588 Report upon the Exhibition of Horses at Kilburn. 
guise of stallions which rarely or never get a hunter, or of hacks 
too costly to be elsewhere exhibited, or of hunters that were 
never hunted, it seems to me that the money thus lavished upon 
prizes might in several ways be made more extensively useful ; 
as, for example, by the addition of a catalogue raisonne, or 
tabulated order of merit, to the reports of the Judges, and 
furthermore by deferred prizes to mares likely to breed valuable 
stock. As matters now stand, the classes for mares with foals 
are unquestionably full of interest, but the entries therein are so 
scanty, that it may fairly be doubted whether they deserve the 
three prizes apportioned to them. This remark applies specially 
to the hackney mares and foals, and to the pony mares and 
foals, in both of which classes there were not half as many 
entries as are often seen at Yorkshire shows. The definition 
of a hackney, or roadster, differs essentially, when drawn bv a 
Yorkshire hand, from that given by a resident of Devonshire 
or South Wales. " Enduring hacks of the old sort," says the 
author of ' The Book of the Horse,' " are now only to be found 
in the hands of active farmers, who look over hundreds of acres 
before breakfast ; of country surgeons, human and veterinary ; of 
maltsters, and of men belonging to a few other callings which 
take their followers out of the main tracks on to short cuts and 
bridle-roads. In pasture countries, the young farmer fond of 
riding usually prefers something better than a roadster — one 
that will grow into money. But the majority of modern farmers 
prefer wheels, or are generally satisfied with anything useful 
that will do their day's work — very different from the time when 
a good roadster hackney was worth as much as, and was more 
carefully chosen than, the modern brougham horse." Hackneys, 
cobs, and ponies seem to me, in relation to the ordinary require- 
ments and the habitual productions of horse-breeding farmers, 
to belong to what our French neighbours call classes de fantaisie, 
and therefore call for no critical analysis in a report specially 
designed to invite notice from agricultural raisers of equine 
stock. 
Coach Horses. 
Among those included in the Kilburn Catalogue, no class was 
more disappointing than this, as regards the number of the 
entries. The prize of 25Z. for " coaching mares or geldings 
above three years old, suitable for omnibus work," was offered 
by the London General Omnibus Company — an association 
which, thanks to the administrative energy and sagacity of its 
able manager, Mr. A. G. Church, well deserves the attention of 
those to whom the War Department assigns the onerous task of 
supplying the army with artillery and commissariat horses. In 
