86 THE COMPLETE HORSEMAN 



nected with showing naturally detects little 

 flaws — it is almost too much to insist that they 

 are faults — that an ordinary fair judge would 

 never look out for. It may be said — indeed it 

 has been said more than once — that there is a 

 danger of too much importance being placed 

 on mere ' showyard points/ to the neglect of 

 other and more important qualities. This per- 

 haps may be the case, but it is a difficult 

 subject and one that brings about much argu- 

 ment in a vicious circle. The contention which 

 is freely used, viz. that many breeds of dogs have 

 been sacrificed to the undue importance given to 

 show points and that if care is not taken the 

 same will happen with horses is easily answered 

 by the fact that all our breeds of horses are re- 

 quired to ' move on ' and to keep ' moving 

 on.' That in a word we require in them pace, 

 and stamina, and power to carry or to draw a 

 reasonable weight. When they come to a proper 

 age we see that our hunters and harness horses 

 are tried by these standards, and if they fail to 

 come up to them — well, they don't win prizes. 



An ordinary groom is scarcely fit to be trusted 

 with show horses. They require special treat- 

 ment, and as I have already hinted, a superior 

 horseman to be about them and to show them. 

 I shall perhaps be told of an ordinary groom who 

 is a very fine showman. My reply is that though 

 for some reason or another he may be in an 

 ordinary place, he is by no means an ordinary 

 man. Really good showmen are few and far 



