176:3, this gentleman won 

 a more extraordinary match. He was to pro- 

 cure a person to ride one hundred miles a day, 

 on any one horse each day, for twenty-nino 

 days together, and to have any number of 

 horses not exceeding twenty-nine. He ac- 

 complished it on fourteen ; and on one day ho 

 rode one hundred and sixty miles, on account 

 of the tiring of his first horse. 



Mr. Hull's Quibbler, however, afibrds the 

 most extraordinary instance on record, of the 

 stoutness as well as speed of the race-horse. 

 In December, 1786, he ran twenty-three miles 

 round the flat of Newmarket, in fifty-seven 

 minutes and ten seconds. 



POT-S-OS. 



This was one of the numerous progeny of 

 Eclipse, and holds a foremost place in the 

 racing ranks. He was a chestnut foaled in 

 1773, his dam being Sports-mistress. He was 

 bred by the Earl of Abingdon. At the New- 

 market first spring of 1788, his proprietor had 

 intimated his intention of disposing of some 

 of his horses, whilst Pot-8-os was engaged in a 

 sweepstake of one hundred guineas each, eight 



