34 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



but she lived to serve both Mr. Daniel and the Re:v. Dr. 

 Astly well, eventually dying suddenly in the last-named 

 gentleman's possession. A grandson of Phenomena appears 

 in the Hackney Society's Stud Book under the name of Phe- 

 nomenon (Jacobs), 578. 



So much for a brief review of the past history, pedigree 

 and performances of the Hackney horse, which review 

 might readily have been greatly extended had the amount of 

 space available for the present chapter been larger than it is. 

 It is, however, now necessary to offer some observations upon 

 the modern horse, not with the idea of comparing him with 

 the heroes of bygone generations, but rather with a view to 

 describe the position which he occupies, the uses to which 

 he may be put, and the form in which he most frequently 

 occurs. That many Hackneys of the present day have lost 

 a great deal of the old character is a fact that must have 

 impressed itself somewhat strongly upon the minds of those 

 who have studied the ancient and modern types of animal, 

 but it must, at the same time, be equally apparent to all that 

 such alteration as has been effected is easily to be accounted 

 for by the fact that the present horse is put to far different 

 duties from those upon which his ancestors were employed. 

 No heavily-built farmer or, indeed, any other person in full 

 possession of his senses would, in these enlightened days, 

 ever think of escorting his buxom better-half to market 

 perched on a pillion behind his saddle ; and even if such an 

 idea was to enter the head of some eccentric individual, it 

 is to the highest degree improbable that the lady would be a 

 consenting party to the arrangement. Consequently, there 

 can be no serious objection raised against the contention of 

 Mr. H. F. Euren that the advent of railways affected the 

 production of the Hackney horse. Long journeys are now 

 svery whit as great events in a man's career, if conducted 

 upon horseback, as they were half-a-century ago, when 

 negotiated by train ; and therefore it is not surprising 

 that the more powerfully-built stallions have of late years 



