42 ITNASKED ADVICE. 



lost to posterity. On tlie otlier liand^ let liiin be a bad 

 feeder_, infirm in temper and on liis legs — let liim be a 

 savage in tlie stable and a practical joker out of it, and, 

 as they '^ go in all forms/^ let liim be as bad a sliaped 

 one as is compatible with his ever having been bought 

 or kept at all — but give him the power of staying at his 

 best pace, and let that be a good one, for a long dis- 

 tance — he will be the apple of his trainer^s eye, watched 

 by touts, criticised by " special commissioners,^^ idolised 

 by his master and his master^s friends ; and if he have 

 the luck, assisted by all the skill in training that Eng- 

 land can produce, and by the best of riding, to run well 

 in good company, all his faults will be forgiven him. If 

 he wins a big race he will be the lion of the year, and 

 when he is hopelessly screwed up — a consummation to 

 be looked for at latest about his fifth year — he will 

 be a popular sire, licensed to transmit all his faults to 

 posterity, and forgiven for so doing if with them he 

 passes on his speed and staying powers. He may be 

 the sire of successful racers, but he can hardly be said 

 to improve the breed of horses. Of course no horse is 

 the worse for being good-looking, though many winners 

 have been out-of-the-way plain ones. Theorists will 

 say a racer must have certain attributes, such as good 

 shoulders, girth, back and loins, hocks, &c. How often, 

 though, they can perform when possessed of no qualities 

 taking to the eye ; and who thinks of their looks then, 

 unless later in life they may have the misfortune to 

 appear at a " horse show ? '^ and even there, if the judges 

 do not approve of them, the public probably will ; while 

 if the crowd of spectators pronounce them to be brutes, 

 they may calculate with some certainty on receiving- 

 prizes, or at least honourable mention, at the hands of 



