THE HACKNEY.] MODEliN VETEEINAEY PEACTICE. [tiik hackwkt. 



a merry pace honiewarda. Soon afterwards 

 Mr. Lane'a servants passed by the forf^e in 

 quest of the animal ; and, upon inquiry, received 

 for answer — " Oh, he has been here, and got 

 re-shod, and is gone home again." 



A curious instance of the faculty of memory 

 exhibited in a hackney, occui-red at Bristol, 

 some years ago. A pei'son recognised a horse, 

 bestrode by a countryman, to be one which he 

 himself had lost about nine months before. 

 He seized his property, and put in his claim. 

 " This is my horse, and I will prove it in two 

 minutes, or quit my claim." He then liberated 

 the animal from restraint, let him go at large, 

 and declared his proof to be in the fact that the 

 horse would be found at his stables at some dis- 

 tance ; a circumstance verified in a few minutes, 

 by the two claimants and several bystanders 

 repairing to the stables, where they found the 

 horse "quite at home." 



The hackney has often figured in trotting, 

 matches, a few of which have, from time to 

 time, found their way into print, even beyond 

 the ephemeral fame of a sporting paper. 



A curious match once took place on the 

 Beaconsfield-road, when a Mr. Causton under- 

 took to trot his horse seven miles in haL-au- 

 hour ; and accepted bets that he performed 

 each mile within four minutes and twenty-two 

 seconds — a piece of nice calculation, which 

 was achieved in good style. 



A horse belonging to Mr. Dyson, which 

 had been picked up in Smithfield for a trifle, 

 having accomplished thirty miles in two hours 

 and forty-nine minutes, was produced by Mr. 

 Brian against another, which cost seven 

 pounds, to perform forty miles in four hours, 

 carrying fifteen stone. This struggle "came 

 off" over a ten-mile piece of road, near 

 Hockerill, for one hundred guineas. The 

 lanky emblem of blood and bone, above 

 seventeen hands high, was mounted by an old 

 jockey of the same build, and did the first ten 

 miles in fifty-four minutes ten seconds, the 

 second ten miles in fifty-six minutes fifty 

 seconds, the third ten miles in sixty-three 

 minutes, and the fourth ten miles in sixty- 

 three minutes forty seconds — winning by two 

 minutes and twenty seconds under the time. 

 The horse never once broke from a trot ; and 

 the rider was more fatigued than the animal 

 he bestrode. 



The second great matcli between tlie slate- 

 coloured American horse, and j\Ir. Hyson's 

 AVonder, was another extraordinary instance 

 of trotting. It took place on Sunbury-com- 

 mon. The match was for Mr. Fielder and 

 Mr. Dyson to ride their own horses. Mr. 

 Dyson took the lead, and was fifty yards 

 a-head at the end of the first mile, and the 

 American horse never had a chance at any one 

 period, and was beaten with the greatest ease, 

 by about two hundred yards. Neither horse 

 broke through the match, and the ground — 

 three miles — was done in eight minutes and 

 forty-three seconds. "What makes this per- 

 formance the more wonderful, is not only the 

 speed, but the extraordinary weights which 

 were carried. The riders were both weighed, 

 to determine a bet, at Kingston, after the 

 match, when Mr. Fielder was found to be 

 thirteen stone twelve pounds, and Mr. Dyson 

 fifteen stone four pounds, without saddles. 

 By this it appears that the winner gave the 

 American horse twenty pounds. The slate- 

 coloured horse was considered, for years, the 

 best in America. Another horse belonging to 

 Mr. Williams, beat the slate-coloured Ame- 

 rican, and was backed to trot three miles in 

 nine minutes, for one hundred guineas. It 

 had been reported that the horse was lame, 

 and, up to the evening before starting, six to 

 four was the betting on time, and more than 

 two to one was betted before starting. When 

 at speed the lameness was not apparent ; but 

 the horse was more than three minutes doing 

 the first mile, and there was no increase of 

 speed during the match. The horse broke 

 into a gallop near the George Inn, when 

 about one hundred yards from home ; and the 

 pressure of horsemen was so great at his 

 heels, that the jockey turned him with diffi- 

 culty, and the match was lost by forty 

 seconds. Some thousands w'ere depending on 

 this race. 



A hackney mare, of Mr. Dixon, of Barbican, 

 started at the four-mile-stone on the Eomford- 

 road, to trot thirty miles in three successive 

 hours, carrying Mr. J. Coxeter, weighing 

 nearly fifteen stone. Notwithstanding the 

 heavy weight the mare carried, she performed 

 the distance in thirteen minutes and twenty- 

 seven seconds within the given time. 



So long ago as 1785, a similar match wa8 



95 



