38 



and his claim to be considered as pure- 

 bred as the race-horse cannot be doubted. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HACKNEY. 



Let it be borne in mind, too, that the 

 Hackney has more to recommend him than 

 the true action and elegant carriage required 

 of the hitjh-class harness horse : sfood 

 temper and graceful manners are peculiarly 

 characteristic of the breed, and he possesses 

 the soundest of constitutions, a quality above 

 all things desirable in an animal which is 

 most liable to exposure under all conditions 

 of weather and is left so greatly to the care 

 of servants. 



The Hackney Horse Society's records 

 furnish some tellino- evidence concernine the 

 soundness of the breed in the shape of 

 statistics, giving the number of horses 

 rejected by the examining veterinary sur- 

 geons at the shows held during the last 

 few years. Prior to 1896 the practice was 

 to subject to veterinary examination only 

 those horses in a class which the judges 

 selected as likely to take the prizes. These 

 are the figures for the half dozen years ended 

 1895:- 



