AND THE COCK-TAIL. 29 



It may not be out of place here to give the 

 definition of a racing cock-tail. This term means, 

 as applied to the horse, that the animal is not 

 clean or thorough-bred, that is, he has some little 

 stain in his pedigree, when traced so far back as 

 the great-grandam or sire, or, perhaps, the great- 

 great-grandam or sire; that is, one or the other 

 of those, certainly not both, had some little flaw 

 in its pedigree, but of so trifling a nature, that, 

 if the cock-tail has good action, and is upon the 

 whole well formed, more particularly over his 

 chest, his wind, which is of the most material 

 consequence, can be brought to the greatest 

 perfection, so that the difference between him 

 and the thorough-bred horse scarcely at times 

 amounts to a distinction, as the former in run- 

 ning will occasionally beat the latter. Indeed, 

 the main object of attending to the breeding of 

 this description of horse is principally to qualify 

 him to enter and run with other half-bred horses, 

 and which he is certainly entitled to do, unless 

 the drawing up of the articles for a hunter's 

 plate or stakes should be so worded, as to shut 

 such a horse out of the race. And, although, 

 a cock-taJl horse, in the common acceptation of 

 the word, is not thorough-bred, yet he is so near 

 to being so, as to be able to beat any casually 



