HORSE FOR GRASS COUNTRIES 257 



of hunters come from Ireland, or are said to do so ; 

 some from Yorkshire, others from Lincolnshire. Com- 

 paratively few are bred in the last-named county- 

 nowadays. There are, and always have been, some 

 good horses bred in Shropshire, and I have been 

 told that there are worse mounts than a Herefordshire- 

 bred horse that has been schooled over that country. 

 I have seen a few good ones out of Devon, and I hope 

 that I shall not be accused of riding a hobby too 

 hard if I say that in these wilder countries it is 

 the admixture of pony blood that makes the horses 

 what they are. I think this was pointed out by G. S. L. 

 in some admirable papers on hunter breeding in 

 the Field. I did not then, I am sorry to say, bind 

 my Fields as I do now, so I cannot refer to them. 

 But for any one with access to a file of that journal, 

 the papers are well worth reading. 



Of course the question arises, " How should a horse 

 be bred for the Shires ? " Probably the best horse 

 of all would be a thoroughbred horse, and there have 

 undoubtedly been some excellent hunters of that 

 class. But they are very few, and when such horses 

 are found they command very high prices. The 

 ordinary light, rather weedy blood horse is not a 

 favourite. He is rather apt not to rise at his fences, 

 and he has not the weight to crash through a thorn 

 fence, and his delicate skin makes him rather shy 

 of thorns. He is sometimes fretful and uncertain in 

 his temper. Nevertheless I can remember one good 

 one. He was bought for a small sum as a three 

 year-old out of a selling race, in which he ran fourth. 

 Falling into judicious hands, he was made quiet and 

 reasonable by careful hacking and steady light work 

 about a farm. In the course of his daily rides he 

 learned the rudiments of fencing and, when five years 



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