52 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



predate the merits of the thoroughbred type of horse 

 as a hack. 



It is true that we will probably never learn to 

 love the canter as much as the English do, because 

 the majority of our roads and bridle-paths are too 

 hard to indulge in that gait to any great extent. 

 Even though the bridle-paths may eventually be im- 

 proved, even though laws may be passed to provide a 

 soft passage alongside of our principal highways, and 

 pubhc-minded citizens cut "rides" through their 

 estates and woods, we can hardly hope to imitate the 

 wonderful cantering turf that England and Ireland 

 possess. Can we ever duplicate the miles on miles 

 of grassy woodland avenues through Windsor forest, 

 or the " Downs" of springy English turf that stretch 

 from Buckinghamshire to the sea? England will 

 always be the Horseman's Paradise ! But the fact that 

 we may have to trot our hacks more often than the 

 English do and indulge in the pleasure of cantering 

 less often will not necessarily make it impossible for 

 us to appreciate the merits of the thoroughbred hack, 

 once we have learned to love him. 



If our arguments in favor of the thoroughbred type 

 of horse have seemed inadequate, it is because, after all 

 is said and done, the highest qualities of what consti- 

 tute a good hack are most difficult to express because 

 they are almost intangible. The high head, peacocky 

 appearance and harnessy trot of the Kentucky horse 

 may, perhaps, seem but trifles on which to condemn 

 him, but trifles though they may be, they nevertheless 

 constitute the sum total of what makes a real saddle 

 horse and what does not. It's the difference of "feel" 

 between the two types of horses that really matters, 

 and once having learned the "feel" of a thoroughbred 



