LIGHTER CARRIAGE AND SADDLE HORSES. 597 . 



liant eyes, the delicate muzzle, the expanded nostrils, and 

 the wide throat, characteristic of their Eastern progenitors. 

 Their light body is comparatively long, and suited to the ex- 

 tended stride. Their chest is deep, so as to give due space 

 to the lungs, but comparatively narrow, so as not to over- 

 load the fore extremities, and throw the limbs too far asun- 

 der in the gallop. Their shoulder is oblique, to give free- 

 dom of motion to the humerus ; and their haunch is long and 

 deep beyond that of any other known race of Horses, indi- 

 cating the length of those bones of the hinder extremities on 

 which the power of progression essentially depends. 



The HUNTER, so named from the gay and exciting exer- 

 cise to which he is destined, is rather to be regarded as form- 

 ing a class than a breed, since different varieties of horses, if 

 they possess sufficient speed and bottom, may be used for the 

 chase. The modern Hunter, like the Race-Horse, is derived 

 from the pre-existing races of the country ; but, in place of 

 a direct mixture with the Horses of the East, he has gene- 

 rally had the property of blood communicated to him through 

 the intervention of the Race-Horse. This variety presents a 

 greater diversity of characters than the Race-Horse. The 

 individuals are made to breed less exclusively with their fel- 

 lows, and a less jealous attention is paid, in the breeding of 

 them, to purity of descent. They do not require the power 

 of rapid progression in the same degree as the Race-Horse, 

 but they demand the possession of properties in which he 

 may be, and often is, greatly deficient ; namely, action, and 

 the power of enduring fatigue. Any good saddle-horse may 

 be a hunter, and the Hunter therefore does not form an ex- 

 clusive caste like the Race-Horse, but a class into which any 

 kind of horse may be admitted which possesses the proper- 

 ties required. The true English Hunter must be regarded 

 as a saddle-horse of the first-class, combining, in the propor- 

 tion required, the strength of the races of Northern Europe 

 with the spirit and fleetness of those of the South and East. 

 Not only are these strong and elegant horses employed in 



