THE HACKNEY HORSE. 37 



The fore legs should be short and very powerful, the arms 

 being big and muscular, the joints large and the bone below 

 the knee plentiful and flat ; whilst the pasterns should be of a 

 fair length, so as to yield elasticity in action, and the feet of 

 good size and placed straight on under the legs. 



The hind legs should possess powerful sound thighs, strong, 

 well-bent hocks, and ample bone, whilst the tail, which is 

 set on rather high, should be carried gaily when the horse is 

 fully extended. 



The above short delineation of the leading points of a Hack- 

 ney may be taken as detailing the chief characteristics of a 

 successful show animal, but the merit of the description lies, 

 in the words of Captain Cuttle, in the application of the same. 

 So many different people view the same features from differ- 

 ent points of view, that in arriving at a decision upon the 

 properties of a horse, two judges, although entirely in unison 

 as regards what they want to find, will often entirely disagree 

 as to what points importance should be attached to when 

 called upon to give expression to their ideas in public. Two 

 excellent authorities have even been known to differ upon the 

 comparatively easy question of bone, the one avowing that 

 although the horse was just a trifle light below the knee, he 

 still possessed enough for all practical purposes, whilst his 

 colleague declared that the animal was a weed and wholly 

 unworthy of a prize. Some explanation is, therefore, forth- 

 coming by the publication of this incident, that will readily 

 account for the reversal of the decision made by one judge, 

 by another gentleman whose views are known to be in har- 

 mony with his views. Briefly, therefore, it may be taken that 

 in judging Hackneys, two experts, although possessing iden- 

 tical opinions regarding the points of the breed, may yet fail 

 signally in attempting to reconcile their practical application 

 of the ideas they hold. 



The structural development of the Hackney having been 

 considered, a no less important property belonging to the 

 breed must now be referred to, as a trotter, however speedy 



