f ' v 



THE HACK. 





CHAPTER VII 

 THE HACK. 



SIR FRANCIS HEAD tells us that " to metamorphose a hack 

 into a hunter is chiefly effected by the bridle ; " and it may be- 

 equally true that the bridle has not a little to do with changing 

 the hunter into a hack. At any rate the majority of hunting 

 men prefer as a hack a horse built on the lines of a hunter. 

 After being accustomed to plenty of length in front of the 

 saddle, to good sloping shoulders, and the swinging action of 

 the hunter, it is scarcely possible to bring one's self to ride a 

 little roly-poly cob, short in front, and with high quick action. 



For quiet riding on the roads one does not, of course, 

 require a horse up to as much weight as the hunter ridden in 

 the winter ; but for most tastes the hack must be on hunter 

 lines, even though we come down to the i4-hand polo pony. 

 For park work we may desire more action than we should 

 care about in the hunting field ; but if anyone will visit the 

 Row day after day during the London season he will see that 

 high-stepping hacks are by no means common. The horse 

 show hack is frequently an animal quite sui generis he com- 

 monly bears about as much resemblance to the working hack 

 as does the English nobleman in the opera " Marta " to mem- 

 bers of the peerage as seen in ordinary life. 



The cob appears to be, now-a-days, a nondescript sort oi 

 animal ; and it is only here and there that one is seen which 

 conforms to the requirements of a perfect hack. Even at the 

 best of the horse shows nearly all the cobs are wide-chested, 



