HORSES. 



499 



wise exerted great influence upon the breed. From him were directly descended 

 " Flying Childers " and " Bartlett's Childers " ; while from the latter was derived 

 " Eclipse," the fastest horse which has ever run on the turf. The horses descended 

 from the latter are designated the Eclipse-line. The third horse was the " Godolphin 

 Barb," born about 1724; from whose grandson, " Matchem," is derived the name of 

 the third great line of English race-horses. It should be remembered that both 

 " Herod," " Eclipse," and " Matchem " were closely related to one another ; and it 

 is only the descendants of the breed thus produced to which the term " thorough- 

 bred " applies. The form of the race-horse is designed solely for speed, and cannot 

 be taken as a model of equine beauty; the frequent presence of a "ewe-neck" 

 detracting from perfect symmetry. Neither are such horses safe to ride. They 

 have the broad forehead, brilliant eyes, delicate muzzle, expanded nostrils, and wide 

 throat of the Arab and the Barb ; while the body is long and light, with the last 

 rib widely separated from the pelvis. The chest is deep but narrow, thus affording 

 due space for the lungs without making the fore-limbs too wide apart. The 

 obliquity of the shoulder gives full play to the upper part of the leg ; while the 

 extreme length of the haunch, and the elongated hind-limbs, with their long sloping 

 pasterns, are essentially adapted for the maximum development of speed. The 

 most common colour is bright bay or brown, with black legs, mane, and tail ; 

 but chestnut is not unfrequent. Black and grey are rarer; while dun, roan, or 

 piebald but seldom occur. 



The English hunter has been produced by infusing the blood of 



HuiitGrs, 6tc. . , 



the race-horse with the native races to a larger or smaller degree ; 

 but it does not form an exclusive breed like the racer. Indeed, any good riding- 

 horse may be a hunter. The requisite qualities of the hunter are strength, good 

 action, and the power of enduring fatigue, coupled with a speed second only to 

 that of the race-horse. The neck must be muscular, and the chest of sufficient 

 breadth to indicate strength without being heavy. The long stride of the racer 

 not being needed, the body should be comparatively short and well " ribbed home," 

 that is to say the last rib should be close to the pelvis. The legs should also be 

 relatively shorter and stouter. In fact, the English hunter may be described as 

 the perfect development of the horse. In Germany the half-bred or three-quarter- 

 bred horse in use as a hunter is commonly known as the Trakehner, and is repre- 

 sented in our illustration. From half-bred horses of the hunter type there is a 

 complete transition to the ordinary saddle and carriage-horses, which, although 

 formerly with but little or no foreign blood in them, now generally exhibit more 

 or less breeding. The Cleveland bay is the most highly esteemed English carriage- 

 breed ; and has been produced by mingling thorough-bred blood with a native 

 horse of stouter build than the one selected as the stock for the hunter. 



With regard to the length a horse can leap, " Chandler's " big 



Leaping Powers. L ° 



jump at Warwick in 1847 is still the subject of occasional discussion. 



The distance was variously measured : and for a number of years was thought to 



have been 39 feet, but the editor of the sporting paper in which the record was first 



published afterwards explained that this was a printer's error, and thai the distance 



was in reality 37 feet. This in itself is big enough : so big, in fact, that there are 



many horsemen in England who will regard it as exaggerated. The portion of the 



