.94 THE HUNTER. 



at the pace they now run, are always difficult to 

 be procured, and ought to command large prices. 

 The stamp of animal most approved of for this pur- 

 pose, is the short-legged, thick, but well-bred horse, 

 not exceeding sixteen hands in height, but appear- 

 ing, to the eye, half a hand below that standard. 

 As for his general appearance, it is " handsome is, 

 that handsome does," in this case ; and we must 

 not look for beauty in all his points. 



Having now described each individual external 

 part of the horse essential to his being a good hun- 

 ter, we shall, in a few words, exhibit him to the 

 reader's view in what we consider his best form. 

 He should have a light head, well put on, with a 

 firm, but not a long neck ; lengthy, and conse- 

 quently oblique, shoulders, with very capacious 

 chest, and great depth of girth ; a long, muscular 

 fore-arm, coming well out of the shoulder, the elbow 

 parallel with the body, neither inclining inward nor 

 outward ; a short cannon or shank, with large ten- 

 dons and sinews, forming a flat, not round leg ; an 

 oblique pastern, rather long than short, and an open 

 circular foot ; the back of moderate length, with 

 well-developed loins and fillets, and deep ribs, 

 making what is termed by sportsmen a good " spur- 

 place." From the loins to the setting on of the 

 tail, the line should be carried on almost straight, 

 or rounded only in a very slight degree. Thus the 

 haunch will be most oblique, and will produce a 

 corresponding obliquity in the thigli bone, which 

 formation is peculiarly characteristic of the well 

 bred horse. The dock of the tail should be large, 



