THE RACE-HORSL 243 



length of body. Also, his back and loins are remarkably- 

 short, and his shoulders are long and extremely oblique. I 

 remember having been greatly struck by the marvellous 

 beauty of his shoulders, and by the shortness of his back and 

 loins, when I saw him for the first time, when he was sold as 

 a two-year-old in 1883, after the death of his owner Both 

 his fore hand and hind-quarters were light He was extremely 

 round in the back ribs (p. 163), and was very well ribbed up. 



The possession, in the same year, by H.R.H. the Prince 

 of Wales, of two such good horses as Persimmon (Fig. 322) 

 and Florizel 11. (Fig 323), is a matter of congratulation to 

 every lover of racing. The winner of the Derby and St. 

 Leger, having been photographed a couple of days after he had 

 won at Epsom, looks somewhat light, though muscular and 

 very fit. His straight-dropped hind leg, powerful gaskins 

 and hocks, light fore hand, and beautifully shaped fore leg 

 from elbow to hoof, proclaim his ** quality." Time will no 

 doubt make him deeper in the back ribs. Florizel H. is 

 also a race-horse all over. 



In 1871 Hannah (Fig. 325) won the Oaks and St. Leger, 

 and Favonius (Fig. 324) the Derby of the same year. They 

 were in the same stable as Corisande, who won the 

 Cesarewitch of that season carrying 7 st 12 lbs Lord 

 Suffolk states, in the Badminton book on Racing, that 

 Favonius was 16 or 18 lbs. better than either of the two 

 mares , but that he became unsound. Accepting this 

 estimation, we must regard him as one of the best horses 

 of the century. We might have inferred the fact of his 

 superiority over Hannah by noting that he was much deeper 

 in the body behind the saddle than she was, and consequently 

 his chest was better formed for forced breathing than was 

 hers. He looks up to more weight than she does, on 

 account of his fore arms and gaskins being more muscular 

 and his bones below the knee being larger. Both animals 

 have equally " straight-dropped " hind legs. Her neck is 

 lighter, and her shoulders appear flatter and more oblique 

 than his. Both have almost exactly the same proportions 



