I'liot" by (i. A. Tadinan. 



Hackney stallion. Royal Danegelt 5785, owned by Sir Walter Gilbey, 

 Elsenham Hall. Essex. Winner of championsliip at London Hackney Show, 

 1898, and at the Manchester show of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eng- 

 land in ]8'.)7. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE HACKNEY HORSE 



T^HE HACKNEY was established in Great Britain as a breed to meet the require- 

 ments f(»r a horse of extreme smoothness, with gracefully curved outlines, 

 liaving the action necessary to show these to the best advantage. The head 

 is light, neck muscular and curved but free from heaviness; siioulders smooth 

 and laid well back ; body circular, compact, short; hips smooth; cjuartcrs plump 

 with muscle, legs short with tendons clearly defined. Their action is noted for its 

 straightness and height, and the regularity of knee and hock movement. Tiicre is 

 a variation in tlie types of the breed, some showing more upstanding with abun- 

 dance of quality and straighter lines, while others are shorter limbed, fuller made 

 and especially strong in action from a carriage standpoint. The secretary of the 

 Hackney Horse Association of Great Britain has summed up the general descrip- 

 tion of the hackney which, as he says, fitted old style and new ideal, in the follow- 

 ing : "A powerfully built, sliort legged, big, broad horse, with an intelligent liead, 

 neat neck, strong, level back, powerful lines and as perfect shoulders as can be 

 produced; good feet, flat boned legs, and height of from 16 3' hands to]r).3'2. In 

 addition to showing a type required for a carriage horse, the hackney must pos- 

 sess as a necessary essential true carriage or coach action. 



