74 THE COMPLETE HORSEMAN 



such a horse as I am speaking of could have been 

 found anywhere in Yorkshire or Norfolk — to 

 use the old adage, * at any town end/ The 

 Hackney originally was a ride and drive horse 

 and the Horse that is to be found in Nimrod's 

 Horses and Hounds and which is reproduced 

 here is a capital type, and one that the man 

 who wants a general purpose horse will do well 

 to keep in his eye. 



The modern hackney, as has already been 

 noticed, is bred upon altogether different lines, 

 and unless a man is a pretty good judge of a 

 horse he had better leave the Hackney out of 

 the question when buying a horse of this kind. 

 For, if he does not the probability is that how- 

 ever well his new purchase ma}^ please him in 

 harness, he will not be found a very comfortable 

 ride. It must always be kept in view that 

 extravagant knee action and comfort in the saddle 

 are not compatible. 



The man who aspires to a general purpose 

 horse will be well advised not to get one too 

 big, by which I mean too tall. There is of course 

 no hard-and-fast rule on this subject of height, 

 but personally, for a ride and drive horse I prefer 

 15 hands 2 inches to 15 hands 3 inches, 15 

 hands i inch to 15 hands 2 inches, and 15 hands 

 to any of the three. A horse 16 hands high 

 I consider outsized, but that is only a matter 

 of personal opinion. 



Of course the weight that the horse will 

 have to carry and the weight of the conveyance 



