MODERATELY-SIZED HORSES PREFERRED. 117 



flat racing, and the small foot is often the result of contraction 

 brought on by disease. As horses sometimes get lame from 

 diseases of the feet, it is best to purchase those only that 

 appear sound in this respect, and without malformation, 

 unless a proportionate sum be taken off — a concession many 

 demand, as before mentioned. For the stud, or running, I 

 should prefer moderately-sized horses — about fifteen hands 

 one or two inches high, standing straight on their legs ; but if 

 bent either way at their knees, forward rather than backward, 

 as in the latter case they are more liable to break down. The 

 toes should stand straight on the feet : but if they be 

 turned either way it is preferable to buy horses whose toes 

 turn out, which is an indication of speed, rather than those 

 whose toes turn in, which indicates slowness, 



A really good big horse is probably better than a really 

 good small one ; but as a rule you may get fifty good small 

 horses for one good large one, and the former will and do run 

 well after the latter has been put to the stud. Bay Middkton 

 and Elis, two exceedingly good racehorses, were both failures 

 at the stud, having left the turf early ; whilst Venison, com- 

 paratively a pony, was good at both. His son, Joe Miller, 

 was also a pony ; and Dulcibella and Weatherbound very 

 little bigger. 



A good big horse may beat a good little one over a short 

 course, or even at a mile or so ; but I think at three or four 

 miles a good little one would beat the best big one I ever saw. 

 Canierine was perhaps, in her own or any other day, the best 

 four-mile mare, and Touchstone probably the best long-distance 

 horse. The former, after winning a race over the Beacon 

 course (four miles), ran through Newmarket on to the Bury 

 hills (the other side of the town) before she could be stopped. 

 Neither of these horses stood, 1 should think, over fifteen 



