at Xciccastle-upon-Tyne. 
119 
excess of those obtainable from English buyers, and were, of 
course, readilv accepted. The advantage of having good mares 
was soon perceived abroad, and the purchase of them has steadily 
gone on, with the result that, let people say what they like, 
more good mares have gone out of England than England can 
afford to part with. There is another reason why farmers do 
not now keep the stamp of horse they once did. The intro- 
duction of railways, and the now common custom of running 
market trains," have rendered the average farmer pretty well 
independent of the aid of a nag horse, except as a pure matter 
of convenience. Formerly farmers rode to market, and a man 
who is obliged to spend much time in the saddle is generally 
particular, as far as his means allow, as to the kind of horse he 
rides. In olden times a certain proportion of farmers' horses 
were long, low, useful short-legged mares, with fair action, of 
medium size, and of good substance. The call for this stamp of 
animal is not now felt. The train has supplanted the hackney, 
and riding has largely given place to driving. The average 
farmer can drive a worse horse than he would care to ride. A 
pony will do enough harness work for most farmers ; but no one 
who dreams of breeding hunters, or horses suitable for military 
purposes, would dream of breeding from such an undersized 
mare. At the same time it is only fair to state that the 
experience of the recent Newcastle show seems to indicate that 
sufficient mares are forthcoming to f:ll the lists of the sires who 
received prizes. That they will prove to be the right sort of 
mares every one interested in the question of horse-breeding 
will most sincerelv hope. 
IS or must it be left out of sight that, for certain purposes, big 
horses are more than ever in demand, the deduction being that 
small horses have gone down in value. In Leicestershire, 
Northamptonshire, and other fast countries, even light men are 
mounting themselves upon big horses up to more than their 
weight. This is a change from olden times. When old Stephen 
Goodall (he rode 20 stone) hunted Sir Thomas Mostyn's hounds 
in Oxfordshire, he would never bestow a second glance on any 
horse standing upwards of 15 hands 1 inch : and many more 
instances might be adduced to show that, so far as the general 
fancy is concerned, hunters, to be of the most saleable kind, 
must stand higher now than formerly ; and for proof of this, look, 
as I have just said, at the horses ridden in the biggest counties. 
It this be true, a very little reflection will show how heavily the 
average farmer is handicapped when he tries his hand at horse- 
breeding. The majority no longer keep the stamp of mare 
which used to throw decently-sized horses, and now that big 
horses are more than ever in fashion, farmers, as a class, keep still 
