CHAPTER IX 



STEEPLECHASE AND HURDLE RACE HORSES 



Experience shows that some sires get jumpers and 

 that others do not, that many which might be expected 

 to succeed are failures, and that the reverse is equally 

 the case. To some small extent breeding may thus 

 be a guide ; but one can never tell, and the broad 

 rule is this, that if a man wants a jumper and has 

 or knows of a horse that "looks like jumping," it 

 will be judicious to have him schooled and note the 

 results. That many horses which "look like jump- 

 ing " will prove the deceptiveness of appearances is 

 inevitable, and to a slighter extent the opposite is 

 true. One searches specially for good shoulders, as 

 without them a horse is likely to pitch on landing ; he 

 must have propelling power also, and depth through 

 the heart is most desirable ; but at the same time, it 

 is astonishing how on occasions weedy little animals 

 win big steeplechases, though they will generally be 

 found on examination to possess good points which 

 are likely to escape the casual observer. This was 



