their  Breeding  and  Management. 
9 
collector  when  they  sold  horses,  and  by  having  to  pay  a duty 
upon  young  horses,  as  soon  as  they  were  broken  : these  things 
seriously  discouraged  the  breeding  and  grazing  of  horses. 
“ You  will  not  have  patience  to  wade  through  all  the  papers 
and  letters  I received  and  had  to  write  when  the  subject  was  first 
agitated  ; but  the  evidence  before  the  Lords’  Committee  will  be 
sufficient  to  convince  any  one  old  enough  to  recollect  the  old 
style  of  horse,  that  Phillips  and  myself  were  right  in  saying  that 
really  good  sound  horses  were  more  plentiful  and  much  easier 
to  find  formerly  than  now.  I shall  be  glad  if  you  find  any 
useful  information  for  the  purpose  desired.  Keep  the  papers 
and  letters  as  long  as  you  like,  and  make  any  use  of  them  you 
please.  “ Yours  faithfully, 
“ Lumley  Hodgson.” 
The  following  is  Mr.  Lumley  Hodgson’s  contribution  : 
The  foundation  of  all  improvement  is  judgment  in  selection  : 
if  I liked  my  horse  and  mare,  I have  rarely  been  disappointed  ; 
like  breeds  like  in  all  animals.  Good  horses,  no  doubt,  are 
scarce  ; it  is  because  we  have  useless  brutes  to  breed  from. 
Such  stallions  as  now  travel  the  county  would  ruin  any  man  : 
on  the  other  hand,  a good  wide  short-legged  thoroughbred 
horse  will  improve  any  breed.  The  best  way,  in  my  opinion, 
to  keep  an  unsound  stallion  off  the  road  would  be  this — supply 
a better ! People,  however,  are  too  apt  to  blame  even  a good 
stallion  for  the  faults  of  their  badly-bred  curby-hocked  mares. 
It  is  when  carthorses  are  down  in  the  market  that  the  farmer 
takes  to  blood  and  to  breeding  superior  horses.  Breeding  is  one 
thing,  management  another.  A man  may  be  successful  as  a 
breeder,  yet  fail  as  a manager ; that  is,  in  breaking  and  making 
handy — manners ; as  in  man,  manners  vastly  go  to  make  the 
horse,  it  is  commonly  said  a quarter  of  the  value  of  a riding- 
horse  depends  on  his  manners.  * There  was  the  famous  York- 
shire Parson  on  his  horse  “ Calamity,”  spilt  in  the  streets  of 
York,  when  the  Parson  said  it  would  delight  the  Dissenters. 
Since  I can  recollect,  a really  good  horse  has  always  fetched  a 
good  price ; yet,  speaking  generally,  no  essentially  valuable 
animals  have  had  in  their  breeding  so  little  pains  bestowed  upon 
them.  Experience  teaches  me  that,  if  properly  carried  out, 
horses  may  be  bred  with  almost  as  much  certainty  as  other 
* Sir.  Milward,  a late  friend  of  mine — famous  for  his  ponies — told  me  he 
attributed  much  of  his  success  to  having  an  old  groom  with  two  sons ; all  three 
had  hands’  The  best  ponies,  he  said,  were  from  Shropshire  and  Cheshire. 
The  Norfolk  ponies  had  not  first-rate  shoulders.  The  ponies  were  picked  up  for 
him  here  and  there  by  a dealer.  He  said,  “ I hate  the  term  Cob ; under  14-2  is 
a pony,  over  that  a hack.” — C. 
