36 LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



a Hackney as a heavy one, the former usually denoting an 

 absence of resolution combined with softness ; whilst the 

 latter is frequently accompanied by a sullen, dogged tempera- 

 ment, which is altogether opposed to the true nature of the 

 horse. In short, in dealing with the head of this class of 

 animal, the general symmetry of its conformation should be 

 studiously regarded, and, therefore, although a small head 

 is always an attraction, and most properly so, it is ridiculous 

 to encourage one that would suit a 14 hands horse when 

 it appears in a Hackney six or eight inches taller. The ears 

 should be small and pointed, although animals have won 

 prizes adorned with organs of hearing that would scarcely 

 have disgraced a lop-eared rabbit, whilst a neat though well- 

 defined crest is undoubtedly a great beauty in the case of a 

 stallion. 



The neck should be of fair length, nicely bent, and rather 

 thick at the setting-on, though free from coarseness ; whilst 

 the chest must be wide, and let down behind the forearms so 

 as to allow plenty of space for the heart and lungs. 



The shoulders of the Hackney, as in the case of all riding 

 horses, should be free from all that superfluous lumber which 

 only brings coarseness in its train ; they should lay well back, 

 and the bones should be long enough, forming as they do the 

 attachment of the muscle serratus magnus, which connects the 

 fore limbs and trunk. If these bones are small the muscles 

 must necessarily be short, and long muscles alone can afford 

 that flexibility and liberty of shoulder action which is so 

 characteristic of the Hackney. 



The back must be long enough to allow plenty of room 

 before and behind the saddle, and also very level and strong, 

 whilst the loins should be compact and the quarters long and 

 as powerful as possible without being coarse or of that coachy 

 type which is so distasteful to many judges. The middle 

 piece of the HacKney is ver, level above and below, the ribs 

 being well sprung and the back ones ol a n^ce length, so as to 

 provide those indications of strength which are abvays to be 

 eagerly sought after. 



