Steppers Scarce. 241 



in the Park, but always after the gay throng had disappeared. Earl Russell, of all men in 

 the world, has described (in 1836) the Row and the Town out of season, in lines beginning :■ — 



" Remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow, 

 A single horseman faces Rotten Row ; 

 In Brooks's sits one quidnunc, to peru=ie 

 The broad dull sheet which tells the lack of news ; 

 At White's a lonely Brummel hfts his glass 

 To see two empty hackney coaches pass." 



PARK HARNESS HORSES — MAIL PH.-XETON PAIRS — STEPPERS. 



The mail phaeton of the pre-railway generation required a pair of powerful horses, nearly 

 if not quite 16 hands high. The modern phaetons, which have taken the place of that ponderous 

 carriage so useful and pleasant in its way, intended either for country use or park parades, 

 are so much lighter that full-sized horses are quite out of place in them. A phaeton of 

 suitable size may be perfectly well horsed in every respect by horses of from 14 hands 3 inches 

 to 15 hands i inch. When a pair of horses are used for several purposes— to draw a full-sized 

 brougham or landau, as well as a mail phaeton — 15 hands 2 inches may be found a more 

 useful size. Beyond that height, unless exceedingly well-bred, it is difficult to find horses 

 which are pleasant for a gentleman to drive. 



Harness horses to be used in the Park ought to be, above all, ornamental ; if simple utility 

 for country use is all that is required, it is easy to get horses which, without being by any 

 means exactly matched in size or character — they must be matched in pace — will go together 

 pleasantly enough for all ordinary purposes ; but if you aspire to make a good appearance, 

 not to say sensation, in the fashionable circles of London or Paris, then you have a task be- 

 fore you which requires a good deal of knowledge on your own side or on the part of the man 

 you trust to buy for you, not a little trouble, and plenty of money. 



Sensation horses — that is, steppers in the Park meaning of the phrase— are very scarce. One 

 of the notabilities of London as the owner and driver of this particular class of horses— a 

 gentleman who has won prizes year after year at every show where classes were opened for 

 harness-horses — to whom I applied for information, answered, " I always purchase a really good 

 stepper of the size I use when I meet one, whether I want it or not, if he (or she) is fairly 

 sound, and seems to have a good-wearing constitution, because this class of horse is so scarce. 

 I do not meet with a superior stepper, of which I have not heard before, once in a year. 

 They are scarce, because, in order to be of the first class they require such an extraordinary 

 combination of qualities— ihat is to say, high true action, beauty when harnessed, good mouths, 

 courage, and fine temper. The last quality is essential, because horses that are to be driven, 

 and driven slowly, in crowds, must know how to behave themselves in the society of other 

 ' gentlemanly ' horses. 



"A superior stepper, if he does not die, is not an expensive horse in one point of view, 

 because, if fairly bought, you can always sell a horse with a reputation at a profit ; and this 

 rule still more applies when you have succeeded in matching a pair. There are always 

 persons willing to pay an extraordinary price for harness-horses, if they are unquestionably the 

 best article of the kind. A nonpareil phaeton pair is much easier to sell at 400, 502, and 

 600 guineas, than a pair of ordinary useful ones that have cost ^So each. And a pair of horses 

 F F 



