STUD BOOKS. 51 



there were ten then. The best probably 

 were obtained from a cross between descen- 

 dants of the old English packhorse (said 

 to have been a stout, well-shaped, and most 

 serviceable animal) and the thoroughbred ; 

 or of the latter Avith the Welsh cob or 

 Northern galloway, than which nothing 

 could be better for a hackney. The modern 

 candidate for the " Hackney Stud Book " and 

 prizes is no doubt a more showy and symme- 

 trical animal, but rarely with anything like 

 the endurance or easy natural paces of his 

 predecessor. Made up of so many difPerent 

 strains of blood, with an unknown ancestry 

 comprising horses of all shapes and sizes, 

 it is not surprising that he should, notwith- 

 standing all the care taken on his behalf, 

 not infrequently disappoint his breeder. 



A horse, like every other creature, is a 

 conglomerate of all or any of the points and 

 characteristics of a long line of progenitors, 

 and no one can tell in what proportion any 



