THE HACK. 11 



horse, the manners of a perfect gentleman, and at least two 

 good paces, both easy a square walk over four miles an hour, 

 and a square trot of eight miles an hour or a very slow 

 canter, performed quite on the haunches. "With these merits, 

 a cob of a proper sober colour is worth at least two hundred 

 guineas to a dealer, and to the dealer, when a heavy-weighted 

 millionaire comes to him in despair, any price he chooses to 

 ask. No less a sum than 400 has been given for a perfect 

 cob fit to carry a rider weighing seventeen stone. But such 

 cobs are the few and far between exceptions more difficult to 

 find than even a heavy-weight hunter, because they are only 

 bred by chance, as it were ; though there is no reason why 

 they should not be bred with some degree of certainty. 



It has been remarked, that the vulgar idea of a cob is a 

 diminutive cart-horse, and that such, even if without action, 

 but if very fat and not absolutely hideous, are constantly sold 

 to ignorant people with plenty of money in their pockets, at 

 double their worth, because they fancy that thick legs (per- 

 haps carefully shaved) and a fat body imply strength. One of 

 the best tests recommended for a weight-carrying cob is to try 

 if he can walk down a steep hill with a heavy weight on his 

 back, and a loose rein. 



The second kind of cob, the ordinary sort, if he is sound, 

 has substance, can carry fourteen stone, move at a fair pace, 

 with useful though not showy action, and will go in harness, 

 should be worth a price ranging between 50 and 100. 



Cobs, as distinguished from park hacks, are of the generally 

 useful class, so-called because of their weight, which enables 

 them to pull a loaded carriage. 



It is supposed to be a disadvantage to a saddle cob to have 

 been in harness, for it is said that those riders who are fastidi- 

 ous will not, if they know it, buy one that has ever been in a 

 collar ; but, as has been also noted, since such animals are, in 

 nine cases out of ten, bred by chance, and work their way 



