324 



m:\v enCtILAm) faumek, 



Ajiril 30, 1830 



LIBRARY OF USEFUL. KNOWLEDGE. 



The foiel.an,! sliouM l.c loftier llmii llial of the ' Moiiy field, and if not particularly good, will soon 



[C««tiliv«< from faf JOB.] 

 CDAPTEB IV. 



THE DIFFERENT BREEDS OF ENGLISH 

 HORSES. 



THE IIL.M'ER. 



There arc few agriculturalists who have not a 

 liltlc liking for the spoits of the ficl.l, and who do 

 not fumy the rich music in the cry uftho hounds. 

 To what extent it amy be prudent for iheni to in- 

 dulge in tliese sports circumstances must decide, 

 and llicy deserve the most serious consideration. 

 Few can, or, if they could, ought to keep a hun- 

 ter. Tlieru arc temptations to exj ense in the 

 licld, and to expense after the chase, whicli it may 

 be difficult to withstand. The hunter, however, 

 or the hunting horse, t. e. the horse on which a 

 farmer, if he be not a professed sporlsnuin, may 

 occasionally willi pleasure, and without disgrace, 

 follow the hounds, is in value and beauty next to 

 the racer. 



He should seldom be under fifteen or more than 

 sixteen hands high ; below this standaril he can- 

 not always sufficiently measure the object before 

 him, and above this, he is apt to be leggy and 

 awkward at his work. 



In proportion as the agriculture of the country 

 is improved, the speed of the chase is increased. 

 The scent both of the fox and the hare will lie 

 better in inclosed and well cultivated ground, than 

 on ojien, barren heaths ; and there is more run- 

 ning brc'ist-high than when the hound is compel- 

 led to pick out the scent, carrying his nose almost 

 close to the ground, and consequently going more 

 slowly. The character of the hunter is conse- 

 quently gradually changing. Stoutness is still 

 required, but speed is becoming more necessary, 

 and, therefore, for the fox, and the deer, and *ven 

 for the hare, blood is an es.scntial quality. 



In strong, thickly inclosed countries, the half- 

 bred horse may get tolerably well along ; but for 

 general use the himter should he at least three 

 quarters bred, perhaps seven eighths. If he could 

 be obtained with bone enough, and different action, 

 , thorouf;h-br(:dhji\ie would form the best of a 



racer. A turf horse may be foigiven if his hind 

 quarters rise an inch or two above his fore ones. 

 His principal power is wanted from behind, and 

 the very lowness of the forehand may throw more 

 weight in front, and cause the w 

 be more easily and speeilily moved. A lolty fore 



be disabled and ruined. 



I The position of the feet requires some attention 



' in the hunter. They should if possible stand 



1 straight. If they turn a little outward there is no t 



lofe machine to serious objection ; but if they turn inward his 



action cannot be safe, particularly when he is fa- 



1^ II • ■ ]• ». 1 u ".n ilin iiiinipr • lisjued or over-weighteu 



hand, however, is indispensable in llie iiunter , "o i i i u 



the shoulder as extensive as in the racer ; — as ob- 

 lique and somewhat thicker ; the saddle will then 

 be in its proper place, and will continue so, howev- 

 er long may be the lun. 



The barrel should be rounder to give greater 

 room for the heart and lungs to play, and send 

 more and purer blood to the larger frame of this 

 horse ; and especially more room to play when the 

 run may continue iinchecUed for a time that be- 

 gins to be distressing. A broad chest is an ex- 

 cellence in the hunter. — In the violent and long 

 continued exertion of the chase, the respiration is 

 exceedingly quickened, and abundantly more 

 blood is hurried through the lungs in a given time 

 than when the animal is at rest. There must be 

 sullicicnt room for this, or the horse will be blown, 

 and possibly destroyed. The majority of the 

 hor.ses that [lerish in the field arc narrow chested. 

 The arm should be as muscular as that of the 

 courser, or even more so, for both strength and 

 endurance arc wanted. 



The leg should be deeper than that of the race 

 horse (broader as you .stand at the side of the 

 horse,) and especially beneath the knee. In pro- 

 portion to the distance of tendon irom the cannon 

 or shank-boiie, and more particularly just below 

 the knee, is the mechanical advantage with which 

 it acts. A racer may be lied beneath the knee, 

 without iicrfectly destroying his power, but a 

 hunter with this defect will rarely have stoutness. 

 The leg of the hunter should be aliorter. High- 

 er action is required than in the racer, that the 

 legs may be clearly and safely lifted over many 

 an obstacle, and, particularly, that they may be 

 well doubled up in the leap. 



The pastern should be shorter, and less slanting, 

 yet retaining considerable obliquity. The long 

 pastern is useful, liy the yielding resistance which 



DN-l 



^i 



hunters? but the tliorough-bred horse, with the | its elasticity anbrds, to break the concussion with 



which the race horse from liis immense stride 

 and speed must come on tlie ground : and the 

 obliiiue direction of the difTcrent bones beautifully 

 contributes to eiVect the same purpose. With this 

 lasticity, however, a con.sidcrable degree of wcak- 

 icss is necessarily connected, and the race horse 

 occasionally breaks down in the middle of his 

 course. The hunter, from his diflerent action, 

 takes not this length of stride, and therefore 

 wants not all this elastic mechanism ; be more 

 needs strength to support his own heavier carcass^ 

 and, the greater weight of his rider, and to under- 

 go the fatigue {/ a long day. Some obliquity, 

 however, he requires, otherwise the concussion 

 oven of his shorter gallop, and more particularly 

 of his frecpiently tremenilous leaps, woulil inevita- 

 bly lame him. 



Tlie foot of tlie hunter is a most material point. 

 It is of consequence in the racer, yet it is a noto- 

 rious fact, that many of our best ihorough-brcd 

 horses have had very indirterent feet. The nar- 

 row coiilractcd fool is the curse of much of the 

 racing blood. The work of the racer, however, 



usual action of the racer, would not, even at three 

 quarters speed, always carry himself sufficiently 

 high to be aware of and to clear his fences. 



The first projicrty of a good hunter is, that he 

 should be light in hand. For this purpose liis 

 head must be small ; his neck thin ; and espe- 

 cially thin beneath ; his crest firm and arched, 

 and his jaws wide. The head will then be well 

 set on. It v/ill form that angle with the neck, 

 which gives a light and pleasant mouth. 



Somewhat of n ewe neck, liowcver it may les- 

 sen the beauty of the race horse, does not inter- 

 fere with his speed, because, as is shewn where 

 the Ktructure of the liorsc is considered, more 

 weight may be thrown forward, and consequently 

 the whole bulk of the animal more easily inqielled ; 

 at the same lime, the head is more readily and 

 perfectly rxtondi'il, the windpipe is brought almost 

 to a straight line from lln- lungs to the muzzle, 

 and the breathing is freer. Should the courser, 

 in conscqucuco of this fiirin of the neck, bear 

 more heavily on the hand, the; race is soon over ; 

 but the hunter may be our companion and our 

 Bcrvapt through a long day, and it is of ossentiul 

 consequcncu that he shall not too much annoy 

 and tire us by the weight of his head and nock. 



is all performed on the turf, and his bad feet may 

 scarcely incommode him ; but the foot of tire 



The body should be short and compact, com- 

 pared with that of the race horse, that he may 

 not in his galloji tivke too extended a stride. This f >. 

 would be a serious disadvantage in a long day { fi" 

 and with a heavy rider, from the stress on the 

 pasterns ; and more serious when going over 

 clayey poached ground during the winter months 

 The compact, short-strided horse will almost ski 

 the surface, while the feet of the longer reached 

 animal will sink deep, and he will wear hinisel 

 out by efforts to disengage himself. 



Every horseman knows how much more endiir 

 ing is a short-bodied horse in climbing hillsalihou^'I 

 perhaps not quite so much in descending them 

 This is the secret of suiting the ract horse to his 

 course ; and unfolds the apiiarent mystery of a 

 decidedly superior horse on a. flat and straiglr 

 course, being often beaten by a little horse, will 

 a far shorter stride on uneven ground, and wit( 

 several turnings. 



The loins should be broad ; — the quarters long 

 — the thighs muscular ; — the hocks well bent, aiu 

 well under the horse. 



The reader needs not be told liow essentia 

 temper and courage are. .\ hot irritable bruti ..■ 

 is a perfect nuisance, and the coward that 

 scarcely face the slightest fence exposes his ownci 

 to ridicule. 



The training of the roce horse lias not beer 

 touched upon. It contains too much mystery 

 and too much absurdity for common understand 

 ings. Tho />nuri'/)/c however of prc]iaring hot! 

 the race horse and the hunter for their work i- 

 the same, and can have tio mystery about it : ri: 

 by physic and by exercise, to get rid of all su 

 pcrfluous fat and flesh, without loo much lower 

 ing the animal ; and, particularly to bring him h\ 

 dint of exercise into good wind, and accuston 

 him to the full trial of his [lowers, without o>cr 

 straining or injuring him. Two or three doses o 

 physic as the season ajiiiroachcs, and these no 

 loo strong ; plenty of good hard meal ; and i 

 daily g«llo|> of a couiile of miles, and at a pace 

 not loo tpiick, will be nearly all that can be re 

 quired. Physic must not be omitted ; but tht 

 three words aiV, fTfrciif,yborf, contain the gram 

 secret and art of training. 



Sonic think thai even the simple process now 

 described is not necessary, and that horses iha 

 are taken up and Wdrkrd in the day, ami with i 

 feed or two of corn, and turned out at night, will 

 an open stable or shed to run into if they please 

 uro OS active, healthy, ami enduring, as those wlu 

 arc most carefiilly trained, ami confined to th( 

 stable during the hunling season. .Many a furnici 

 has boasted, thai he can beat the most numcroui 

 and the best appointed field, and that his liorst 

 never wants wind, and rarely tires. 



It is true that the farmer may enjoy a gooo 

 day's sport on the horse that carries him I i mark- 

 et, or possibly, occasioiuilly ]ierforms more iiicnia 

 drudgery ; but the frothy lather with which sucb 

 a horse is covered in the early part of the da] 

 evinces undeniable inferiority. There is, however 

 one point on which the iinlraiiicd horse lias thf- 



hunter is battered over many a flinty road and ' ndvnnlagc. Accustomed to all weathers, ho rare 



