THE HACKNEY HORSE. 49 



by the chestnut Vigorous, dam Lady Kitty, by Jackson's 

 Quicksilver. Singularly enough, the county of Norfolk that 

 home of the Hackney horse has never owned a champion at 

 any of the Society's Shows until the year 1892, when M.P. 

 won. This colt, whose great point is unquestionably the 

 exceptionally fine quality which he possesses, is a son of 

 Mr. Henry Moore's first champion Candidate, now the 

 property of Mr. Burdett-Coutts, but who won his great 

 Islington triumph when shown by his owner and breeder, 

 Mr. Moore. In addition to Vigorous, East Anglia also 

 possessed a notable stallion in Mr. C. E. Cooke's chestnut 

 Cadet, a horse who, if he had never done anything else, 

 would have gained enduring fame as sire of the famous chest- 

 nut filly Pepita. Sir Walter Gilbey's County Member, too, a 

 grand fore-actioned horse and good-looking to boot, stands, 

 as does Reality, on the borders of East Anglia proper, and 

 apart from his big achievements in the show ring will always 

 be remembered as the sire of the champion mare, Nora. Sir 

 Walter Gilbey, too, is happy in the possession of Danegelt, 

 1 74 by Denmark, admittedly the most successful Hackney sire 

 of the age, and a horse that would have done well in the show 

 ring had he been more frequently exhibited than he was. 

 Having mentioned the names of the above horses as illus- 

 trations of the truth of the old saying that like breeds like, 

 sufficient attention has been drawn to the advisability of 

 breeding from good-looking sires in preference to plain ones, 

 so long as the blood is right, and the value of the Hackney as 

 a cross for other breeds may now be considered. 



It may be rank heresy to express such an opinion, but one 

 cannot help expressing the conviction, that Hackney blood, if 

 properly and intelligently made use of, would be extremely 

 likely to improve the breed of modern hunters. Earl Spencer, 

 at all events, for one, appears to have this view, and his 

 experiments will undoubtedly be followed with interest by 

 breeders. Why the Hackney should be decried as a hunter 

 sire it is hard to see, unless the fear exists in some minds that 

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