196 



The Book of the Horse. 



harness class for horses not exceeding 15 hands 2 inches, at the Agricultural Hall in 1872, 

 forms one of the coloured illustrations of this work. Columbine was a brown mare, 15 hands 

 \\ inches high, very fast — in fact, so fast that her owner was unable to match her — and very 

 grand in her slow paces. The price put upon her was 400 guineas. 



In making these observations, I am taking it for granted that a horse is required for 

 pleasure. If you want nothing better than a mere drawing-machine, the cab-horse of a four- 

 wheeler will serve your purpose. 



The extremes of vile action may be found on the racecourse and in a funeral procession 



TKOTTINU. 



— in race-horses that extend their fore-legs as straight as crutches, and kick every pebble in 

 their way when they walk ; and in the solemn, much-maned, long-tailed, herring-gutted, black 

 Hanoverians, that bend their knees up to the curb-chain, and flourish their feet while making 

 the least possible progress in a slow funeral procession or rapid return from the grave. 



A horse with really good action moves eacli of his four legs evenly, bringing the hind 

 legs well under him at every movement ; but this is a fine degree of machine movement long 

 sought and seldom found. To say that a horse moves all round is to sny a great deal in 

 his favour. Hearse-horses to the eyes of a horseman arc brutes, but tlu)' do their dut}' in 

 the state to which the)' have been assigned to the perfect satisfaction of the people who use 

 them. Racehorses, with the most wretched walking and trotting action, often gallop fast and 

 win races, which is all their trade requires them to do. And there arc hunters, too, the most 

 generally useful class of horses, that cannot walk decently. Jack-a-Dand)-, the best horse of 



