586 THE TROTTER. 



the surface and gave it to the Horse. The animal tried to push away the chaff and get his nose 

 into the mash, but was unable to do so, and when he tried to draw the liquid into his mouth, 

 the chaff flew into his throat and nearly choked him. Being baffled, he paused awhile, and 

 then pulled a lock of hay from the rack. Pushing the hay through the chaff, he contrived to 

 suck the liquid mash through the insterstices until the hay was saturated with moisture. He 

 then ate the piece of hay, pulled another lock from the rack, and repeated the process until 

 he had finished his mash. 



Like the Race Horse and the Hunter, the Hackney or Eoad Hokse is obtained by 

 judicious breeding, and is said by Mr. Youatt to be "more difficult to find than even the 

 hunter or the courser. There are several faults that may be overlooked in the hunter, but 

 which the Road Horse must not have. The former may start, may be awkward in his walk or 

 even his trot, he may have thrushes or corns ; but if he can go a good slapping pace, and has 

 wind and bottom, we can put up with him and prize him. But the Hackney, if he is worth 

 having, must have good fore legs and good hinder ones, too ; he must be sound on his feet, 

 even-tempered, no starter, quiet in whatever situation he may be placed, not heavy in hand, 

 and never disposed to fall on his knees. A Hackney is far more valuable for the pleasantness 

 of his paces and his safety, good temper and endurance, than for his speed. We rarely want 

 to go more than eight or ten miles an hour, and on a journey not more than six or seven. The 

 fast Horses, and especially the fast trotters, are not even in their paces, and although they 

 may perform very extraordinary feats, are disabled and worthless when the slower Horse is in 

 his prime." 



The same author, to whose valuable work on the Horse the reader is referred as a treasury 

 of valuable information, proceeds to observe that pure blood is disadvantageous to a Hackney, 

 as it gives small hoofs, slender legs, and a long stride, each of which qualities would be hurtful 

 on the hard stony road. There should, however, be a spice of high breeding in the animal, 

 the amount to be regulated by the country in which it lives and the work which it has to 

 perform. 



When properly managed and kindly treated, the Hackney is a most intelligent animal, 

 displaying a singularly excellent memory. This extraordinary memory of the Horse has often 

 proved serviceable to its owner, and in many instances has been made the means of saving his 

 life. An ordinary Hackney had been ridden to a spot far from home, very difficult to 

 find, and into which neither he nor his rider had previously been. Two years afterwards, 

 the same journey was repeated, but at a distance of three or four miles from his destination 

 the night closed in and the rain poured in torrents. Having entirely lost his way, the rider in 

 despair flung the reins on his Horse' s neck, and left him to his own desires. The intelligent 

 animal proved himself equal to the trust which was reposed in him, and in half-an-hour drew 

 up at the house which his master was visiting. 



The power of the well-bred Hackney may be imagined from the following feat, recorded 

 in the above-mentioned work : 



"A mare w T as matched to trot one hundred miles in ten hours and a half. She was one of 

 those rare animals that could do almost anything as a hack, a hunter, or in harness. On one 

 occasion, after having, in following the hounds and travelling to and from course, gone through 

 at least sixty miles of country, she fairly ran away with her rider over several ploughed fields. 

 She accomplished the match in ten hours and fourteen minutes, or deducting thirteen minutes 

 for stoppages, in ten hours and a minute's actual work, and thus gained the victory. She 

 was a little tired, and being turned into a horse-box, lost no time in taking her rest. On the 

 following day she was as full of life and spirit as ever. The owner had given positive orders 

 to the driver to stop at once on her showing decided symptoms of distress, as he valued her 

 more than anything lie could gain by her enduring actual suffering." 



Our country has long been celebrated for the excellence of its Trotting Horses, and we 

 have succeeded in obtaining a breed of Horses that are intended exclusively for that pace. In 

 America the trot is the only pace that is valued, and the energies of the animal are all directed 



