38 LIGHT HORSES: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



he may be, is certain to receive but very scant attention from 

 judges in the show-ring if his action is defective. Any horse, 

 in fact, loses more than half his value if he fails to " move," 

 and there is just as great a difference in the action of animals 

 as there is variety in the gait of men. The Hackney in one 

 respect stands alone amongst light horses, as he is, so to 

 speak, one movement short, for he rarely gallops and relies 

 entirely upon the trot and walk as methods of locomotion. 

 The former of these gaits is so entirely characteristic of the 

 breed, that one can readily believe the truth of the statement 

 j that many a Hackney can trot faster than he can gallop ; but 

 be this as it may, it must clearly be understood that no pacing 

 by which expression the moving of both legs on the same 

 side of the body simultaneously is implied or ambling is per- 

 missible in the case of a Hackney, whose trot is a trot pure 

 and simple, and unassociated with any eccentric exaggeration 

 whatsoever. In fact, the one, two, three, four, of a true- 

 actioned Hackney as he pounds along is veritable music in 

 the ears of an enthusiast, and no breeder of the horse will 

 ever, it is certain, be prevailed upon to try to do without it. 



Hackney action, however, like everything else in this world, 

 varies in quality, and in this respect, as in all others, judges 

 have been known to differ very materially in their views, 

 though none of any position have ever been known to give a 

 prize to a palpably shoulder-tied horse, and few possibly 

 would ever dream of breeding from the same. As in the case 

 of every other breed, the shoulders, knees, and pasterns are all 

 called upon to contribute to the front action, but in no variety 

 do the shoulders exercise such important functions as in the 

 Hackney, and hence the importance that has been bestowed in 

 the description of his points given above to the length of their 

 bone, which ensures a good and elastic serratus magnus 

 muscle. If a horse does not possess this he can never be 

 free-shouldered, the result being that when he bends his 

 knees, as he should do, it becomes a case of all action and no 

 go, which is absolutely useless for every practical purpose, 



