THE HEAVY-HARNESS BREEDS OF HORSES 51 
fast as well as high. There was little inclination among 
exhibitors at that time to stop and consider that fast 
going was not a much sought after characteristic for a 
high-stepping or a heavy-harness horse. A lessening of 
the interest in the mere high goer, and more attention to 
the trueness and serviceability of the action, has done 
good in recent years; and the outcome has been to 
strengthen the position of the Hackney and make it more 
decidedly a heavy-harness horse. 
48. Description. — The Hackney of true type is a 
horse of substance, extremely smooth and with gracefully 
curved outlines (Fig. 9). Being full made, owing to 
splendid muscular de- 
velopment, and being 
on short legs, the rep- 
resentative of this 
breed suffers in stat- 
ure in comparison 
with most of the other 
coach breeds. The 
type most sought, and 
the one that may be 
said to be the old- i 
fashioned type, repre- Ag As 
sents a powerfully 
built horse, round- 
ribbed, muscular loin, and plump quarters, with short legs. 
The desire for more quality on the part of some of the 
breeders, and the use of Thoroughbred blood to secure it, 
had the effect of making some of them more bloodlike and 
rangier in appearance. The question of height in the 
Hackney has been liberally discussed, and the general 
belief is that a height of 15.2 to 16 hands is most com- 
Fie. 9.— Hackney stallion. 
